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Why Koreans Say Have You Eaten Instead of How Are You
Recently in a conversation with four Korean women, the topic of etiquette and manners came up. We were discussing differences from the west compared to Korea. I brought up how endearing, although strange at first, that Koreans consistently ask if I've eaten and if I respond that I haven't, inevitably food shows up.
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Maybe Doesn’t Mean Maybe In Korean
Maybe is one of those words that loses its meaning, or the subtlety of the word, in translation. While most English speakers will use 'maybe' to mean 'possibly but most likely no', Koreans will generally use 'maybe' to mean 'yes'.
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Conversations with Koreans: Where are you from?
It doesn't matter how much Korean I speak, or what I'm even doing, this question is bound to come up in every conversation I am having with a Korean. I guess it makes sense; I'm clearly not from here. However, sometimes I just wonder why it's so common. Yesterday, I was just picking up some milk tea in my local convenience store and as I was checking out, the cashier asked...
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Learning Korean Can Be Laugh Out Loud Funny: Funny Korean Words & Phrases
Learning a new language is a difficult task for anyone. Some of my favorite words or phrases are the ones that are just so literal in my own language that they are hilarious. Here have been some of my favorites that I still try to splice into conversation even if it's just to make myself chuckle a little.
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Conversations With Koreans: Wait, we aren’t friends?
“Thank you”, “Hello”, “Give me… please” and a few other words and phrases are among a handful of words that foreigners just in Korea learn and among them is often the word chingu (친구), translated loosely as “friend”. Foreigners splice this word into their English sentences without hesitation and use it seemingly without understanding exactly what it means. This is probably one of my least favorite words in Korean and I’ll explain why. If you’re learning Korean or trying to speak Korean, then you’ve probably learned that there is a hierarchy in the language and how you use it. Because of this, who is considered your “friend” is really important.…