Bringing Korea into K-12 Classrooms

Korean Etiquette andKorean Names

National Korean Studies SeminarCopyright

Sung Kim and Mary Connor 2014

Honorific Expression of Korean language

• The honorific expression of the Korean language is one of the most important parts of learning Korea.

• Korean grammar system of honorifics is very extensive to reflect the speaker's relationship to the subject of the sentence and speech levels to reflect the speaker's relationship to the audience.

Honorific Expression of Korean language

• Originally, the honorifics expressed the differences in social status between speakers.

• In contemporary Korean culture, honorifics are used to differentiate between formal and informal speech based on the level of familiarity between the speaker and the listener.

Manner of respect• Koreans use both hands when

they give or receive something from older adults

• It is an expression of respect to elders.

• Koreans bow when they greet each other.

• Also, Koreans do not use fingers to point at someone.

• Using fingers to call someone is considered impolite in Korea.

1. Wait to be seated until the oldest person/people sit down first.

2. Before you begin, especially at someone's home, it is polite to say that you are looking forward to the meal. In Korean, people say “Jalmukesumneda” (I will eat well).

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Korean Table Manners

Korea Table Manners 3. Before you beginning the meal, wait for the oldest person/people to lift their spoon or chopsticks first before you start eating.4. During the meal, don't blow your nose at the table!5. Don't rush or linger. Try to eat at the same pace as everyone else, especially the elders.6. During the meal, don't hold the bowl of soup or rice (as you might do in other Asian countries like China or Japan).

7. Avoid double dipping. Korean meals have many communal side dishes, so don't dig into the bowls and touch a lot of the other food while you're taking your own.8. When refilling your glass, always pour drinks for others first, especially for those who are older thanyou.

Korean Table Manners

Community Oriented Society

• Koreans frequently use the word “we” instead of “I” in their conversation. It refers to the Korean culture showing a collective and community oriented society.

• For instance, Koreans say “our family” instead of “my family”.

Community oriented society

• In Western societies, liberal moral-political values emphasize individuals' rights to freely choose their own goals.

• In contrast, Confucianism in Korea emphasizes collective good and harmony, coupled with self-cultivation and self-regulation.

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Korean Names1. Most Korean names consisted of three Korean

syllables. 김성순2. Korean last names (family name, 성 ) are

always placed before the first name (given name, 이름 ). 김 : last name

3. Most Korean last names have one syllable compared to first names having two syllables. 성순 (first name)

4. There are about 300 last names in Korea. 5. Some of the most common last names are 김

(Kim), 이 (Lee/Yi/ Rhee), 박 (Park), 최 (Choi), and 정 (Chung/Cheong/Jung).

Korean Women’s Names

1. Korean women do not change their last names upon marriage.

2. They maintain their last (family) names throughout their life.

3. When Americans call a woman named Mrs. Wilkins, it means that she is a wife of a man whose last name is Wilkins. In Korea, when a married woman says she is Mrs. Kim, it usually means that her last name is her maiden name.

How to address names1. Koreans do not refer to others by directly

calling their first names except among very close friends.

2. In general, they put “ssi( 씨 ) ” after someone’s first names.

3. Even among siblings, the younger ones do not address their elder siblings by first names but rather they call them eonni / nuna ( 언니 / 누나 ), meaning elder sister, or oppa / hyung (오빠 or 형 ), meaning elder brother.

References• http://www.fotosearch.com/photos-images/

korean-tradition.html• http://www.koreaaward.com/korea/

culture_LifeStyle_Names.htm• http://www.koreaaward.com/korea/

culture_LifeStyle_FamilyLife.htm• https://www.google.com/search?

tbm=isch&q=family+image&hl=en&gws_rd=ssl#hl=en&q=ondol&tbm=isch&facrc=_&imgdii