Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Seol: 자, 오늘 뽀뽀뽀처럼 한번 해 볼까요?
Keith: Okay.
Minkyeong: 진짜?
Seol: 안녕, 친구들.
Minkyeong: 안녕 안녕.
Keith: Wait, what’s that show?
Seol: It's 뽀뽀뽀.
Keith: It means kiss, kiss, kiss.
Seol: And kids love this show a lot. It's like five or six year old kids and they love this show.
Keith: And I used to watch it a lot when I was a kid too.
Seol: Really?
Keith: You too, right?
Minkyeong: Yeah, always, always. Do the song…
Seol: 엄마가 앉아주면 뽀뽀뽀.
Minkyeong: 뽀뽀뽀.
Keith: That's the song… I was trying to think of the song the other day, yeah. That's an awesome song!
Seol: When you hear the song 뽀뽀뽀, you have to kiss other person.
Minkyeong: Wait, really?
Keith: I don't think this is going to happen in the studio today but that's not we're talking about today. We're talking about…

Lesson focus
Seol: Family Month.
Keith: The month of May is Family Month in Korea. So it has no relation with 뽀뽀뽀 at all and we just like that show. We're children at heart. So what's family month about? What's going on? Tell us a general, general idea, what's going on?
Minkyeong: May has many special days that Koreans celebrate like nationwide. And most of these days are concerned with family and close friends.
Keith: So, just go over a quick list, what do we have?
Seol: 어린이날.
Keith: Children's Day.
Seol: 어버이날.
Keith: Parents’ Day.
Seol: 스승의 날.
Keith: Teachers’ Day.
Seol: 석가탄신일.
Keith: And that's Buddha's Birthday. And some of these are national holidays. Which ones are?
Seol: 어린이날.
Keith: Children's Day.
Seol: And 석가탄신일.
Keith: Buddha's Birthday and what about the other days then?
Seol: 안 쉬어요.
Keith: You don't get any days off, huh? So you don't actually get a lot of days off in May then.
Minkyeong: No, but there is a lot of events and things that you do in May.
Keith: Okay, so let's…I think the best way to approach this lesson is going through each day and see what goes on. So first we have...
Seol: 어린이날.
Keith: Children's Day. And what's that first word we have?
Minkyeong: 어린이
Keith: A child or a kid.
Minkyeong: 어린이 [slowly - broken down by syllable] 어린이 [natural native speed]
Keith: And this is just referring to any children.
Minkyeong: We don't really use 어린이 that much. That’s like 아이들의 높임말이에요.
Keith: It's like the honorific form of the word children.
Minkyeong: Yeah.
Keith: So where would you use 어린이 the honorific form of the word children.
Seol: Like in 뽀뽀뽀, 어린이 여러분들 or...
Minkyeong: You know like in the show. In the show you trying to respect the kids so you say 어린이 여러분들, 어린이들.
Keith: What about teachers? 어린이.
Seol: No, they'd say 여러분 instead of referring to them as 어린이.
Keith: So, most of the time, what do we use, what's the word we use?
Seol: 아이들.
Keith: Same thing, just a neutral word, not an honorific word. All right, so what's goes on 어린이날 night? And that last 날 by the way means day so Children's Day. So what goes on? It's a national holiday. Something has to be special about it, right?
Seol: Yes, there are a lot of events and ceremonies that kids can enjoy. And they also receive presents from their parents and their relatives.
Keith: And what kind of presents do children get? Money, right?
Seol: Yes, basically it’s money, toys, books and clothes.
Keith: Just a quick question. What age are you not a child? Like your parents would not give you a present?
Seol: Well, after I entered middle school, my parents stopped giving me money.
Keith: But you’re still their child.
Seol: But I’m not their kid anymore.
Keith: You’re a child.
Seol: Yeah, I am a child. Well…
Minkyeong: Usually when you graduate from elementary school you don't get your 어린이날 선물.
Keith: So after elementary school it is pretty much over?
Seol: Yeah. From that time you become a teenager.
Keith: Well it's not just parents giving the children presents, it's also teachers giving presents.
Seol: Yes, small candies or small stuff.
Keith: Yeah, they'll buy like a bunch of candy and hand it out to their students. And their grandparents will give grandchildren I guess, right?
Seol: Yeah
Keith: All right, so this is a very special day for children in Korea. What kind of events go on?
Minkyeong: There is a lot of preforming like theaters and you go to theme parks with your parents. There's a lot of things to do. And it's like a family day. It's a day off so you hang out with your mom and dad you’re your brothers and sisters and have fun.
Keith: So what's the last thing you remember from your 어린이날?
Seol: Oh my God! It's long, long days ago so I don't remember exactly. We usually went shopping to buy our own presents by ourselves.
Keith: Say I don't want them to pick it out, you pick it. I'll pay for it.
Seol: And then we went to have dinner.
Keith: So all together as a family?
Seol: Yes.
Minkyeong: I think same as Seol. I think we went out to eat and buy presents. Yeah, I don't really remember.
Keith: Yes, it's a very simple day, just go out with your family, hang out, buy presents and go to eat. All right, so what's our next day, what do we have?
Minkyeong: 어버이날.
Keith: Parents’ Day. So in America we got Mother's Day, you’ve got to give your mother flowers. By the way, it's the biggest flower day in America, if you didn’t know that.
Seol: Oh… So you also buy carnation?
Keith: I think carnation is a flower of choice. What about Korea?
Seol: It should be carnation.
Keith: For your parents?
Seol: Yes.
Keith: Okay so on 어버이날, what do you give to your parents?
Minkyeong: Usually at school, you have to make carnations and you have to write a letter, and then you have to give it to your parents.
Keith: So you're forced to make a present at school for your parents?
Minkyeong: Yeah.
Keith: Well, I guess a lot of things like that happens for Valentine's Day too. You make something at school to give to your parents and...
Seol: Valentine's Day?
Keith: Valentine's Day, Christmas too, no?
Seol: No only for 어버이날.
Keith: Oh, ok. That first word is...
Seol: 어버이.
Keith: And that's “parents.”
Seol: Yeah, it's a very honorific word.
Minkyeong: Usually we don't say 어버이.
Keith: What's the typical word that would be used?
Seol: 부모님.
Keith: All right. So we have 어버이날 and give flowers to your mother and father?
Minkyeong: Yeah, both of your parents.
Seol: And presents too.
Minkyeong: I only gave them letters.
Seol: Okay.
Keith: The ones that you are forced to make at school. You didn't put any effort into it.
Minkyeong: It's like every year is the same. Thank you for raising me, I love you.
Keith: Oh, yeah, actually, let's go into a typical Korean letter to one's parents. What would you say?
Minkyeong: 어머님, 아버님, 키워 주셔서 감사합니다.
Keith: I love that line, I love that lone. What is that?
Minkyeong: Thank you for raising me. Why, why do you like this line?
Keith: I don't know. It's not very common in America or in English. "Thank you for raising me." But because I spoke Korean with my mom, I would always say 잘 키워 주셔서 감사합니다. “Thank you for raising me.” And uh... Yeah, but I love that line though. But that's like in every letter to your parents.
Seol: Yeah, it's a little fixed for this special day.
Keith: So you probably wrote it in all your letters to your parents.
Seol: I did, not anymore.
Keith: Because you're all grown up now.
Seol: Yeah. I am not writing letters anymore.
Keith: Well okay kids don't have a lot of money, what kind of presents do they give besides the standard flowers that you got to make in school and the letters?
Seol: It doesn't have to be really expensive so, in my case, I bought a handkerchief for my father, and for my mom it was a lipstick, I remember.
Keith: Aw, that's very nice. I remember I drew my dad a picture of a duck... on Father's Day.
Seol: He liked it?
Keith: He thought it was great.
Seol: Wow.
Keith: I was like four years old, five years old...
Minkyeong: Then it is kind of cute.
Keith: Well, I am not doing it like this year you know. All right so Parent’s Day is not a national holiday so basically you go out to eat after the parents finish working.
Seol: Yeah. And sometimes you make food by yourself instead of your mom. So it's kind of service for your mom.
Keith: That… I don't know if that's a good thing or not. Yeah, like a seven-year cooking. I don't know about that one. Okay, so not a national holiday. What's next?
Minkyeong: 스승의 날.
Keith: Teachers’ Day. What's that first part?
Minkyeong: 스승.
Keith: Teacher. And, again, this is honorific. What's the typical word that we would use?
Minkyeong: 선생님.
Keith: So where would you hear the word 스승?
Seol: Because 스승 is the most honorific word for teacher so we are just showing our respect for them.
Keith: And, as you might have guessed, it is very similar to Parents' Day. So what goes on on Teachers' Day?
Minkyeong: I remember it's like a festival at school. You don't have class and you sing 스승의 은혜 to your teacher and we just have fun with the teacher.
Keith: So you just hang out the whole day at school.
Minkyeong: Yeah. That's what you do.
Keith: That's pretty awesome.
Minkyeong: Yeah, it is really, really good.
Keith: Do you give them presents as well?
Minkyeong: Yeah, yeah we give them presents and flowers, carnation.
Keith: That they make you make?
Minkyeong: No.
Seol: For 스승의 날 we buy flowers.
Keith: Oh but for 어버이날 you make flowers.
Seol: Yeah for 어버이날 we all make carnation but for 스승의 날 we buy a bunch of flowers. So it's kind of like big and more expensive.
Keith: Would you say Teachers’ Day is bigger than Parents’ Day?
Seol: Well, Teachers’ Day is kind of like in an office and a ceremony, which is more planned and ordered. But 어버이날, it depends on the family.
Keith: I don't my parents, I’m not giving them carnations.
Seol: Then 어버이날 is one of the so-so days.
Keith: It’s just an average day.
Minkyeong: And there is usually every school has this ceremony of putting a carnation to your teacher’s chest. You pin it and it's like a big ceremony. Like every teacher gets it.
Keith: Okay, they must feel very special. All right and I know who else feels very special.
Seol: Buddha?
Keith: Yeah, he has his birthday celebrated in Korea. What's Buddha's birthday in Korean?
Seol: 석가탄신일
Keith: No, that's a little convoluted. So what's the first part?
Seol: 석가
Keith: Buddha
Seol: 탄신일
Keith: Birthday. Buddha's Birthday is a very big holiday in Korea. But the Buddhist population in Korea is maybe I think it's about 20-25 percent around there. I'm not 100 percent sure on this but yeah it's not the majority, definitely. So why is it such a big holiday, why is it such a big deal?
Seol: Well, I think Korean people are religious so they respect each religion very much, so that's one of the reasons that we celebrate Buddha's Birthday just like Christmas.
Keith: Again, so like Christmas if we compare to the West, Christmas is very celebrated. It's a very big holiday even for non-Christian people. So the same thing. You flip it so Buddha's Birthday is a very big holiday even for non-Buddhist people.
Minkyeong: Yeah.
Keith: So what kind of stuff goes on? I remember, when I was in Korea I was walking... I didn’t even know it was Buddha's Birthday, I was just hanging out, “Oh yeah, I got a day off from work.” It's like this huge parade going down and I'm like, “What?! It’s crazy!”
Minkyeong: And usually there’s a lighting ceremony, paper lantern, and you put a candle inside and you float it on the river.
Keith: I stayed at a temple for maybe two days or so. And the monks were teaching the group that I was with on some of the customs and what to do so we made that same exact thing, except I think it was in a lotus flower. I'm not sure, but we went out to a river and we sent it out. I don't know where it ended up, but… So what’s lotus flower in Korean?
Minkyeong: 연꽃
Keith: What are some other popular things that go on on Buddha's Birthday?
Seol: There is a special ceremony that we call 방생. It's kind of very religious. So we buy fish from a market or in a fishery shop and then you let them go in the river again. So you just make them live another life.
Keith: You let them free.
Seol: Yeah.
Keith: Well, that’s very interesting. Sounds like fun. Well, I think that's going to do it, we're running out of time. So what's... Is there anything you say on Buddha's Birthday to each other or…?
Seol: Merry Buddha's Birthday.
Keith: Merry Buddha’s Birthday. 행복한 석가탄신일.
Seol: 네.
Keith: Doesn't really work, no? Kind of?
Seol: Yeah, you started this line so it can spread over nationwide.

Outro
Keith: Yeah, let's do that. So our listeners can help me spread the word by coming to KoreanClass101.com. If you come there and say “Happy Buddha’s Birthday.” maybe it will become a trend in Korea. Maybe. So remember to stop by and our post has a comments section and everyone is very lively and vibrant and we try to help each other out with questions, culture questions, language questions and any other questions that you may have. Let us know, we’re here to help. All right, that's going to do it. See you later.
Seol: 행복한 5월 되세요.
Minkyeong: 즐거운 석가탄신일.

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