Introducing Yourself in Korean
Last week we covered Korean Greetings, which is a great starting point for learning how to introduce yourself. You don’t want to just say 안녕하세요 (Annyeonghaseyo) to someone and sit there in awkward silence! You want to be able to inquire about the background of the person you are conversing with and be able to answer their questions.
In Korean culture, it’s not atypical to ask someone you have met about their job, age and family make up. A first time conversation might go as follows:
안녕하세요 (Hello)
안녕하세요, 처음 뵙겠습니다. (Hello, this is the first time we’ve met.)
저는 브라이연입니다. (I’m Brian.)
성함이 어떻게 되세요? (What is your name?)저는 사라입니다. (I’m Sarah)
Rather than saying 처음 븹겠습니다 (choeum poepgetseumnida), you can say 만나서 반갑습니다 (mannaseo pangapseumnida), which is a phrase that you could use with a friend but probably not your elders. Also, it’s a little easier to pronounce ^^! The 만나서 (mannaseo) part is optional and can be dropped. This is like in English where you might say, “It’s a pleasure to meet you” or shortened, “It’s a pleasure.”
처음 - choeum - first (almost always involving time)
뵙다 - poepda - to see, to meet
만나다 - mannada - to meet
반갑다 - pangapta - glad
If we take a look at the names in the dialogue above, we can see something different than in English. We see this, 저는 브라이연입니다 (cheoneun Brianimnida), which looks different than just saying your name is Brian. When saying a name, sometimes you add the 입니다 (-imnida) suffix to the end of the name, 브라이연입니다. Another example is 저는 사라입니다 (Cheoneun Sarahimnida). You can also add N-(이)라고 하다 (N-(i)rago hada) which is a particle expression. You can see an example of this bolded in the example in the next paragraph.
Saying 저는 브라이연입니다 (cheoneun Brianimnida) is perhaps the simplest way of saying your name. The other two ways are similar to English, 제 이름은 브라이연입니다 (Che ireumeun Brianimnida) “My name is Brian” and 저는 브라이연이라고 합니다 (Cheoneun Brianirago hamnida) “I’m called Brian.” Note the different suffix on the name Brian, -irago.
이름 - ireum - name
N-(이)라고 하다 - N-(i)rago hada - (to be called N)
When responding to a question like 직업이 어떻게 되세요? (Chigeobi eotteoke toeseyo - What is your occupation?), you would respond, “I am a programmer” in English. In Korean, you can respond formally, (저는) 프로그래머이에요 (Cheoneun Peurogeuremeuieyo) or you can hack off the 저는, which means “I am” in English by saying 프로그래머이에요 (Peurogeuremeuieyo). I will add some more occupations to the vocabulary list below.
대학생 - taehaksaeng - university student
가수 - kasu - professional singer
군인 - kunin - soldier
경찰 - kyeongchal - police
도둑 - toduk - thief
프로그래머 - peurogeuremeu - programmer
처음 뵙겠습니다. - Choeum poepgetseumnida. - This is the first time I’ve met you.
만나서 반갑습니다. - Mannaseo pangapseumnida. - It’s nice to meet you.
저는 브라이연입니다. - Cheoneun Brianimnida. - I am Brian.
제 이름은 브라이연입니다. - Che ireumeun Brianimnida. - My name is Brian.
저는 브라이연이라고 합니다. - Cheoneun Brianirago hamnida. - I am called Brian.
성함이 어떻게 되세요? - Seonghami eotteoke toeseyo? - What is your name?
직업이 어떻게 되세요? - Chigeobi eotteoke toeseyo? - What is your occupation?
(저는) 프로그래머이에요. - Cheoneun peurogeuremeuieyo. - I am a programmer.
