Korean for Dummies (15 page)

Canada

miguk
(mee-goog)

USA

nyujillaend
(new-jil-lan-deu)

New Zealand

peurangseu
(peurang-sseu)

France

rebanon
(re-ba-non)

Lebanon

reosia
(ruh-shi-a)

Russia

sseuwiseu
(seu-wi-sseu)

Switzerland

yeongguk
(young-goog)

England

Describing your home community

What
sinae
(
shi-nae;
city),
dongne
(
dong-nae;
town), district, or country are you from? People will probably want to know, and you should be prepared to answer. First, familiarize yourself with the Korean words for these types of residential communities. Table 4-2 gives you a useful list of community words.

Table 4-2

Residential Communities

Korean Words and Pronunciations

English Words

do
(do)

Province

dong
(dong)

Neighborhood, area

eup
(eup)

Town

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Chapter 4: Getting to Know You: Making Small Talk

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Korean Words and Pronunciations

English Words

gu
(goo)

District

gun
(goon)

County

gwangyeoksi
(gwang-yuhk-shi)

Metropolitan area

myepn
(myun)

Township

ri
(ree)

Village

seoul teukbyeolsi
(suh-ool teuk-byul-shi)

Seoul City (example)

si
(shi)

City

Koreans
sijak
(
shi-jak;
start) from large and move to small, so if you want to be more specific and talk about what city you’re from, be sure to first say the state or country where you’re from. For example:
jeoneun
Pennsylvania
e inneun
Punxsutawney
eseo waseoyo.
(
juh-neun
Pennsylvania-ae in-neun Punxsutawney-ae-suh wa-ssuh-yo;
I’m from Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.)

jeoneun [town] e inneun [city] eseo waseoyo. (
juh-neun [town]-ae in-neun

[city]-ae-suh wa-sseo-yo;
I’m from [city], which is in [town].) If you’re talking about a non-Korean location, use the English name for the place as you usually say it. For example, if you come from Indianapolis, Indiana, say it as you would in English.

If you’re talking about a Korean city, or a district, give the name of the larger area, and then the smaller area. For example, you can say
gangnamgu
(
gangnam-goo;
Gangnam district),
sinsadong
(
shin-sa-dong;
sinsa area) and not the other way around.

If you don’t know where a particular city is, ask “Where is that place?” Note that
geogi
(
guh-gee;
that),
geugot
(
geu-got;
that place),
yeogi
(
yuh-gee;
this) and
igot
(
ee-got;
this place):
geogiga eodi iseoyo?
(
guh-gee-ga uh-dee ee-ssuh-yo;
Where is that?)
geugosi eodieyo?
(
geu-go-shi uh-dee-ae-yo;
Where is that place?)
yeogiga eodieyo?
(
yuh-gee-ga uh-dee-ae-yo;
Where is this?)
igosi eodieyo?
(
ee-go-shi uh-dee-ae-yo;
Where is this place?) 09_037188-ch04.qxp 6/24/08 11:07 PM Page 76

The answer to this question always takes the
iseoyo
(
ee-ssuh-yo;
to exist).

[some word]
e iseoyo
( [some word]
-ae ee-ssuh-yo;
It’s at [some word]).

Substitute [some word] for locations or directions.

For example, you can say

new yorki boston wie iseoyo.
(
new-york-ee bos-ton wee-ae ee-ssuh-yo;
New York is above Boston.)

indianapolisga indianae iseoyo.
(
indianapolisga indiana-ae ee-ssuh-yo;
Indianapolis is in Indiana.)

Now remember that
–i
and
ga
is a location marker or particle. Add
i
after the location if it ends with a consonant and add
ga
if it ends with a vowel.

(In Korean pronunciation, New York ends with a consonant, but Indianapolis end with a vowel).
wie
(
wee-ae;
above), means “above.”

Table 4-3 gives you a list of common location and directional words.

Table 4-3

Locations and Directions

Korean Words and Pronunciations

English Words

bukjjok
(book-jjok)

North

dongjjok
(dongjjok)

East

gakkai
(ga-kka-ee)

Nearby

geuncheo
(geun-chuh)

In the proximity of

meolli
(mul-li )

Far

mit
(mit),
area
(a-rae) interchangeable

Below

namjjok
(namjjok)

South

seojjok
(suh-jjok)

West

wi
(wee)

Above

yeop
(yuhp)

Next to

Talking about where someone lives

Where you’re from and where you live now can be two different things, of course. If you want to ask where someone lives, use the following:

eodiseo saseyo?
(
uh-dee-ae-suh sa-sae-yo;
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Some other questions you may ask are:

jusoga eodieyo?
(
joo-so-ga uh-dee-ae-yo;
What is your address?)
jibi eodieyo?
(
jee-bee uh-dee-ae-yo;
Where is your house?)
jeonhwabeonhoga mwoeyo?
(
juhn-hwa-bun-ho-ga mwo-ae-yo;
What is your telephone number?) You may answer by using the following:

sigoreseo sarayo.
(
shi-go-rae-suh sa-ra-yo;
I live in the countryside.)
sinaeeseo sarayo.
(
shi-nae-ae-suh sa-ra-yo;
I live in the city.)
apateueseo sarayo.
(
a-pa-teu-suh-ae sa-ra-yo;
I live in the apartment.) What if you know someone who’s staying in the town or country on business for an extended period of time? If you want to ask her where she lives at the moment, add
jigeum
(
jee-geum;
now) in front of
eodisu
(
uh-dee-suh;
where).

The answers to “Where do you live?” can look like

jeoneun [some word] eseo sarayo
(
juh-neun [some word] ae-suh sa-ra-yo;
I live at [some word]). Substitute [some word] for location.

Discussing ethnicity and citizenship

Some people are born in one country but hold
simingwon
(
shi-nim-gwon;
citizenship) in another. Saying that you’re from a single country may not be enough when you want to explain who you are, so I’ll show you few more expressions.

Asking for someone’s nationality in Korean is a broad question. It implies ethnicity, or a sense of belonging that you identify with. Although Korean does have the explicit
injong
(
in-jong;
race), people will simply ask you one of the following:
eodieseo waseoyo?
(
uh-dee-ae-suh wa-ssuh-yo;
Where are you from?)
eoneunara saramieyo?
(
uh-neu-na-ra sa-ram-ee-ae-yo;
What country are you from?/What nationality are you?)

You simply answer the questions as follows:

jeoneun [some word] eseo waseoyo.
(
juh-neun [some word] ae-suh
wa-sseo-yo;
I’m from [some word].)

jeoneun [some word] saramieyo.
(
juh-neun [some word] sa-ram-ee-ae-yo;
I am [some word] person [usually answer with your nationality].)

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The above forms of questions can have two types of answers. 1) You can answer the question to mean that you’re from the location/country where you were born, or 2) that you feel like you’re a part of the place, much like how John F. Kennedy wanted to express that he was a person of Berlin in his 1963 speech. For many Koreans living in U.S., people ask them “Where are you from?” Second generation Koreans born in US will answer, for example, “I’m from Boston or I’m an American.” Then the immediate next question is “I mean, where are you (or your parents) originally from?/Which country are you originally from?” You may face some similar situations in Korea.

Suppose that in an introduction, the other person says that he or she is Korean, and you want to say that you’re a Korean as well. Say so by replacing the
neun
in
jeoneun
with
do
(
do;
also).

jeodo [some word] eseo waseoyo.
(
juh-do [some word] ae-suh wa-ssuh-yo;
I’m also from [some word].)

jeodo [some word] saramieyo.
(
juh-do [some word] sa-ram-ee-ae-yo;
I am also [some word] person [usually answer with your nationality].)

Talkin’ the Talk

Grace is lost in Seoul. She is asking Sung Jin where she can find a

train station.

Grace:

(holding a map)
sillyehamnida. jeo jom doajusilsu

iseuseyo?

shil-lae-ham-ni-da. juh-jom do-wa-joo-shil-soo ee-

sseu-sae-yo?

Excuse me. Can you please help me?

Sung Jin:

a gireul ireo beorisyeotgunyo.

a, gi-reul ee-ruh buh-ree syut-goon-yo.

Oh, you are lost.

Grace:

ye. gichayeogeul chatgo iseoyo.

ye. gi-cha-yuh-geul cha-go-ee-ssuh-yo.

Yes, I’m looking for a train station.

Sung Jin:

eotteon gichayeogeul chajeuseyo?

uh-ttun gi-cha-yuh-geul cha-jeu-sae-yo?

Which train station are you looking for?

Grace:

seoul yeogeul chatgo iseoyo.

suh-ool yuh-geul cha-go ee-ssuh-yo.

I’m looking for Seoul station.

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Sung Jin:

bukjjogeuro 15bunman gasimyeon doeyo.

book-jjok–eu-ro 15-boon-man ga-shi-myun dwae-yo.

Just go in North direction for about 15 minutes.

Grace:

(bowing)
jeongmal gamsahamnida.

jungmal gam-sa ham-ni-da.

Thank you very much.

Sung Jin:

(bowing)
cheonmanhaeyo.

chun-man-hae-yo.

You are welcome.

Words to Know

agi

a-gi

Baby

chatgo iseoyo

cha-go-ee-ssuh-yo

Looking for

gichayeok

gi-cha-yuhk

Train station

gyeongchalseo

gyung-chal-so

Police station

hotel

ho-tel

Hotel

hwajangsil

hwajang-shil

Bathroom

injong

in-jong

Race

ireobeorisyeotgunyo

ee-ruh-buh-ree-

You are lost

syut-goon-yo

jeoncheoryeok

juhn-chul-yuhk

Underground

subway

jeongmal

jungmal

Really

jeonhwabeonho

juhn-hwa-bun-ho

Telephone number

juso

joo-so

Address

nara

na-ra

Country

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The Weather, the Seasons, and

Everything in Between

Talking about the
nalssi
(
nal-sshi;
weather) is a staple of small talk. When you first get to know someone, she may ask what the weather is like where you come from (see Table 4-4 for some ideas on how to discuss weather).

In this section, I go over a few expressions about the weather, and then
yeongyeol
(
yuhn-gyul;
connect) them to a conversation about what the weather is like where you come from. The general question used to ask about the weather is:
nalssiga eottaeyo?
(
nal-sshi-ga uh-ttae-yo;
What is the weather like?) To this question, you can add
oneul
(
o-neul;
today),
naeil
(
nae-il;
tomorrow),
achim
(
a-chim;
morning),
jeonyeok
(
juh-nyeok;
evening) and
bam
(
bam;
night). For example:
oneul achim nalssiga eottaeyo
? (
o-neul a-chim nal-shi-ga
uh-ttae-yo;
What is the weather like this morning?) You will answer the questions as per examples below.

nalssiga.
(
nal-sshi-ga
[good, bad, sunny, cloudy, etc.].
Weather is [good, bad, sunny, cloudy, etc.].)

You can fill in the end of these sentences with the following weather-related adjectives.

For example:

nalssiga chuwoyo.
(
nal-sshi-ga choo-wo-yo;
The weather is cold.)
oneul jeonyeok nalssiga joayo.
(
o-neul juh-nyeok-nal-sshi-ga jo-a-yo;
The weather this evening is good.)

Table 4-4

Weather Conditions

Korean Words and Pronunciations

English Words

anjoaya
(an-jo-a-yo) Not

good

chuwoyo
(choo-wo-yo)

Cold