안녕하세요! Anyoung haseyo! Hello and welcome to the Rocket Korean Language and Culture Lessons!
Ok, moving right along to the Language and Culture lessons. Yes they are "grammar" lessons, but they are so very much more than that. Along with the grammar you're also getting a great insight into Korean culture. You'll be way ahead of the pack if or when you decide to visit my wonderful home country.
I've designed these lessons to ease you into the mechanics behind the Korean language. You'll notice that many of the topics correspond to the ones in the Interactive Audio Course. The lessons give you a chance to take a closer look at many of the words and phrases you learned in those audio lessons.
Like the Interactive Audio Lessons, all of the Language & Culture lessons have Testing. This is the absolute best way to power up your understanding of Korean. I really recommend that you test yourself using the Testing tab for each and every lesson!
In today's Language section, you'll learn about the Korean system of honorifics. In certain languages such as Chinese and Japanese, the honorifics system is used to show respect, especially when you are addressing someone directly. In the Culture section, you'll have a look at the tradition behind Korean "etiquette".
Are you ready to get started? Here we go then...
Language Lesson
Honorifics
The Korean Language is based on the relationship between the speaker, the subject of the sentence, and the listener. The words you choose to use depend on how polite you need to be.
Just like in English, there are informal and formal ways to address people. However, unlike in most western cultures, people will be quite offended if you fail to address them properly. It's considered rude to call someone by their first name, especially someone who is older than you, or has more authority than you. In English, we use titles like "Mr.", "Mrs.", "Ms." and "Miss". to show respect, while in Korean, people use different words for the same purpose.
Courtesy: http://members.rocketlanguages.com/lessons/966
