...Korean! Week One: Summary and Useful Expressions

안녕하세요!

So as a recap, here is everything that we've covered over this week. Please keep in mind that from here on out, I will no longer provide romanized translations of anything covered. So take this time now to study and master 한글!

Part 1: Alphabet

Part 2: Writing

Stroke Order

Vocabulary 

As mentioned earlier, here I will provide a list of useful expressions just as a cursory introduction to Korean vocabulary. 

안녕하세요?                    Hello/How are you? 

안녕하십니까?*              Hello/How are you?

안녕히가세요.                 Goodbye (said to the one leaving).

안녕히가십시요.*           Goodbye (said to the one leaving).

안녕히계세요.                 Goodbye (said to the one staying).

안녕히계십시요.*           Goodbye (said to the one staying).

고맙습니다.                     Thank you.

감사합니다.                     Thank you.

천만에요.                         You are welcome/Not at all.

별말씀을요.                     You are welcome/Don't mention it.

무슨씀을요.                     You are welcome/Don't mention it.

미안합니다.                     I'm sorry.

죄송합니다.*                   I'm truly sorry.

괜찮습니다.                     It's ok/No problem.

어서오세요.                     Welcome!

실례합니다.                     Excuse me.

실례하겠슴니다.*           Excuse me.

*In Korean, speakers tend to show respect to others in order to be polite. This is done by changing the language used toward people who are older or deserving of respect, such as your boss, as compared to people who are friends or of the same social status. There are many different levels of "respectful" language in Korean. I will be using, in most cases, the standard "polite" Korean (called 해요체, haeyo-che). Sometimes, I will provide a more formal option for situations where the speaker needs to show respect to whomever they are talking (called 하십시오체 hasipsio-che). I will mark the formal equivalent with an asterisk (*). 

Notes:

1. 안녕하세요? 
   means "Hello" and "How are you?" and is a greeting for everyday use at any time day. The proper response to this would be to repeat 안녕하세요? It literally means "Are you at peace?"
2. 안녕히가세요 and 안녕히계세요 both mean "Goodbye."
   The former is spoken by the person who is staying, and the latter is spoken by the person who is leaving. These phrases literally mean "Please go in peace" and "Please stay in peace."
3. 고맙습니다 and 감사합니다 both mean "Thank you."
   The proper response is either 천만에요, 별말씀을요 or 무슨씀을요, but one may also reply with a silent nod, or respond with just 네, which means "Yes."
4. The response to 미안합니다 or 죄송합니다 is 괜찮습니다.
   These are only ever said as an expression of apology for something that the speaker has done. It is never meant to be used as an expression of sympathy, such as when hearing bad news. 
   실례합니다 literally means "I am committing rudeness and discourtesy," and it is used to get somebody's attention. There is no response to this.
5. 어서오세요 is used to greet somebody who has entered a building, such as a house or a shop. It literally means "Please come hurry." The response to entering someone's home is 
   실례하겠슴니다 which means "I am doing a great discourtesy," while there is no expected response to a shopkeeper's welcome.