Learn how to say that you don't speak Korean well
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Becky: Hi everyone, and welcome back to KoreanClass101.com. This is Business Korean for Beginners, Season 1 Lesson 14 - Switching to English. Becky here. |
| Kyejin: 안녕하세요. 김계진입니다. |
| Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to say that you don't speak Korean well, and ask if it's okay to speak in English. The conversation takes place in an office. |
| Kyejin: It's between Linda and the woman who answered her call. |
| Becky: The speakers are strangers and it’s a business call, so they’ll be using formal Korean. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Woman: 네, 모두은행입니다. |
| Linda: ABC사의 린다 베이커라고 합니다. 바쁘신데 죄송합니다. |
| Woman: 아닙니다, 고객님. 무엇을 도와드릴까요? |
| Linda: 죄송하지만 아직 한국어가 서툴러서요. 영어로 말해도 괜찮을까요? |
| Woman: 네 괜찮습니다. |
| Becky: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Woman: 네, 모두은행입니다. |
| Linda: ABC사의 린다 베이커라고 합니다. 바쁘신데 죄송합니다. |
| Woman: 아닙니다, 고객님. 무엇을 도와드릴까요? |
| Linda: 죄송하지만 아직 한국어가 서툴러서요. 영어로 말해도 괜찮을까요? |
| Woman: 네 괜찮습니다. |
| Becky: Now, listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Woman: This is Modu Bank. |
| Linda: Hello. I’m Linda Baker of ABC corporation. Thank you for your business. |
| Woman: Not at all, ma’am. How may I help you? |
| Linda: I’m sorry, but I’m not good at Korean yet. Can I speak in English? |
| Woman: Yes, of course. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Becky: Kyejin, do Korean people speak English well? |
| Kyejin: Well… most Korean people speak at least a basic level of English, so they can at least connect you to someone else who speaks English well. |
| Becky: I see. Since speaking English well may be required in order to get a job, it seems most of the staff at Korean companies should be able to speak pretty good English. So Listeners, even if you speak Korean well, it’s always nice to have someone who speaks your native language, especially in a complicated business situation or in an emergency situation? |
| Kyejin: I agree. In this lesson’s dialogue, Linda asked if it was okay to speak in English. She said 영어로 말해도 괜찮을까요? |
| Becky: It literally means “Is it okay if I speak in English?” Even though she speaks Korean, maybe she thought it would be faster for her to speak in English, or that the subject matter was going to go beyond her level. |
| Kyejin: Right. Especially when you are busy, this phrase will help you save time. |
| Becky: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Becky: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Kyejin: 은행 [natural native speed] |
| Becky: bank |
| Kyejin: 은행 [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kyejin: 은행 [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Kyejin: 고객 [natural native speed] |
| Becky: customer |
| Kyejin: 고객 [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kyejin: 고객 [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Kyejin: 도와드리다 [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to give help (honorific) |
| Kyejin: 도와드리다 [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kyejin: 도와드리다 [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Kyejin: 아직 [natural native speed] |
| Becky: not yet, still |
| Kyejin: 아직 [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kyejin: 아직 [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Kyejin: 서투르다 [natural native speed] |
| Becky: not familiar with, poor at |
| Kyejin: 서투르다 [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kyejin: 서투르다 [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Kyejin: 괜찮다 [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to be okay, to be all right, used to deny an offer |
| Kyejin: 괜찮다 [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kyejin: 괜찮다 [natural native speed] |
| : Lastly: |
| Kyejin: 영어 [natural native speed] |
| Becky: English language |
| Kyejin: 영어 [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kyejin: 영어 [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Becky: Let's have a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first expression is.. |
| Kyejin: 네 괜찮습니다. |
| Becky: meaning "Yes, it’s okay.” |
| Kyejin: 네 means “yes” and 괜찮습니다 basically means “it’s okay.” This can be translated as “please go ahead.” So altogether, 네 괜찮습니다 means "Yes, please go ahead." |
| Becky: In this lesson’s dialogue, Linda asked if it was okay to use English. The woman responded... |
| Kyejin: 네 괜찮습니다. |
| Becky: which means "It's okay, please go ahead and speak in English." So when someone asks you if it’s OK to do something, you can respond with this phrase if it’s not a problem. |
| Kyejin: 네 괜찮습니다. can also be translated as “Yes, you can” in English. |
| Becky: Right. You can also use it when you’re handing something to someone. Kyejin, can you give us an example using this word? |
| Kyejin: Sure. If someone asks you...이 펜을 써도 괜찮을까요? |
| Becky: ..which means "Can I use this pen?” |
| Kyejin: You can give him or her the pen and say 네 괜찮습니다. |
| Becky: “Sure, you can.” “Sure, here you are." Okay, what's the next word? |
| Kyejin: 아직 |
| Becky: meaning "still” or “yet." When it's used in an affirmative sentence, it’s translated as “still," and when used in a negative sentence, it’s translated as "yet." Let’s give some examples. Kyejin, how do you say “it’s 3 o’clock” in Korean? |
| Kyejin: 세 시입니다. |
| Becky: “It’s 3 o’clock.” How do you say “it’s STILL 3 o’clock” in Korean? |
| Kyejin: 아직 세 시입니다. |
| Becky: “It’s still 3 o’clock.” Notice that our word comes at the beginning of the sentence. |
| Kyejin: Listeners, here’s a quiz for you. 세 시가 아닙니다. means “it’s not 3 o’clock,” doesn’t it? So how do you translate 아직 세 시가 아닙니다 into English? |
| Becky:... This is a negative sentence so you have to use the translation of “yet” … |
| Kyejin: So…? |
| Becky: “It’s not 3 o’clock yet.” |
| Kyejin: Right! The usage of 아직 is a little complicated, so make sure to read the lesson notes. |
| Becky: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
| Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to say that you don't speak Korean well, and ask if it's okay to speak in English. |
| Kyejin: The sentences we’ll tackle are… 죄송하지만 아직 한국어가 서툴러서요. 영어로 말해도 괜찮을까요? |
| Becky: “I’m sorry, but I’m not good at Korean yet. Can I speak in English?” Let’s divide this into three parts and take a closer look at each component. At the very beginning, we have… |
| Kyejin: 죄송하지만 |
| Becky: which means “I’m sorry” or “excuse me.” When you make a request, you should start with this phrase. Secondly, we have... |
| Kyejin:아직 한국어가 서툴러서요. |
| Becky: “I’m not good at Korean yet.” Let’s break down this sentence. |
| Kyejin: 아직 |
| Becky: “yet” |
| Kyejin: 한국어 |
| Becky: “Korean language” |
| Kyejin:가 |
| Becky: a particle |
| Kyejin: 서툴러서요. |
| Becky: “because I’m not good at.” Can we hear the sentence again? |
| Kyejin: 아직 한국어가 서툴러서요. |
| Becky: “I’m not good at Korean yet.” |
| Kyejin: Probably the most important grammar here is the usage of the particle 가. |
| Becky: Right. You have to mark what you don’t understand with this particle. |
| Kyejin:For example, 한국어 “가" 서툴러서요. |
| Becky: “I’m not good at Korean.” Like this sentence, you can place what you are not good at before this particle. |
| Kyejin: You can use the verb 잘 모르다 which means “to not know well” instead of the verb 서투르다 which means “not good at something.” They’re interchangeable, but we recommend that you use 서투르다 when you’re talking about a language, because it sounds like you are trying to be good at it instead of simply not knowing it. |
| Becky: All right. Let’s look at the last sentence. |
| Kyejin:영어로 말해도 괜찮을까요? |
| Becky: Which literally means “Is it fine with English?” or “Is it okay to talk in English?” We know the words for “English” and how to say “is it okay?” or “is it fine?”...but what’s the particle here? |
| Kyejin: 로 is a particle and in this case, it’s equivalent to the English preposition “in.” |
| Becky: I see. So it means “in English.” |
| Kyejin: Exactly. Then we have.. 말해도 괜찮을까요? |
| Becky: “Is it okay to speak..?” |
| Kyejin: This pattern can be used to ask someone’s permission politely. |
| Becky: For example.. |
| Kyejin: 나중에 전화해도 괜찮을까요? |
| Becky: “Is it okay to call you later?” |
| Kyejin: 한국인 친구를 바꿔줘도 괜찮을까요? |
| Becky: “Is it okay if I ask you to speak to my Korean friend?” OK. Let’s recap. Kyejin, can you repeat the sentence we learned in this section one last time? |
| Kyejin: Sure! 죄송하지만 아직 한국어가 서툴러서요. 영어로 말해도 괜찮을까요? |
| Becky: “I’m sorry, but I’m not good at Korean yet. May I speak in English?” |
Outro |
| Becky: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Kyejin: 다음시간에 만나요. |
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