Day 14 of 215

Day 14: Why Koreans Ask Your Age

On a TV talk show, host Jaehyun (A) asks three foreign residents of Korea, Emily (B) from Canada, Thomas (C) from France and Linh (D) from Vietnam, about Korean habits.

How to study this lesson 4 steps

Read the situation under the title. It says who is talking and how they know each other, which decides how politely they speak.
Read the dialogue line by line with its translation, until every line makes sense. Still learning Hangul? Tick Romanization to see how each line sounds, but read the Korean first.
Download the Anki deck below and review it every day. It has every line of today's dialogue. Review earlier decks too when Anki asks you to.
Spend at least 30 minutes listening to native Korean, for example from the Resources page. It doesn't matter if you don't understand it yet.

Dialogue

Audio recordings are on the way. For now, each lesson is the dialogue with its English translation.

Hide English Romanization

Keys: E hide English · ← → previous / next day

A 오늘은 외국인 세 분을 모셨습니다. 처음에 낯설던 한국 문화가 있으셨습니까?

Oneureun oegugin se buneul mosyeotseumnida. Cheoeume natseoldeon Hanguk munhwaga isseusyeotseumnikka?

Tonight we have three foreign guests. Was there anything about Korean culture that felt strange to you at first?
B 저는 나이 질문이 제일 이상했습니다. 처음 만난 사람이 바로 나이를 물었습니다.

Jeoneun nai jilmuni jeil isanghaetseumnida. Cheoeum mannan sarami baro naireul mureotseumnida.

For me, it was the age question. People I'd only just met asked how old I was right away.
A 캐나다에서는 나이를 잘 안 묻습니까?

Kaenadaeseoneun naireul jal an mutseumnikka?

Don't people ask your age much in Canada?
B 네, 친한 친구가 아니면 거의 안 묻습니다.

Ne, chinhan chinguga animyeon geoui an mutseumnida.

No, unless you're close friends, people hardly ever ask.
C 저도 처음엔 놀랐습니다. 그런데 한국어에는 반말과 존댓말이 있거든요. 그래서 묻는 겁니다.

Jeodo cheoeumen nollatseumnida. Geureonde Hangugeoeneun banmalgwa jondaenmari itgeodeunyo. Geuraeseo munneun geomnida.

I was surprised at first too. But Korean has casual speech and polite speech, you see. That's why they ask.
A 그럼 한국에 새로 온 외국인에게 어떤 팁을 주시겠습니까?

Geureom Hanguge saero on oeguginege eotteon tibeul jusigetseumnikka?

So what tip would you give a foreigner who has just arrived in Korea?
C 한국 친구가 나이를 묻거든 놀라지 마십시오. 더 친하게 지내고 싶어서 묻는 겁니다.

Hanguk chinguga naireul mutgeodeun nollaji masipsio. Deo chinhage jinaego sipeoseo munneun geomnida.

If a Korean friend asks your age, don't be surprised. They're asking because they want to get closer.
D 저는 처음에 계산하는 게 제일 신기했습니다. 식당에서 다들 서로 내려고 싸웠거든요.

Jeoneun cheoeume gyesanhaneun ge jeil singihaetseumnida. Sikdangeseo dadeul seoro naeryeogo ssawotgeodeunyo.

What I found most curious at first was paying. At restaurants, everyone fought over who would pay the bill.
A 하하, 맞습니다. 그럼 팁은 뭡니까?

Haha, matseumnida. Geureom tibeun mwomnikka?

Ha ha, that's true. So what's your tip?
D 친구가 밥을 사거든 다음에는 커피를 사십시오. 그게 한국식입니다.

Chinguga babeul sageodeun daeumeneun keopireul sasipsio. Geuge hanguksigimnida.

If a friend buys you a meal, buy the coffee next time. That's the Korean way.

Your progress is saved in this browser only, with no sign-up. The course page and the menu show where you left off. Well done! Next up: Day 15: My Brother Slept After Suneung →

Review with Anki

Anki is a free flashcard app that shows you each sentence again just before you would forget it. How to import a deck

Day 14 deck (70 KB) All Elementary decks (2.7 MB)

If this free course has helped you in your Korean journey, please consider supporting the project. It's a one-person effort, and even small contributions help keep it running and free for everyone.