Learn how to say that you're "not good at" something
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Keith: It's Impossible to Study Korean with All That Noise! In this lesson, you will learn how to say you're not very good at something. |
| Misun: Like not good at, 잘 못해요. |
| Keith: This conversation takes place… |
| Misun: On the street |
| Keith: The conversation is between… |
| Misun: A foreigner and a Korean person. |
| KeithL: The speakers are strangers, so they’ll be speaking formal Korean. |
| Misun: 네. 존댓말이요. |
| Keith: All right. Let’s listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| 예린 외국 사람이에요? |
| 빌리 죄송합니다. 한국말 잘 못해요. |
| 예린 외국 사람이네요! |
| 빌리 죄송합니다. 한국말 잘 못해요. |
| English Host: One more time with the English. |
| 예린 외국 사람이에요? |
| Keith: Are you a foreigner? |
| 빌리 죄송합니다. 한국말 잘 못해요. |
| Keith: Sorry. I don't speak Korean well. |
| 예린 외국 사람이네요! |
| Keith: You are a foreigner! |
| 빌리 죄송합니다. 한국말 잘 못해요. |
| Keith: Sorry. I don't speak Korean well. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Misun: Keith, what's the perception of foreigners in Korea? |
| Keith: Well, if you look different than Koreans, you might be a spectacle to some kids. |
| Misun: Right, Korea is the most homogeneous country in the world, right? |
| Keith: So if you look different, you'll get some looks. |
| Misun: That’s right. But recently, there's been a lot more foreigners in Korea. |
| Keith: Yeah. There's the American military, and a lot of English teachers in Korea, too. |
| Misun: Absolutely. There's also a lot of Chinese and Japanese people that come to Korea. For example, like to tour and work or something like that. |
| Keith: Right. I mean, not just those countries, there’s a bunch of people. So in the past few years, there has been a larger influx of foreigners in Korea. So Misun, just a quick question, what was your perceptions of foreigners in Korea when you were a kid? |
| Misun: Oh. Well, when I was young, like, wherever I look, it’s just there’s military people, and then missionary personal nurse like Mormons, walking on the street. And then I was so fascinated by their look. It’s so exotic and very handsome. |
| Keith: Everyone’s so good-looking. |
| Misun: Right. They’re totally different from what I got, right? So it’s kind of like a strange feeling. |
| Keith: But I think recently, since there’s a lot more people, I think Korean people are getting used to foreigners being in Korea now. |
| Misun: 네. So no difference at all now. |
| Keith: Well, I think there is a difference but just a little less. All right, well, let’s take a look at the vocabulary. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Misun: 외국 사람 [natural native speed] |
| Keith: Foreigner. |
| Misun: 외국 사람 [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 외국 사람 [natural native speed]. |
| Keith: Next. |
| Misun: 죄송합니다 [natural native speed] |
| Keith: I'm sorry. |
| Misun: 죄송합니다 [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 죄송합니다 [natural native speed] |
| Keith: Next is… |
| Misun: 한국말 [natural native speed]. |
| Keith: Korean (language) |
| Misun: 한국말 [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 한국말 [natural native speed]. |
| Keith: And finally… |
| Misun: 잘 못해요 [natural native speed]. |
| Keith: Not very good at. |
| Misun: 잘 못해요 [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 잘 못해요 [natural native speed]. |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Keith: All right. Well, let's take a look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Misun: The first phrase we’ll look at is, 죄송합니다. |
| Keith: I'm sorry. |
| Misun: This is the most formal and most polite way to say sorry to someone. |
| Keith: Right, there are a couple of other forms. Like the informal. |
| Misun: Yea, You wouldn't use 죄송합니다 with a close friend. It's too polite. If you were talking to a good friend, you could say 미안해. |
| Keith: Yeah, it's informal, but still apologetic. So who would we use 죄송합니다 with? |
| Misun: We would use it with bosses, teachers, the elderly person, et cetera. |
| Keith: Right. Essentially the people you have to respect. |
| Misun: 네 맞아요. |
| Keith: All right. Our next word is “foreigner.” |
| Misun: 외국사람. |
| Keith: And many people may hear this word, but there's another word people might hear as well. |
| Misun: 네. 외국인. |
| Keith: Can we have that a little slowly? |
| Misun: 네, 외/국/인 |
| Keith: And this essentially means the same thing, 외국사람 and 외국인. |
| Misun: 네. Both mean foreigner. |
| Keith: All right. Well, let’s move on to the focus of this lesson. |
Lesson focus |
| Misun: The focus of this lesson is the phrase 잘 못 해요. |
| Keith: 잘 못 해요 (jal mot haeyo) is a phrase that is used to express one's lack of adequate ability, not very good at. |
| Misun: Yes, It's translated as "not very good at." |
| Keith: And just 잘 못 해요 is in the standard politeness level. It is polite and conversational. Well, Misun, let's take a look at the one example that came out in this lesson. |
| Misun: The foreigner said, 죄송합니다. 한국말 잘 못 해요. |
| Keith: "Sorry. I don't speak Korean well." |
| Misun: The first part is 한국말. |
| Keith: Korean. |
| Misun: And the second part is 잘 못 해요. |
| Keith: Which is literally “not good at.” |
| Misun: So literally it's “Korean, not good at.” |
| Keith: But when we translate it, it means “I'm not good at speaking Korean.” |
| Misun: But instead of this one example, how about we give some other useful example, Keith? |
| Keith: Sure! How about "I'm not good at sports." Some people might find this useful. |
| Misun: Yes. That would be 스포츠 잘 못 해요. |
| Keith: Right. Notice how the thing you're not good at, Korean or sports, it all comes in the front of the phrase, 잘 못해요. |
| Misun: Another example we can give is 운전 잘 못 해요. |
| Keith: "I'm not good at driving." |
| Misun: Again. Driving comes out in front. |
| Keith: The word for driving is 운전. This next example is specifically for me. |
| Misun: You mean, 공부 잘 못 해요? |
| Keith: "I'm not a very good student." But literally, that's I'm not good at studying. |
| Misun: This might be useful for some of our listeners, 술 잘 못 마셔요. |
| Keith: "I have low tolerance." Or literally, I'm not good at drinking. Why would that be useful Misun? |
| Misun: Korean culture tends to use alcohol quite often for social situations. |
| Keith: Right. So if you’re not that fun of drinking, you can kindly refuse drinks with that phrase. |
| Misun: Yes. Okay. So we went over 잘 못해요, which means “I'm not very good at.” |
| Keith: But you can use just 잘 on its own to say that you're good at something. |
| Misun: Yup. For example, 한국말 잘 해요. |
| Keith: I'm good at Korean. |
| Misun: Or, 태권도 잘 해요. |
| Keith: I'm good at taekwondo. |
| Misun: Notice how the phrase 잘 못 해요 becomes just 잘 해요. |
| Keith: Right. And that means “you’re good at something.” |
| Misun: We can also change the phrase 잘 못 해요 again. |
| Keith: Right. We can say just say 못 해요. |
| Misun: 네 맞아요. This means that you can’t do something. |
| Keith: For example? |
| Misun: 중국어 못 해요. |
| Keith: "I can't speak Chinese." And this one is stronger. Instead of “I'm not good at,” it's pretty clear – “I can't.” |
| Misun: 네 맞아요. Or if you don't have a license, 운전 못 해요. |
| Keith: That means, "I can't drive." |
Outro |
| Keith: Well, that just about does it for today, bye-bye. |
| Misun: 안녕히 계세요 여러분. (Annyeonghaseyo yeoreobun). |
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