FAQs about Korean Culture
-from English I Textbook-
Many foreigners experience culture shock when they come to Korea. If a foreigner asked you questions about our culture, how well would you be able to answer?
Let’s look at the kinds of culture shock they experience, especially concerning our language habits. It is an important duty to be prepared to answer questions like these.
[Q1] Why do Korean elders feel offended when foreigners say to them, 먹어요, which means Please eat.?
[A1] You might be wondering about this. Polite expressions are well developed in the Korean language. In Korean society, we are supposed to show respect to our elders. We do this by using a very polite form of speech. 드세요(Deuseyo) is one example of this polite form. In contrast, 먹어(Meogeo) is a very informal form of speech used only with close friends and children. Although foreigners use the respectful form 요(yo) after 먹어(Meogeo) , it is still impolite simply because 먹어(Meogeo) is an expression for friends and children.
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[Q2] Koreans rarely call each other by their first name except for close friends and children. Why is this?
[A2] It’s true. In Korea, it’s not as common to call others by their first name as it is in many other countries. Though students often do use first names among themselves, adults only use first names with their closest friends. At other times, we call people by their first name together with 씨(Mr./Ms.). This is very common among colleagues. To be more polite, we call people by their last name plus 선생님. And sometimes we call someone by his or her full name plus 선생님. This is the most respectful way and is appropriate only in formal situations.
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[Q3] When asked a question such as Aren’t you coming to the concert tonight?, why do Koreans answer 예(yes) when they really can’t come? I am very confused.
[A3] I know what you mean. Our way of using yes and no when answering negative questions in the Korean language is the opposite of yours. Koreans say yes or no based on whether we agree with the meaning of the whole sentence, not based on coming or not coming as in English. We answer yes to the question Aren’t you coming to the concert tonight? when, in fact, we aren’t planning to come. That’s because when speaking English we are often confused by our mother tongue.
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[Q4] When praised, Koreans often insist they did nothing deserving of praise. Why do you do this instead of accepting the praise and saying Thank you.?
[A4] This is done out of modesty; in other words, we feel like we are not deserving of so much praise. However, don’t think that Koreans really dislike being praised. Even though we react this way, we very much appreciate the compliment.
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[Q5] Why do Koreans often ask such private questions as Where are you going? and Have you eaten? to others?
[A5] These questions are used more as greetings than real questions. The strongest stress is on going, not on where. Where are you GOING? actually means Are you going somewhere? The person asking does not expect to hear the name of a place as an answer to the question. The only answer that is expected is a simple Yes. The expected answer to the question Have you eaten? is Yes if the person has eaten and No if he or she hasn’t. Some people just say Yes even if they have not eaten. You shouldn’t misunderstand the question. The person asking isn’t thinking of buying a meal for you!
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[Q6] Why do Koreans use “we” where ”I” would be used in English?
[A6] Koreans refer to Korea as our country, their wife as our wife, their house as our house, etc. This is because of the strong link between the individual and the group in Korean society. Koreans have very strong feelings of belonging to a group. That’s why we is more natural than I to Korean people.
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