(speaking Korean) - I think I already said (speaking Korean) (Natalia giggles) Can I speak Korean, I don't even know. (speaking Korean) It's Natalia and welcome back to the channel. It's best to encourage you to believe in your
ability to learn Korean. So today I want to talk to
you about the top six things that I wish I knew before
I started my journey to Korean fluency. Because, I really feel like I
would've had an easier time if I had just known this. But, you know what? It's fine. You'll know and you'll have
an easier time than I did. So yeah, let's jump into the video. (speaking Korean) Starting off with number six. I wish someone had prepared me for the fact that things
can get really awkward really fast when you
don't know someone's name. Or worse, when you don't
know their position. Or even worse, worse, worse,
when you don't remember. 'Cause now you can't ask them,
but now it's just awkward. Okay, So if you're unaware, it's uncommon to use
the word you in Korean. It's like the word that you
use towards your close friends when you're like, (speaking Korean) It's like close friends or when you're trying to
get like, into a fight like, (speaking Korean) Like that. So, (Nataliaa groans) I just don't- And I know there are
some textbooks that teach (speaking Korean) as the polite way of saying you. And technically they're not
wrong, but also don't use it, cause again, it can be
offensive and a fighting word. So just- You don't use it. So usually when you're
trying to address someone or call out to them, like, "hey so-and-so, you wanna order some chicken?" You have to use their name, followed by a title or like
a position of some sorts. So maybe (speaking Korean) Like, younger than you,
you're not close enough to call them any of those
things or something, you would use ssi, right? And if it's not the kind of situation you would call them like, (speaking Korean) or (speaking Korean) or something like that, right? But when you don't know their
name, you can't put ssi, which is the one you use
when they don't have a title. And if you don't have their position, you can't just be like. Now it's just awkward and you have to hope that they make eye contact
with you and you'd be like (speaking Korean) I think I just said nosebleed, great. (Natalia laughs) Do you want to order some coffee? You know, you have to
like make eye contact and it's so awkward cause I
found myself in this position so many times. When I was at church, right, I would meet all these people
that were around my age, but older than me. And they would tell me their names and I would forget by the next Sunday when I saw them and I didn't
feel comfortable calling them (speaking Korean) cause I don't know them, but then I don't know their names either. So I would literally sit there being like, and I would be eavesdropping. I was like the queen of eavesdropping. And like I was waiting for
somebody to say their name so I could be- okay that one
is Hayoung and that's her name. (Natalia laughs) And I like write it down
on my phone, I'd be like, okay, Hayoung has dyed hair and glasses, that way, the next time I
saw her, I could be like, (speaking Korean) Like I could address them
cause I didn't want to be rude. I'm sorry, that was like a rant because I got really stressed really fast. (Natalia laughs) (gentle laid-back music) Number five, there are
so many Korean words that will be translated into
one or two words in English and it makes it really difficult because they're all different in Korean. They're not the same, you
can't interchange them. They're not substitutable, okay? So for example, in English
we say you bring something, you carry something or you take something. Just three words. Just three words that we use
in everyday conversations to express this idea of movement, right? But in Korean there's
like six or seven words that I can think of,
off the top of my head, that are used in everyday conversation that are used to mean to
bring, to carry or to take. Shall we begin? (speaking Korean) Oh yeah, and there's (speaking Korean) And like I said, don't
forget, they're all different, and they have their own things
or times when you use them. Some mean you bringing
or taking an object, some mean you're bringing
or taking a person, and one means (speaking Korean) means you're only talking about the hand. You can't use it to mean
you took some milk home or something. They're all different,
so, good luck with that. (gentle laid-back music) Number four, like Korean words, Korean grammar has a lot of structures that all mean the same thing in English. Oh and don't forget, you
can't substitute them for each other cause they
all have a different feeling, and if you try to substitute
them with each other, it's wrong. Or you said something completely different from what you done thought you said, okay? So, for example, in English
we say the word "because". "Because something, something." Or "since something, something." Or, what's the other word,
"due to something, something." So we have three. We have three but in Korean, there's like four, five,
maybe even six structures that can be used as the word "because". Shall I "edumacate" you? Yes, I think I shall. Now because there are so many, I cannot tell you them
off the top of my head. So I have them here listed
out for me to read to you. (speaking Korean) And those are the only ones that I could remember
while writing this script. There are probably more. So, know that when you
start learning Korean, you have to learn a lot of grammar and you gotta learn it well. (gentle laid-back music) Number three might be a little shocking because you are often told
when you start learning Korean, "oh, Korean is pronounced
the way it is spelled." That is a big fat lie, okay? That is a big fat lie. There are so many (speaking Korean) changes or just like,
sounds, pronunciation rules that you need to be aware of, that you are not gonna to see, okay? You're not gonna see
it when you're looking at the written word
because it's different. For example, so (speaking Korean) means Korean language. You probably know this word if you've started learning Korean. But let me tell you, is that (speaking Korean) at the bottom, forget that. Toss it out. It's not a giyeok anymore. It's an- (speaking Korean) Okay? Because the (speaking Korean) the M sound, right? It changes like giyeok to an (speaking Korean) sound. (speaking Korean) No, no no. No friend,
no, no, no, no, no, okay? And then there's times where- I can't even express to you how many times the bottom consonant will
change depending on what, like, syllable or what letter follows it. (gentle laid-back music) Number two, formal and casual language are not as easy as adding (speaking Korean) to the end of the sentences. No, no, no, friend. No. So, when I first started learning Korean, I really thought there
were only three levels. I thought it was (speaking Korean) So just three, I was like,
yeah, three that's a lot. Like, I could learn it. No! No, no, no. So, actually there's like,
closer to six or seven levels. And it doesn't end there,
it's not just adding things to the end of your sentences. No, no, no, there are special
particles you have to use when you're trying to be respectful, okay? There are, oh my gosh,
there are different words depending on who you're talking to. So, there's (speaking Korean) I think this is a pretty
common one, but like (speaking Korean) Ready to eat. If you're talking about
someone or to someone that is older than you of like some superior
level of ranking and stuff, it's (speaking Korean) Completely different word. (speaking Korean) For example, my house is a (speaking Korean) but if I'm talking about
my grandma's house, like she's like, (Natalia gasps) wow, right, cause she's grandma. So, she has- she doesn't have a (speaking Korean) She has a (speaking Korean) Okay? And like, these are
just some basic examples. Like it gets so much more complicated. Oh my gosh, because it's not just like, oh you have to know the language. It's like you have to know the culture too in order to use it correctly. And I found myself so
confused all the time, because I will say, I'll add
the shi particle to something and I'll use it to someone that I apparently I'm not
supposed to be using it to, okay?. Or, like, if I have made a friend and we started our friendship in English, when we switch to Korean, sometimes I'm like, okay,
do I start off with the yo because I don't want to be rude. But also if I use a yo,
then it could be rude. Does that make sense? Like, either I'm too rude,
because I'm not being polite and I'm not using the yo, or I could be too rude because
I'm putting a wall between us because I used yo when, to them, we have a really close friendship, so I should've started off with just (speaking Korean) cause we've been friends already. What the heck is going on? So yeah, no I get really stressed. (gentle laid-back music) Now moving on to the number one thing that I wish I knew before
I started learning Korean. Are you ready? (Natalia sighs) Living in Korea doesn't
mean you'll become fluent. I know. So when I first went to
Korea to study abroad, I really thought that
I was gonna come back, like, I speak such good Korean. Like I really thought that
I was going to be able to have conversations
with no problem, you know. I didn't think I was gonna
be like fluent-fluent, but I had an idea that I
would be conversational. I did not come back conversational. So basically what I have learned is that just because you move to Korea, doesn't mean you'll be using Korean, doesn't mean you'll get better at Korean. You can literally move to Korea and only speak English and be fine. And there's so many so many
different reasons for this. For example, when I went, I was surrounded by Koreans that spoke amazing English. Amazing. Amazing English. So even though I was in the countryside where nobody else spoke English, the people that were my roommates, the people that I was seeing in class, like, they all spoke English. Even if it wasn't like,
wow, fantastic English, they spoke English better
than I spoke Korean. So, all of my relationships
were in English with the exception of like, my church. But like, everyone I hung out
with was speaking in English, my international friends,
English, obviously, and like, my Korean friends, English. So for me- it just, no. It didn't happen. There's so many ways to not become fluent. It's not gonna to happen
just because you're there. You're still gonna have
to put in a lot of effort. You're still gonna have to
go and like try make those friends that don't speak English,
so you can practice. There are so many people in Korea that speak good English, to where they hear you
struggling in Korean, they'll just switch to English. They'll be like " oh how can I help you?" "What are you looking for?" "Do you need help with directions?" They will just come up to
you and bless their souls. You never know when you're
gonna need a person like that. But like, it makes it really hard to like, just pick up Korean by living in Korea, if that makes sense. So I hope you guys enjoyed
hearing my six little mini rants. And if you're starting your
journey in learning Korean, you can check out this video down here, where I give you some tips
on how to start learning. Anyway, I'll see you guys
in the next video, so, See you next time!
