Pro tip: As a foreigner always greet people older than you who work in convenience stores or restaurants properly with a nice friendly smile. A lot of them are usually treated so indifferently especially in more business/office areas not only will you brighten their day, I've even gotten stuff for free several times just for being nice and polite.
I feel like that should be done everywhere. I don't work retail, but I can't stand people who believe they can act however way they want towards the employee, completely throwing out common courtesy out of the window. That sense of entitlement and arrogance is outrageous.
A smile, a 'please' and a 'thank you' can indeed go a long way. It's not just a sign of appreciation of them, and their service, but if there's an upgrade going you may get it, you may get a better price for something, or they may make a bigger effort to help you if it's something outside their normal duties. Back when I was young enough to 'date', how my companion treated these serving her made a BIG difference on whether another date would happen or not - you could even regard it as a deal breaker. I did have some comment, favourably, on my manners when talking to 'staff', and they were also second dates as they were aware enough to follow up on. Heck, if you are just friends with people who work retail, or service, they will normally appreciate it too, as being rude is also a swipe are them and their jobs!
I need to learn this for when I meet my Korean girlfriend’s parents, I have been self teaching myself 한국어 for a year, and this is the first time I’ve heard about 인사. 감사합니다!!!
As a fellow Korean, (This may be different for others), We typically greet strangers, elders, and important people with a bow. If you want to show more respect, bow lower. While bowing, place your hands near your bellybutton. (Male- left hand above right/Female- Right hand above left) Hope this helped! ^^
@@testie__111 yes that's true Our teacher was choked at first but started to laugh but you can always feel that she was upset about it It s a matter of culture and it s understandable
One second please. I was told that a sunbae didn't have to be older, but of higher rank, or tenure. Meaning, if a younger person was at a job longer than an older person, that younger person is the older's sunbae. Please clear.
Yeah, it doesn't always have to be bound by age :) In that case, the situation is a little complication. The 선배 will expect some kind of politeness and maybe not the full bow :)
Even though both rank and tenure are important in Korea, if they are in different companies or schools, age is the only crucial thing. And even if they work in the same company and one is younger but on a higher rank, he must not be impolite to the other who is older but on a lower rank. In this case, both of them usually try to be polite to each other.
@@saepho3815 I am going for a job interview with a director of a company. I haven't met him yet so I don't know how old he is. Would it be right to bow to him regardless of age?
Korean culture about greeting (and other things) are really similar to Albanian (in Europe) culture. That's why Korean culture is nothing new to me and it makes it easier for me to learn things in Korean because I would use those in my own country too.
I followed someone on FB in 2013 out of learning Korean. The guy posted a pics of his Kid. Just realised this is the guy i followed on FB in 2013 lol. I listened to his podcasts. Gave up learning Korean after 6 months. Resumed lately. Glad i found u again...
I live in Germany and my family has been strict too when it came to greetings or something like that. Not on that high level as it is in Korea but here older people are also expecting to be greeted first especially by younger ones. It doesn't bother me because it's just showing respect and good manners and as said in video the people will tell you how nice and polite you are which makes your family pretty proud^^
most foreingers don't realize 안녕 (安寧) is actually a Chinese word, meaning "well being" so you are basically askig "are you doing well?" it's a salutation (salud meaning health).
I have a question: Is it normal in Korea to greet strangers? Like the example in the elevator or even if I enter a room with other people or on the street... Would it be natural or weird for a foreigner to do so? We sometimes do it like this in Germany.. thank you~!
If you ask me, in Korea people rarely regularly say hello to the people they know and work with everyday, let alone people they don't know. In general, the notion of "STRANGER" is soooo big here in Korea... and it's like... you can be a serial killer, you are a stranger, who knows!?
I have heard "예의를 드리다" as a phrase to use when offering an 인사, from an interesting etiquette teacher in old 전주. She also pointed out that proper 인사 includes 공수 (not a martial art, but literally "empty hand"). While I appreciate that most of your audience is younger, I'm in my mid-70s, and sometimes need guidance on how to properly interact, especially with younger in-laws, colleagues, and students. An additional, uncommon problem is an older aunt-in-law. She is in her mid-80s, a very sweet old woman. Of course, I treat her as an older relative, but the added complication is that she is a niece of 순정효황후, and in a lot of places that would make her a princess. I always worry a bit that I don't know the proper address for her. I tried using the old high forms with her once, and she thought it was pretty funny.
How is someone in their fifties like myself supposed to greet people in Korea? And also how should I address people in general, in terms of age, hierarchy, social title, relationship, etc. For example, when speaking to a younger teacher, should I use 선생님? And also the suffix 씨 is always used in formal language despite the age? Thank you so much TTMIK!
Nicola MacPherson your country isn’t rude, it’s just your country’s culture. Every culture is different, just because one is considered more polite doesn’t mean that your culture is rude.
Raised in an Asian country, my politeness is often considered here in America as being indirect and indecisive, which has driven me into some traumatizing arguments. It's about things like this that I'd prefer to just move back home.
Please, create a video explaining the distinction between the FORMAL & the POLITE forms, and when the possible combinations are used (Formal-Polite vs Informal-Polite, etc.) In Spanish, the Formal and the Polite are the same thing. I cannot understand the difference.
Wow...this is so interesting. In my culture it is the same...as a young person you must greet hello and goodbye to all elders. If you don't speak first, it is considered rude. At home and in public!
Question - does a 선배 have to be someone in the same company/institution as you? For instance if I met someone in a higher grade than me but from a different university, would they still be considered my 선배?
I love your videos. 감사합니다!However, I am always wondering what 'same age' exactly means for Koreans. It seems to be a little vague to me. Is there some kind of tolerance range, like you would consider someone a year or two years older/younger than you as someone 'the same age'? Or does it really mean to be the same age?
@@sizelka Very true. That's why when two Koreans meet and hash out who is older or younger, they often state their birth year as opposed to how old they are.
So the basic point here is: the lower status person (usually, the younger person but not always) takes care to greet the higher status person (usually, the older but not always), using 존댓말, _first_ - to _not_ do so is considered impolite. _But_ the higher status person might preempt that by greeting the lower status person first. Is it more complicated than that?
I am going for a job interview. The man interviewing me is the director of the company . I haven't met him so I don't know how old he is. Would it be polite to bow to him regardless of age?
Any advice? I'll be meeting a potential korean teacher for the first time tomorrow virtually. I've been trying to figure out how to bow or if I should bow or nod. I'm not sure :)
I have a question, will koreans understand if I can’t bow due to religious beliefs that only god deserves to be bowed to? I don’t want to come off as rude but I don’t know if people will understand..
It depends on the context and the kind of relationship you have with the other person. Usually, when you meet someone for the first time, you ask the other person on how he or she would like to be addressed, and you may or may not be asked the same question depending on the relationship. Keep in mind though, when you meet someone who's a lot older than you, the general rule of thumb is that you address him or her by their position or title (ex. 선생님, 사장님, 부장님, etc).
What if the sunbae is younger of the hubae? which one should be polite to the other? I understand the sunbae being someone who attended in a school or worked at a company before his hubae so it still can be younger in some cases (please correct me if I am wrong on this).
That actually reminds me of this mini kdrama called the boy next door, where this guy started calling his fellow college student who was the same age as him 형 because started the major before tge other one did. It was a little awkward tbh
TTandothers i feel like it had nothing to do with how strong their relationship was tho? The student who started the major earlier even told the other one to stop it because they were the same age and it made him feel slightly uncomfortable. (The other one didnt stop btw) i think he just did it out of respect
This is similar to Southern culture in the US. When you enter a room, you speak to/greet whomever is in the room, especially if that person is older than you. I'm not from the South, but I went to college in Mississippi and received a severe scolding for not greeting the dorm matrons properly!
This is true! My family on my father's side is southern and boy would my grandma tear into me if I didn't greet her as soon as I walked in the door. And if I didn't say please and thank you, hoo boy 😂
We have something similar in Turkish culture, where a younger person bows in front of an older person and gives them a handkiss, i.e. your chin slightly touching the back of their hand.
I have a question! When an older person is leaving, I presume it's more polite to stand up and bow and say good bye. The other day I didn't because it was a sudden good-bye and so I said goodbye and bowed while sitting in my chair. How rude is what I did? I think It was awkward timing because it might have been odd if I suddenly sprang out of my chair to bow. Any Korean context that would be provided would be great help! Thanks 😊
I don't know if there is a video about this already but what I'm curious about is greeting in daily life, like when do you have to bow and do you have to greet when entering a shop for example
I really want to go to Korea someday but I have social anxiety, I can't make good eye contact and I find it extremely hard to speak to people so I feel like everyone would think i'm rude and I just don't want that.
I'm still at a stage in my Korean learning that I have to read the Hangul out loud before I realise what it says. So when I realised that 땡큐 just sounds like thank you, I wasn't certain if you were joking around with a literal translation or if it was a word that is actually used.
You missed to show us how to bow properly. Isn't the angle kind of important? Like 45° or 90° makes a difference, right? How do we bow on what occasion?
What should you say to a CEO like when you are answering a CEO who is at the same age as you...like ugh idk how to explain I hope someone understands what I mean and can help me...
In our country (India) people have just stopped greeting each other, no namastey, namaskar, pranam. And not even hello, good morning, good evening (other than work place). I feel that's damn rude, nobody cares to greet others. Got to learn a lot from you.
I get so many 꼰대 vibes from this haha! Me and my korean friends know about this but no one really cares (we are in our twenties). If someone would say like 인사 제대로 안 하니? we would just say 개꼰대 ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Would it be weird if I greet people I don't know when I'm entering a new place or meeting people I don't know like in supermarket or else? It's extremely common in France (at least when you are well educated ☺)
It's not common to greet a complete stranger in Korea unless they are a worker in the store or a taxi/bus driver. Usually if a stranger greets you its because they have a specific purpose for talking to you (usually to try selling something)
oh my god, shame on me. I was doing it all wrong this time. That’s why my Koreans classmates don’t like me. LOL. I’m lacking manners. Just kidding, but I didn’t know it was this important. Thank you guys.
Korea is hell for introverts like me...you can offend people in a myriad of ways if you're not familiar with the culture🥲can there just be basic mutual respect between humans regardless of age and hierarchy in the equation