Annyeong, I'm Hangeul!

  When Koreans introduce themselves, they usually reveal their ages. If you don't say your age, someone may ask your age like this; "나이가 어떻게 되세요?"[naiga eotteoke doeseyo] or "연세가 어떻게 되세요?"[yeonsega eotteoke doeseyo] '나이[nai]' means 'age.' '연세[yeonse]' is an honorific word for an age. In Korea, age is an important factor in relationships. If someone is older than me, I should respect that person more. If someone is younger than me, I have to be more considerate of that person. And most of Koreans can get closer when they know each other's ages. So if a Korean asks your age, don't be so embarrassed.

  There are two kinds of Korean numbers. The first one is Sino-numbers. These numbers are from Chinese characters. They are usually used for formal countings, such as date, year, money, and math. The second one is Native Korean numbers. These numbers are usually used for casual counting, age, and telling hours.

Korean vocabularies relating to a family are quite various and complicated compared to English ones. For example, in English, you can just call an aunt for both your mother's sister and your father's sister. However, in Korean, there are different terms for each of them. Here are Korean words relating to a family. 가족 [gajok] family 친척 [chincheok] relative 어머니 [eomeoni] mother 아버지 [abeoji] father 엄마 [eomma] mom 아빠 [appa] dad 부모님 [bumonim] parents 아들 [adeul] son 딸 [ttal] daughter 자녀 [janyeo] son and daughter 오빠 [oppa] girl's elder brother 언니 [eonni] girl's elder sister 형 [hyeong] boy's elder brother 누나 [nuna] boy's elder sister 여동생 [yeodongsaeng] younger sister 남동생 [namdongsaeng] younger brother 막내 [mangnae] youngest child 외동 [oedong] only child 할머니 [halmeoni] grandmother 할아버지 [harabeoji] grandfather 조부모님 [jobumonim] grandparents 외할머니 [oehalmeoni] mom's mother 외할아버지 [oeharabeoji] mom's father 외조부모님[oejobumonim] mom's parents 이모 [imo] mom's sister 이...