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Lesson Transcript

Hi, everyone! I’m Jaehwi. Welcome back to Korean Top Words. In this lesson, we’ll be talking about top 10 phrases tourists should never use. Let’s begin!
1. 역겨워! (Yeokkyeowo!) “That's disgusting!”
Yeah, I think there might be some part of the culture that you don’t like, but if you just say 역겨워! (Yeokkyeowo!) “That's disgusting!”, I think that just show how much you’re not ready to tap to different culture. I think that’s not good to say.
2. 우리 나라가 낫다. (Uri naraga natda.) “My country is better.”
In Korean, it’s better to say 우리 (uri nara) when you want to say “my country”. 나라 (Nae nara) is the phrase meaning “my country” literally, but it sounds a little bit unusual so 우리 (uri nara) which means “our country” is better to say when you want to say “my country”.
3. 차라리 집에 가고 싶다. (Charari jibe gago sipda.) “I'd rather be back home.”
I sometimes think like that. I don’t say it, I think that’s the point. You can think like I want to go back home because I am tired. Because when you take a vacation for several months, I think they will be the moment that you’re no longer taking anything new. I think you can think about it, but saying it to other person, especially to someone who lives in that country might not be a good idea I believe.
4. 닥쳐! (Dakchyeo!) “Shut up!”
Do people use that? Not only for tourists, but also for anyone, I think it’s rude to say 닥쳐! (Dakchyeo!). There might be some moments that you really have to say it, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to say it often even though you don’t like something.
5. 당신의 문화에 대해 별로 관심 없어요. (Dangsinui munhwae daehae byeollo gwansim eopseoyo.) “I'm not very interested in your culture.”
I think I heard something like that in the past. I’m not sure where, but it’s not good to hear that, not only about the culture. If someone says this, I think it means something like he or she is really not interested in anything else, but him- or herself.
6. 그냥 맥도날드 가서 먹자. (Geunyang maekdonaldeu gaseo meokja.) “Let's just eat at McDonald's.”
I used to be like that actually like when I travel in 20s, I think I only focused on five things like I wanted to make a list of the things to go, things to do and then do that one by one. Like I remember, I was making the plan by minutes like saying 7:35 I go there. So since I was super busy to go to place A, B, C, D, E, I really didn’t think about having a nice meal so I usually just went to 맥도날드 (maekdonaldeu) “McDonald’s” or 버거킹 (beogeoking) “Burger King” like they’re kind of fast food restaurants. In these days, I can see the main things about my trip is all about the food so I think that’s kind of the big change in my style for having a trip.
7. 이거 맛이 끔찍해. (Igeo masi kkeumjjikae.) “This tastes awful.”
If you travel in Korea, I think there might be some food that you might not like. Some Korean people say that because they really like the honesty. I think you can say that when you think the other person really talk directly, but if your friends in Korea, they are not direct, I think it’s better to say something else. Like for example, if you don’t like the taste, you can find another food that tastes better and say [이거 맛있어.] (Igeo masisseo.) “This tastes good.” and just keep eating it.
8. 호텔에서 하루 종일 있을래. (Hotereseo haru jongil isseullae.) “I'm going to spend the day in the hotel.”
I’m this kind of person, I eat, come back to the hotel, spend the day and go out and eat and then just come back I think. It’s important to find who is sharing your style together like if your friend really want to go outside and do a lot of activities, I think it’s not a good idea to say it in the morning. If you really want to get relaxed at a hotel, I think you can say that. That would be okay, but if you mean something like I’m tired of trying anything, I’m tired of speaking in their languages, I think it means something mean like it means something like, “Then why are you here?” like “Why did you spend your money for a trip?”. So I think it depends on the meaning of the phrase 호텔에서 하루 종일 있을래. (Hotereseo haru jongil isseullae.).
9. 이거 바보같아. (Igeo babogata.) “This is stupid.”
That happens to me like when I go to a country and if they follow some different rules. So instead of saying 이거 바보같아. (Igeo babogata.) “This is stupid.”, I think it’s better to try to understand what’s behind and why they follow that.
10. 이 사람들 미개해. (I saramdeul migaehae.) “These people are uncivilized.”
I never heard this phrase so if somebody says that, I think I’ll be very shock.
Okay, that’s top 10 phrases tourists should never use. I hope you don’t use some of that phrases when you travel. Make sure to subscribe and I’ll see you in the next video. 다음 시간에 뵙겠습니다. (Daeum sigane boepgetsseumnida.) 안녕히 계세요. (Annyeonghi gyeseyo.)

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