7 lines to introduce yourself in Korean (and the one with no English equivalent)

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A Korean self-introduction has a fixed shape, and the people listening know it as well as you do. Name, where you are from, how long you have been here, why you are learning Korean. Get those four in order and the conversation runs itself, because the questions that follow are the same ones every time.

Most of these use the polite 요 form, which is right for nearly every first meeting. The first and last lines step up to the formal -ㅂ니다 ending, because they belong to the moments (a new workplace, meeting someone's parents) where a little extra formality costs nothing.

  1. 안녕하세요, 처음 뵙겠습니다.

    annyeonghaseyo, cheoeum boepgetseumnida.

    Hello, nice to meet you.

    Literally: Hello, (I) see you for the first time.

    뵙다 is the humble verb for seeing someone, so this is the formal version for a first meeting at work, with a friend's parents, or with anyone older. Among people your own age, 만나서 반가워요 (glad to meet you) is enough.

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  2. 저는 다니엘이라고 해요.

    jeoneun danielirago haeyo.

    I'm Daniel.

    Literally: As for me, (people) say Daniel.

    -(이)라고 해요 means 'I go by'. It sounds more natural in conversation than the textbook 제 이름은 다니엘입니다, which is fine in writing but stiff out loud. After a vowel the particle drops its 이: 마리아라고 해요.

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  3. 멕시코에서 왔어요.

    meksikoeseo wasseoyo.

    I'm from Mexico.

    Literally: (I) came from Mexico.

    Koreans say where they came from rather than where they are from. 멕시코 사람이에요 (I'm Mexican) also works, but 에서 왔어요 is what you will hear back when you ask the same question.

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  4. 한국에 온 지 두 달 됐어요.

    hanguge on ji du dal dwaesseoyo.

    I've been in Korea for two months.

    Literally: Since coming to Korea, two months became.

    This is almost always the second question, so have the answer ready. The pattern is -(으)ㄴ 지 + time + 됐어요; swap in 일주일 (a week), 일 년 (a year), 삼 년 (three years).

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  5. 한국어 배우고 있어요.

    hangugeo baeugo isseoyo.

    I'm learning Korean.

    Saying this early sets expectations and buys patience. The reply is nearly always 한국어 잘하시네요 (your Korean is good), whatever your Korean is actually like, which is what the next line is for.

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  6. 아직 잘 못해요.

    ajik jal motaeyo.

    I'm not good yet.

    Literally: Still, (I) can't do it well.

    The expected answer to a compliment. Accepting praise with 감사합니다 is not wrong, but deflecting it reads as better manners, and 아직 (still, not yet) signals that you are working on it.

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  7. 잘 부탁드립니다.

    jal butakdeurimnida.

    I look forward to working with you.

    Literally: (I) ask well of you.

    There is no English for this. It closes an introduction on a first day at work, in a class, or with a new team, and means roughly 'please be good to me, I'll do my part'. Formal -ㅂ니다 ending because it is almost always said to a group or to someone senior.

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One habit worth copying: Koreans introduce themselves in the order that lets the other person place them. Age, hometown, and job come up quickly not out of nosiness but because they decide which speech level everyone should use with each other. If someone asks how old you are within the first minute, that is what is going on.

Reading a list is the easy part. Ask Ipsae about any of these phrases and it brings them back until they stay, and tells you what grammar comes next.

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