Introducing yourself | Mini Korean Lesson

Whenever someone learns a new language, the first thing they'd usually want to learn aside from saying "hello" is how to introduce themselves. So if you meet a Korean and you want to introduce yourself... Keep reading! 

I've had some experience chatting with some people over tweets and there were a few different ways that I introduced myself. 

Usually, people would introduce themselves using -입니다 (imnida) as that is the formal way of introducing yourself. So if you are unsure if you will offend someone or not, using this would be safe. 

Here's how the introduction would go:

안녕하세요. 저는 피델리아 입니다. 

(Annyeonghaseyo. Cheoneun Fidelia imnida.) 

It would be better to refer to yourself as '저는' instead of '나는' when you are meeting someone for the first time as it is more polite.

There is another way to introduce yourself and this way is less formal than the above but it is polite so you still can use this when you are introducing yourself to a stranger. However, this way of introduction is a little confusing as the end of the sentence would depend on the 받침 (badchim) of your name.

받침 (badchim) refers to the last consonant of the word.

For example:

규현 (Kyuhyun) - has a 받침 (badchim) and 'ㄴ' is the 받침 (badchim) as it is the last consonant of the name.

동해 (Donghae) - doesn't have a 받침 (badchim) as there isn't any consonant at the end of the name.

Here's how you would introduce yourself if you have a 받침 (badchim) in your name:

안녕하세요. 저는 규현 이에요.

(Annyeonghaseyo. Cheoneun Kyuhyun yieyo.)

And if you don't a 받침 (badchim) in your name:

안녕하세요. 저는 동해 예요.

(Annyeonghaseyo. Choneun Donghae yeyo.)

These are the few ways you would introduce yourself to someone you are meeting or talking to for the first time. People don't usually use 반말 (banmal) or informal speech to introduce themselves as that is considered impolite or rude.

If you are unfamiliar with 반말 (banmal), you can read about it here:

What is banmal (반말)?

Hope this post was helpful! 

Please leave comments below and let me know if you would like more posts similar to this.