In Class vs Real Life
Are you interested in learning Korean or improving your conversational Korean? When we are taught Korean through a class or course materials, we can learn quickly in a systematically structured environment.
However, as with any language, the dialogue taught in an educational setting may not accurately reflect how real dialogue occurs. If you are planning a trip to Korea or want to practice your speaking skills, here are some examples of natural conversation flow.
Follow Along
Listen to the excerpts read from our “Real-Life Korean Conversations for Beginners” book and follow along to improve your understanding. You may notice some differences from the strict structures of dialogue that are often taught in textbooks. This book, provided by TTMIK, specifically tells stories in a more casual manner, similar to real interactions in Korean!
Basic Greetings
- Before getting into the full dialogue, let's take a look at the nature of a basic greeting between two people.
Here we can see the interaction between Kim Seongchan and Lee Jiyeon as they meet each other for the first time. Take note of how each speaker uses different ways to greet each other, similar to English where one person might say “Hello” and the other may use a different form of the same greeting.
This is a great time to recognize how romanization is not accurate; pay attention to the pronunciation of each word compared to the romanized form. When listening to a natural flow of native Korean speakers, we can hear how differently Korean sounds from the romanized versions.
- It is important to note that compared to English, where speakers may just use their first name when introducing themselves for the first time, this structure is different in Korean. In Korea, native speakers introduce themselves using their full name, starting with their family name and then their first name. In general, when referring to each other after using an honorific (if applicable), Korean speakers will use an individual’s full name.
Dialogue
Once the dialogue begins, parts of the conversation are broken down and explained further. Note the differences in sentence structure and polite forms compared to English. For example, a significant difference is that Korean adults tend not to use the word “you” as it comes off as abrupt and direct. Instead, saying a person’s name is generally used in place of the word “you.”
Grammar Points
- As we see sentence structure explained, a few commonly used grammar points are also introduced. During their dialogue, we learn that Lee Jiyeon’s occupation is a computer engineer as she explains by saying [Korean sentence]. Breaking down this simple structure, we see that depending on the last syllable of the noun, the ending of this statement may change slightly.
- Another grammar point that is different from English is adding honorifics to make sentences more polite and respectful in a conversation between strangers. Here we can see that when asking a question between two adults in Korean, the honorific [here] is combined with the verb.
Pronunciation Guide
- Looking to improve pronunciation? Outside of learning the natural flow of native speakers' dialogue, this video also includes a few tips for pronunciation towards the end. (If this is your priority, skip ahead to 11:20 in the video.) Here we can see how when using certain words or phrases in our sentences, Korean native speakers often combine sounds to improve sentence flow. For example, when a syllable that ends in [ul in Korean] (ul) comes before a syllable that is a vowel, we see the combination of these two sounds.
- Follow along to learn more pronunciation rules that can improve your conversational Korean and help you sound like a native speaker. The video ends with returning to the previous dialogue introduced. See if you can identify when these pronunciation rules come up during the conversation! If you need more practice, we provide 25 pronunciation lessons on our YouTube channel, including tips for tongue position.
Some Tips!
With this lesson, you’ll improve many aspects of your Korean. Listen carefully to how native speakers pronounce each word and notice the polite yet casual tone of the dialogue. Practice reading the Hangeul on screen instead of relying on the English subtitles. Pause the video to repeat after the speakers and compare your pronunciation. We suggest recording yourself at the start and end after learning the helpful tips provided by the pronunciation guide.
Finally, let us know what you think, and check out this book and more materials on our website!
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