How Does Everything in Korea “Look” to You?

Dialogue

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Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

Lesson focus
INTRODUCTION
Mingyeong: 안녕하세요 (Annyeonghaseyo). KoreanClass101의 지민경입니다 (ui jimingyeongimnida).
Keith: Hey! Keith here. How Does Everything in Korea Look to You?
Keith: Alright, so in this lesson, we've got a very, very conversational and useful grammar point. What's our grammar point for today?
Mingyeong: 피곤해 보여요. 좋아 보여요.
Keith: You seem good. You look tired. That's our grammar point, 보여요. So where does this conversation take place?
Mingyeong: This conversation takes place at a cafe.
Keith: This conversation, who's it between?
Mingyeong: This conversation is between 세호 and his friend, but she's older than him, so he's calling her 누나.
Keith: But they're still pretty close, so they're going to be speaking informal Korean.
Mingyeong: 반말 (banmal)
Keith: Okay. Let's listen in to the conversation.
Mingyeong: 들어 봅시다.
DIALOGUE
세호: 누나, 오늘 피곤해?
누나: 나? 피곤해 보여?
세호: 응. 많이 피곤해 보여.
누나: 그래? 아냐. 안 피곤해. 너는 기분 좋아 보여. 무슨 일이야?
세호: 내가 기분이 좋아 보여? 하하. 응. 사실은, 기분이 좋아. 누나랑 같이 있으니까.
누나: 하하. 너 그런 말 하니까, 나이들어 보여.
세호: 괜찮아. 누나는 어려 보이니까.
누나: 내가? 하하.
세호: 응. 그래서 우리는 잘 어울려.
누나: 뭐? 잘 어울려?
세호: 응. 누나. 우리 사귀자.
Mingyeong: 한 번 더 천천히.
Keith: One more time, slowly.
세호: 누나, 오늘 피곤해?
누나: 나? 피곤해 보여?
세호: 응. 많이 피곤해 보여.
누나: 그래? 아냐. 안 피곤해. 너는 기분 좋아 보여. 무슨 일이야?
세호: 내가 기분이 좋아 보여? 하하. 응. 사실은, 기분이 좋아. 누나랑 같이 있으니까.
누나: 하하. 너 그런 말 하니까, 나이들어 보여.
세호: 괜찮아. 누나는 어려 보이니까.
누나: 내가? 하하.
세호: 응. 그래서 우리는 잘 어울려.
누나: 뭐? 잘 어울려?
세호: 응. 누나. 우리 사귀자.
Mingyeong: 영어로 한 번 더.
Keith: One more time, with the English.
세호: 누나, 오늘 피곤해?
Keith: Are you tired today?
누나: 나? 피곤해 보여?
Keith: Me? Do I seem tired?
세호: 응. 많이 피곤해 보여.
Keith: Yes, you seem very tired.
누나: 그래? 아냐. 안 피곤해. 너는 기분 좋아 보여. 무슨 일이야?
Keith: Really? No, I'm not tired. You seem happy. What's going on?
세호: 내가 기분이 좋아 보여? 하하. 응. 사실은, 기분이 좋아. 누나랑 같이 있으니까.
Keith: Do I look happy? Actually, I am happy, and it's because I'm with you.
누나: 하하. 너 그런 말 하니까, 나이들어 보여.
Keith: You seem old because you're saying something like that.
세호: 괜찮아. 누나는 어려 보이니까.
Keith: It's ok because you look young.
누나: 내가? 하하.
Keith: Do I?
세호: 응. 그래서 우리는 잘 어울려.
Keith: Yeah, so we look good together.
누나: 뭐? 잘 어울려?
Keith: What? We look good together?
세호: 응. 누나. 우리 사귀자.
Keith: Yeah, I want you to be my girlfriend!
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Keith: So Mingyeong, among your friends, are there a lot of males, guys, who are dating women older than them?
Mingyeong: Well, maybe 1 out of 10? I mean, lately there's more guys who date older women.
Keith: Well, it might seem like that because, you know, in Korean, there's these terms that we have 형, 누나, 언니, 오빠. If you're listening to this lesson you should be able to gauge, at least, those kinds of relationships, but those terms, those titles are referring to older siblings or a title that you use to call your girlfriend, your boyfriend if they are older. But most of the time, what would you hear?
Mingyeong: 오빠
Keith: Yeah, the woman is younger, but recently if you hear 누나, and they're going out, they're holding hands, it stands out a little more because it's not so usual.
Mingyeong: Yeah, if everyone was calling each other just by their names, no one would know who's really older or younger. But because, in Korea, we need to make clear who's older and younger, the age does matter a bit more, I guess.
Keith: Well, how about yourself? Would you date a guy younger than you?
Mingyeong: I'm not sure. I don't know.
Keith: I think you would.
Mingyeong: Why?
Keith: I don't know.
Mingyeong: But it would seem very weird if I was called by 누나.
Keith: Well, actually. This was a while back, but I did have an older girlfriend and she was Korean. I would call her 누나, which is, it was kind of weird for me, too. But she was ok with it. But she was like the same age of my cousins, and they always see me as the little kid. You know? The little cousin, and every time they saw me calling her 누나, they were like, "Oh, that's so disgusting!" But, culturally speaking, in Korea, it's just very not common.
Mingyeong: It's ok. Not common?
Keith: To have a girlfriend that is older than you.
Mingyeong: Yeah. It wasn't really common until now. Now, it's kind of ok.
Keith: The trend.
Mingyeong: Yeah. It's like the trend, now.
Keith: Apparently.
VOCAB LIST
Keith: Ok. What's the first word we're going to take a look at?
Mingyeong: 누나 [natural native speed]
Keith: Older sister (for a male)
Mingyeong: 누나 [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mingyeong: 누나 [natural native speed]
Keith: Next?
Mingyeong: 피곤하다 [natural native speed]
Keith: To be tired
Mingyeong: 피곤하다 [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mingyeong: 피곤하다 [natural native speed]
Keith: 그 다음에?
Mingyeong: 기분 좋다 [natural native speed]
Keith: To be happy, to feel good
Mingyeong: 기분 좋다 [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mingyeong: 기분 좋다 [natural native speed]
Keith: Next?
Mingyeong: 사실은 [natural native speed]
Keith: In fact, as a matter of fact
Mingyeong: 사실은 [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mingyeong: 사실은 [natural native speed]
Keith: Next we have?
Mingyeong: 같이 [natural native speed]
Keith: Together
Mingyeong: 같이 [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mingyeong: 같이 [natural native speed]
Keith: Next, what do we have?
Mingyeong: 나이들다 [natural native speed]
Keith: To be old, to get old
Mingyeong: 나이들다 [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mingyeong: 나이들다 [natural native speed]
Keith: Next we have?
Mingyeong: 어리다 [natural native speed]
Keith: To be young
Mingyeong: 어리다 [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mingyeong: 어리다 [natural native speed]
Keith: 그 다음에?
Mingyeong: 어울리다 [natural native speed]
Keith: To look good on (someone), to go well with (someone)
Mingyeong: 어울리다 [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mingyeong: 어울리다 [natural native speed]
Keith: And finally?
Mingyeong: 사귀다 [natural native speed]
Keith: To go out with, to date
Mingyeong: 사귀다 [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mingyeong: 사귀다 [natural native speed]
VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE
Keith: Ok, Mingyeong, you know what time it is, right?
Mingyeong: It's the vocabulary time!
Keith: yeah. So what's the first word we're going to take a look at?
Mingyeong: 기분 좋다 or 기분이 좋다
Keith: This is a phrase, of course. They both mean to be happy, to feel good. This is both for mentally and physically feeling good. So let’s break that down really quick. What's 기분 mean?
Mingyeong: feeling, mood, or emotions
Keith: And your feeling is good, or you're in a good mood. So what's the opposite, then?
Mingyeong: 기분이 안 좋다 or 기분이 나쁘다
Keith: Ok. Well, can you give us some examples?
Mingyeong: 기분 좋은 뉴스
Keith: Happy news.
Mingyeong: 기분 나쁜 사람
Keith: An annoying person. Or maybe, more directly, a person that makes me feel bad.
Mingyeong: 네.
Keith: Do you have someone like that? You're looking at him right now.
Mingyeong: No.
Keith: Alright, well, what's the next word?
Mingyeong: 나이들다
Keith: To get old, to be old.
Mingyeong: 나이 means age and 들다 means to get, to obtain.
Keith: So that literally means, 'age', 'to get age', 'to obtain age'. It's like you're building up the years. So, for example, if you said, 나이든 사람, that means an old person, but that also means, literally, a person that has a lot of age. But what's the other word for to be old?
Mingyeong: 늙다 but this word is a little more negative so be careful with this one.
Keith: Yeah you can be polite with 나이들다 by saying 나이드신 선생님, an elderly teacher, but you can't really be polite if you say 늙은 선생님. So, basically, I think 나이들다 is a euphemism for...
Mingyeong: 늙다
Keith: Yeah. It's just a little nicer. A little not so direct. Instead of "You're old," "You've got some age to you." It's a little nicer. A little more polite.
Mingyeong: 네.
Keith: Alright. What's our final word? What are we going to take a look at?
Mingyeong: 어울리다
Keith: To suit, to go well with
Mingyeong: Keith, 이 티셔츠 잘 어울려요.
Keith: This t-shirt looks good on me? Alright! You can also use this with clothes, as we just gave an example, but we can also use this with couples as well.
Mingyeong: 둘이 잘 어울려요.
Keith: You both look good together or you suit each other well. That's how it came out in this conversation, didn't it?
Mingyeong: Yeah, in this conversation, 세호 said, 우리는 잘 어울려.
Keith: Yeah, we look good together.
Mingyeong: We can also use this for 분위기.
Keith: Yeah. Like an atmosphere or ambience. So let's say like, Mingyeong, I'm a pretty cool guy. I'm pretty hip.
Mingyeong: Ok.
Keith: 뭐가 잘 어울려요 for me?
Mingyeong: 오빠는 분식점이 잘 어울리는 것 같아요.
Keith: Korean-style fast food. Well, that's ok. I like it. Alright, well, I know what suits you.
Mingyeong: Grammar point가 잘 어울려요?
Keith: Yeah.
Mingyeong: Ok.
Keith: Ok. Mingyeong, so why don't we take a look at our grammar?
Mingyeong: 네.
Keith: Alright, Mingyeong, what are we taking a look at in this lesson?
Mingyeong: -아/어/여 보이다
Keith: This construction, -아/어/여 보이다 is used to mean 'it seems like' or 'to look'. It's like, "Oh, you seem tired." "You look sad".
Mingyeong: 보이다 originally means "to be seen" or "to be visible."
Keith: So this structure describes what something looks like or seems to be like. The tense and the mood of the sentence are expressed through the verb 보이다. So, Mingyeong, can you give an example of how to construct this? How do you say to be delicious?
Mingyeong: 맛있다
Keith: Alright. We've got a nice big, fat steak in front of us. How do you say, "It looks delicious"? To look delicious?
Mingyeong: You take the verb stem, which is 맛있, and add -어 보이다 so it's 맛있어 보이다.
Keith: And that -어 보이다 at the end, that's where you can change the tense, the mood of the sentence, and also the politeness levels. So let's try the standard politeness level.
Mingyeong: 맛있어 보여요.
Keith: That phrase, 맛있어 보여요, is used very, very commonly in everyday conversation.
Mingyeong: 네.
Keith: So every time I buy you food.
Mingyeong: You're counting?
Keith: Alright, well, how did it come out in this dialogue?
Mingyeong: 누나 said 나? 피곤해 보여?
Keith: "Me? Do I seem tired?" or "Do I look tired?"
Mingyeong: 누나 also said 너는 기분 좋아 보여.
Keith: "You seem happy." "You look happy." Alright. So, Mingyeong, let's move on to some other examples. Mingyeong, when you first started English, how old were you?
Mingyeong: 13.
Keith: That's it? Wow! Well, when you first saw English, it’s like this crazy language. Did it look difficult to you? 어려워 보였어요?
Mingyeong: 네, 어려워 보였어요.
Keith: It's not so hard now, is it?
Mingyeong: It's ok.
Keith: Well, what about me. When you met me for the first time. How did I look?
Mingyeong: 불쌍해 보였어요.
Keith: You looked pitiful. Not 멋있어 보였어요?
Mingyeong: 아, 웃겨 보였어요.
Keith: I looked funny. I don't know if that's a good one either. Of course, you can use this a lot when you're talking about things, when you're seeing them for the first time. So, for the first time in your life, you went to an Egyptian restaurant. They bring out this nice, big plate of food and "Wow! I've never seen this before," but...
Mingyeong: 맛있어 보여.
Keith: Or you just got a new job, and your boss is kind of big and he has a bald head and he's really intimidating looking.
Mingyeong: 무서워 보여.
Keith: So this is very easy to use when you're coming across something for the first time or just like in this conversation, if your friend looks tired. Mingyeong, 피곤해 보여. You look tired.
Mingyeong: 피곤해요.
Keith: You are tired.
Outro
Keith: Ok, well that's going to do it for this lesson.
Mingyeong: 다음 레슨 참 재밌어 보여요!
Keith: Oh! The next lesson seems like it's going to be fun. I think it will be. Alright. Thanks for joining us!
Mingyeong: 안녕히 계세요.
Keith: 안녕.

Grammar

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How Does Everything in Korea “Look” to You?

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Learn New Words FAST with this Lesson’s Vocab Review List

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Outro

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