In Survival Korean you learned to say your name and your country: 저는 … 이에요. That gets you through the first ten seconds.
The next minute is almost always the same few questions, in roughly the same order. The table below has five; the name you can already answer, so today you learn the other four, the answers you need for your own life, and a short way to send each question back.
| Question | Sound | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 이름이 뭐예요? | ireumi mwoyeyo? | What is your name? |
| 어디에서 왔어요? | eodieseo wasseoyo? | Where are you from? |
| 어디에 살아요? | eodie sarayo? | Where do you live? |
| 무슨 일 하세요? | museun il haseyo? | What do you do (for work)? |
| 왜 한국어를 배워요? | wae hangugeoreul baewoyo? | Why are you learning Korean? |
1 · Where you are from, where you live
어디에서 왔어요? literally asks "where did you come from?". Answer with your country or city plus 에서 왔어요.
어디에 살아요? asks where you live now. Answer with the place plus 에 살아요.
| Korean | Sound | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 불가리아에서 왔어요 | bulgariaeseo wasseoyo | I am from Bulgaria |
| 베트남에서 왔어요 | beteunameseo wasseoyo | I am from Vietnam |
| 몽골에서 왔어요 | monggoreseo wasseoyo | I am from Mongolia |
| 서울에 살아요 | seoure sarayo | I live in Seoul |
| 부산에 살아요 | busane sarayo | I live in Busan |
| 한국에 처음 왔어요 | hanguge cheoeum wasseoyo | It is my first time in Korea |