1 HOUR Natural Korean Conversation 🇰🇷 - Listening Practice [KOR/ENG SUB]

I’ve really been looking forward to this topic.

You have? (Yeah.) I know, I heard.

(What is it?) College life.

Yay!

Are you excited?

Yeah, I really enjoyed my time in college,

so just hearing about it gets me excited.

Really? Yes.

I dressed sort of like a college student today. What do you think, do I look like a student?

I saw that style a lot in the library during exam season.

You look kind of like a professor.

Like a professor?

Yes.

Come on, tell me I look like a top student.

Top student? Oh. I feel like I’m in your office.

Oh, come on. You don’t mean I look old, do you?

No, just that your outfit is sort of calm…

Right.

and dignified.

I look dignified? Thank you.

Like a grad student.

Grad student, I like that.

So Seung-wan, how long ago did you graduate college?

For me, it was two or three years ago.

(It’s been that long?) Yes. Why? Do I look like it hasn’t been long?

No. (Do I still look like a college student?)

No. So it’s been a while. (Yes.) For me, it’s been about a year and a half.

That’s not much difference. Two years, a year and a half.

(I was surprised because you said two or three.)

I guess it’s been two—wait, maybe three? I don’t know.

One thing that’s interesting about entering and graduating school in Korea—

you know how we usually start school all together in March.

Right. In Korea, you start school in March

and the second semester starts in September. That’s right, yeah.

ut when you graduate, you don’t all graduate together in February.

You can graduate in February and also in August.

Exactly.

What month did you graduate?

I graduated in the winter, in February.

I graduated in August. (Ah, you were a cosmos graduate.)

Right, exactly. I’m a cosmos graduate.

That’s what we call graduating in August.

(Right. It kind of has…)

a ring to it. (Doesn’t it? There’s something romantic about it, isn’t there?) There is!

So for you, it’s been 2 or 3 years, and for me it’s been one and a half.

What was your major, then?

I graduated from the English department.

The English department. Yes.

That’s a little unusual.

It’s unusual?

Yeah. Usually the department is called English Language and Literature. That’s right.

So learning about literature is mandatory,

but if it’s the English department, do you only learn about the language?

Right. There’s no literature, and you just learn about English, English studies.

So I don’t know, say, Shakespeare very well.

So, but I actually preferred that.

I wasn’t that interested in English literature,

but I found the use of the language interesting.

So phonetics, morphology—there were subjects like this where just hearing it,

some people might think, “I’m already bored” or “That sounds hard,

but I think I had a lot of fun with it.

Ah, is that why you’re so good at English?

Oh, stop it, really.

I majored in law.

The Law department. Judges, prosecutors, lawyers…

…are trained in the Law department. Right.

I still became a Korean teacher, but…

Yeah, you did.

I actually had a lot of fun in my major too.

That must be—you enjoyed your major, right?

Yeah. It was fun.

That must be why we look back on our college days more fondly.

Besides studying—you don’t just study, usually.

Right.

You hang out… Right.

and do a lot of different activities. Right.

Is there an activity, memory, or something like that you remember most?

An activity I remember most.

Usually when we talk about college activities,

there are things you do within the confines of school

and things you do outside

Right.

So we talk about 교외 활동 or 대외 활동 (extracurricular activities)

Right.

But I remember the first extracurricular club I joined the most.

What kind of club was it?

It was a club where you introduce Korea to people from other countries.

Wow, so there’s a connection to this work you’re doing now.

Exactly. Since then I was excited about promoting Korea,

promoting it through language,

and I kept doing activities related to that until I chose this career.

That was really your starting point in a way, then.

Exactly. That club let me know what I liked and was good at,

so I’m really grateful and remember it a lot.

Aha

If I think of the things that brought me here, if I go back,

for me it wasn’t clubs but a part-time job. (Your part-time job.)

Yeah. I worked part-time at a study room. (Right.)

And there were Koreans that would come to study English,

and foreigners, foreigners living in Korea would come to teach English,

and they would have a study group. (Right.)

And since the foreigners are people that live in Korea

and are trying to learn Korean,

as I connected and exchanged with them,

the same satisfaction and enjoyment they felt while teaching English,

I felt the other way around teaching them a bit of Korean.

I think that’s how it started for me.

So thanks to the clubs and the part-time jobs that we did in college (Right.)

we were both helped with our decisions when it came to our careers. (Right.)

I see. And talking about college, another thing we can’t leave out are GPAs, right?

(GPAs, right. Managing that is important.)

Usually the highest is 4.5 or 4.3,

and then when someone graduates and they’re over 4,

you're like, "Oh, this person studied.”

or "This person didn't just waste his time and goof around."

(That's right.) Yeji, your GPA was…? You probably don't want to reveal that, do you?

No, I can reveal it. (Ah, really?)

I had a 4.2 out of 4.5.

(Oh really? Oh, yeah. You studied hard.) Man, I’m so embarrassed.

I feel like I’m bragging.

What was your GPA, Seung-wan?

I—yeah, I’ll keep mine a secret.

Why?

Like you said, usually if it’s over 4,

people are like, “They did good,”

and if it’s less than 3.5, they think, “Ah, they really enjoyed themselves.”

Right.

Is yours below 3.5, by any chance?

Ah, no. I had fun and I studied hard as well,

so I’m somewhere in the middle.

Ah, you did well.

Don’t be embarrassed.

But whether you’re above 4 or below 3.5,

that’s a result of how you decide to manage your grades.

You can’t actually take that and evaluate whether someone did well or did badly.

(Right.) It’s not like that. It’s more of a reflection of

how much attention you paid to your grades.

Do you have any experience doing any other clubs? (Ah,)

I did a lot of clubs.

You know how extroverted I am.

Yes.

So I really did a lot of clubs, volunteering, outreach, internships, and part-time jobs.

A minute ago I talked about the outreach club I did outside of school,

but I actually did a lot of clubs at school, too.

Right.

I mean, it wasn’t a ton, just two,

and one of them was in my department.

It was called an academy, but that was just the name. (Right.)

Right, so I had a lot of chances to get close to other people in my department.

Nominally, the goal is to dive deeper and do more research (Research.)

on this major we’re studying to broaden our knowledge.

I had an academy too.

What kind of academy was it?

(Since my major is English,) Right.

the UK, US, the English speaking world, and research into those cultures and regions?

“Research” makes it sound so fancy,

but anyway, that was the goal.

But we used that as a pretext, as an excuse to go and hang around a lot. Yeah. (I see.)

But you know there are clubs you do within your department

and clubs you participate in with other departments. That’s right.

We called that kind of club, ones in the same school, central clubs.

We called them that too.

Aha, so were you ever in any central clubs?

I was in the swimming club.

What? Swimming? Yes.

That’s so unexpected!

Hm? No reason. Why is it unexpected?

Why is it unexpected?

What, I did swim club. So… I, uh, learned how to swim.

Did you enjoy it?

I did enjoy it. It was something I had always wanted to learn,

so I was thinking that I wanted to join and learn before I graduated,

and I was able to achieve that.

Did you join the club when you were close to graduating, then?

Yes, because you know, it doesn’t really matter.

Usually it’s mostly freshmen, first and second-years that join,

but there aren’t any restrictions on third and fourth-years,

the older students, joining too.

So I joined the club one or two semesters before graduating.

Wow, really? (Yeah.) I mean, there really aren’t any restrictions.

(Right.) But tacitly, there was definitely an atmosphere

that said that older students shouldn’t join at my school.

Ah, really?

So as a kind of slang we call older students fossils.

(Fossils) Right, they’re called fossils.

There was definitely an atmosphere of “Fossils aren’t welcome,”

so even when second-years tried to join, people really didn’t like it.

Wow, that’s really shocking.

(I guess we were a really close-minded school. You went to an open-minded one.)

Yeah, I don’t know.

Maybe the swimming club I joined was a bit more open-minded,

but we’re all students attending the same school,

so doing things differently based on age and year

and preventing people from joining, that’s a bit disappointing. (It really is.)

Because even if there’s a big age difference,

it’ll be five to ten years at most. (Right.)

I remember being really sad when they told people not to join

and called them fossils because of that.

(When I think of clubs, the first thing I think of…)

…is, you know when the semester starts

and all the club members start promoting to gather new members.

I don’t know how it was at your school,

but at ours there were tents lined up on campus,

and club members would alternate sitting there.

And they would promote their club to students passing by.

And there was, you know the wall poster.

Wow, it’s been so long since I’ve heard that word. Wall poster. Has it?

The big papers that hang on the bulletin word with information, right?

Right. There you write what your club is up to,

you promote by writing the information like that,

or you prepare little mini-game like things and have people participate to draw attention,

and so there’s a period where the school atmosphere is really buoyant.

It’s like a festival.

Right, exactly. It’s a bit like a festival.

But now that festivals have come up,

we can’t move on without talking about festivals.

(We can’t leave that out.)

Yeah. How were school festivals for you? (School festivals.)

Since the school I went to was a foreign languages university,

Ah right, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies.)

the vibe at our festival was a little different from other regular, general universities.

(How so?) Because for departments you have—well, I was English, and then there’s Spanish, German,

Mongolian—it’s really diverse.

That’s a set of departments really fitting (Yeah.)

of a foreign language school.

(Yeah. Turkish, Japanese, Chinese, there’s a lot. So…)

When the festival came around, every department would prepare traditional food from that country.

Wow, it’s like a mini global village. (Exactly, a mini global village.)

You could pretty much call it a little global village.

So the Turkish department would bring kebabs,

the Japanese department would bring sushi,

and so that day, those few days, you can really try a lot of different foods.

I mean, you should have called me.

We didn’t know each other then, but I’m sorry I couldn’t call you.

If you had called me I would have gone.

So I also went around enjoying all kinds of different foods,

and the Indian languages department had curry.

There were really a lot, but I can’t remember them all.

Anyway, I’d like to go again. (Me too.)

They probably still do it.

We should go next time if we get a chance.

Sure. (Okay.)

As for my school, I went to Hongik University,

and you know how the Hongdae area is famous for the streets

and clubs in front of the school.

(Right.) So actually our school’s festival was pretty famous.

It was famous for being really fun,

and when we hold our festival there’s a mini club inside the school.

They build a club indoors and they do DJing and the students are dancing.

It was that kind of vibe.

That’s really like Hongdae, for sure. (It is.)

A mecca for young people, that kind of thing.

Also, since the school is famous for its Arts School,

the arts students set up a central stage.

And then they keep dancing there.

So it was really popular with people from outside the school.

A lot of male students came to watch in particular. (Oh, really?) Yes.

You didn’t go to dance? Me?

I was a Law major. We were really unpopular. Because… Because all you do is study?

I guess that must be it.

You know how at the festival, if you go in,

each department sets up their tent and sells food and alcohol.

We called that the tavern(주점). (Right.)

But people would say, “If we go to the Law tavern, do they tear green onion pancakes with a judge’s gavel?

(So people would joke around like that.)

I guess people thought we were so boring that they would joke around like that.

But I mean, you say you enjoyed college life. (Yeah.)

So I think those were preconceptions.

Now that we’ve kind of revived our memories of college talking about it like this

I kind of feel like going back.

Yeah. I want to start college again from the beginning. Yeah.

I mean, we probably can’t go back,

but let’s enjoy ourselves at work like we’re in college.

Yeah, I like that. Host festivals, open clubs… Sounds good.

Let’s enjoy our working life like college. Yes.

Alright. Today we talked about college and college life with Seung-wan.

Let’s have another fun conversation next time. Yes.

Alright. Cross.

Cross.

Bye.

We’ve all learned a foreign language at one point or another.

Yes.

Today, Yeah.

Let’s talk a little bit about the mistakes we’ve made

and the embarrassing experiences we had because of those mistakes.

Embarrassing experiences? (Yes.)

Why do we have to talk about embarrassing experiences?

We all have at least one. Don’t you?

It’s not that I don’t… Okay.

but I really don’t remember.

You don’t remember?

No.

Isn’t it hard to remember?

I don’t really remember, either. I did think of one now,

but it’s not a very funny mistake.

That shows how many mistakes we must have made and learned from, doesn’t it? Yeah.

But after you learn the right word, I guess you forget the mistake.

Do you…have that tendency? Isn’t that how it works?

Yes. But the moment I made my mistake was so embarrassing that it stays with me.

I have one. I mean, it's not a really big mistake,

but it's a big mistake in a way.

So, when I was learning English—

I don't remember the exact sentence at the time, but…

Anyway, it was something like this:

"Did you see something? Did you see that?"

That’s what you should say. (Right.)

”Did" is in front, so the regular,

I mean, the present tense should come next.

(Right, right.) So it's supposed to be “Did you see,”

but I said “Did you saw.”

I said something like, “Did you saw that?”

My friends around me heard that, and they all laughed.

That's why I remember it so vividly.

And we weren’t studying English together,

were walking, had a drink,

and were in a good mood….

Do you speak English when you drink?

Kind of, yes. Ah, really?

Why haven’t you shown us? What?

Why haven’t you shown us?

He’s restrained himself…

in front of us.

Right.

But since the school I went to had a lot of foreign language departments,

and my major was English,

when we drank, everyone spoke English.

But anyway, the drinking ended in that sort of atmosphere

and we were going home, and I still remember it vividly.

Like, the dark alley, the street lights like this (Yeah.),

and everyone’s in a good mood walking together in little groups,

and I don’t know why I spoke English all of a sudden. But the… In wrong English, too.

(In wrong English on that quiet, desolate early morning, I was like, “Did you saw that?”)

Yeah. (So everyone…)

Some people were laughing, and there were some people who didn’t notice,

who just kept walking without much thought,

but I remember it was so vivid and embarrassing.

But I think you felt embarrassed because you were really friends.

If you were actually talking to people from other countries,

no one would have cared. That’s right. (Right.)

Because you can make mistakes…(Right.)

It’s actually—it was just Koreans, wasn’t it? (Yeah, it was.)

We have this thing about grammar. (Right, right.)

“Don’t ever make a mistake.” Right.

That’s why they laughed, and that’s why you felt embarrassed.

Yeah. Kids actually make a lot of similar mistakes,

like Min-song and my sons Joon and Yul too,

but Yul is younger than Min-song and Joon, so…

Yeah.

Some things I remember more vividly.

For example, like when I said, “Come this way(이리 와)” or “Come here(여기로 와),”

they would say, “어, 왈게(→갈게).” Ah, right. Oh, I remember now.

(I think all kids do that.) (That’s cute.)

Wow, so they really say that. (“왈게”?)

Yeah, because they always hear “와” first, not “오다.” “와,” conjugated.

So if you say “Go there(저기로 가)”

the response is “갈게,” and if you say “이거 해,” they say “할게.”

So they say “왈게.” I think I’ve heard “왈게.”

I just remembered because I think I’ve heard it.

They use that a lot… Interesting.

Yeah, it all comes off as cute.

Min-song is eight years old now, so she speaks really well,

but I think there’s a little bit of a problem with 존댓말.

Because, like, she distinguishes well between 존댓말 and 반말,

and she always uses 존댓말 with strangers.

But sometimes she gets really excited, you know.

When she says "와, 이거 내 거다! (Wow, this is mine!)," or when she says "내 거다! (It's mine!)"

or "아, 이거 너무 좋다! (Oh, this is so good!)"—when you say it as an exclamation it like "좋다!(It's good),"

it ends in "-다," right?

But then there was a stranger,

and she wanted to say that,

and then she said "어, 이거 너무 좋다요!(→좋아요)" Oh, right! Kids say that a lot.

Isn’t it so cute when they say that? Yeah.

I thought that was because

she got confused with those parts of polite and casual language,

but there are some people who think it’s slang.

There were some people that thought it was just slang that elementary-schoolers use.

But actually, until Min-song said that,

I thought, that’s just how elementary-schoolers talk,

but I realized that when she’s really excited, but she has to be formal,

that’s when she uses it. (Right.)

Like how they say “My mom bought this for me! 이거 엄마가 사줬다요!” (Right.)

My son Joon still uses it, but I’m just leaving it and not fixing it.

(I do the same.)

Because it’s cute. It’ll get fixed eventually. (Right.)

It’s cute, so I just leave it, so even now,

even yesterday, he says, "빨리 가자요!(Let's go quickly!)"

or "이거, 게임하자요!(Let's play this game!)"

Then I just go, “Okay,” instead of correcting him by saying "빨리 해요!(Let's do this quickly.)"

Another thing—I can only think of one mistake I made,

but there is a funny mistake Yul made.

You know causative expressions, when you make someone do something

For example, "먹이다(to feed)" or "시키다(to make do)",

"입히다(to put on someone)", "벗기다(to take off of someone)". He’s not good at these yet.

So after picking out clothes,

he says, "아빠, 저 이거 입어 주세요.(Dad, please wear me this.)"

Has Min-song ever done that? Yes, she has.

So then I want to make a joke, so I say, “Dad can’t wear this.”

“It’s too small.”

And then when I give him a bath, he says,

“아빠, 저 이거, 저 아빠 티셔츠 벗어 주세요. (Dad, take off my shirt.)”

So then I say, “Ah, take it off of you?” I’m correcting that one.

But he’s still been saying “take off” and “wear” for two months. That’s so cute.

That kind of thing is so fun. It really is.

A mistake I remember—when I was in college I took a lot of courses.

It was a course with a foreign professor,

and about 10 students were doing conversation practice.

But it was a writing course, so as the professor explained writing structure he asked,

“There’s a part in the introduction that you use to grab people’s attention when you start writing.

It starts with an H. What is that word?”

Grabbing people’s attention…

Right, when you grab people’s attention.

Right.

He said, “The first sentence performs that role.

What is it?” And I thought I knew what it was.

So I answered, “Hook up!” really loudly.

But, um…that means something else.

So the professor got really flustered,

and the correct answer was “Hook.” “Hook.”

But I said “Hook up.”

And the professor didn’t laugh or anything,

he just said, “Ah, hook up is something different.” and moved on.

But you understand, right? In Korea, we don’t present often.

I had really worked up the courage,

but immediately I was wrong, so I didn’t answer the next time.

You never did it after the next time? Right, because I’m timid.

That’s embarrassing even when it’s one on one. Right.

So it must be more embarrassing if a lot of people are listening.

I was super embarrassed.

For me, I was probably embarrassed a different amount,

but to talk about the mistake I said I thought of earlier, there was something really heavy.

So I was helping my friend,

and we were speaking Japanese, and in Japanese you use the verb “おもう omou” for “think”,

and the negative version is “おもわない omowanai,” I think.

Yeah, it is. But besides “おもう omou,” there’s the adjective “おもい omoi,” which means “heavy,”

and the negative form of that is “おもくない omokunai.”

So it was the time that I mixed up “おもわない omowanai” and “おもくない omokunai” because they felt similar to me.

My friend asked, “Isn’t that heavy?”

but I said “おもわない omowanai.”

“I don’t think.”

So they asked “What don’t you think?”

and I was embarrassed, but I turned it around and said, “I don’t think it’s heavy.”

I changed the thought and said “おもいとおもわない omoi to omowanai”

and moved on, but inside I thought, “Man.” But…

That’s quick thinking.

But if I look back again, as I thought about it that day going home,

I realized it was a very English sentence. “I don’t think so.”

So I felt embarrassed.

My friend didn’t say anything, though.

But this is how natural making mistakes is

when you’re learning a language. Yes.

And that’s really important, but I think there are a lot of people

who still think mistakes are scary.

But even with your native language, if you look at kids, you know how some kids start speaking later.

I heard that those kids speak later because they don’t want to make mistakes.

They’re kids who naturally dislike making mistakes.

There are kids like that.

It could be their natural tendency.

So it applies not only to only foreign languages,

but also to your native language. (That’s right.)

So a kid who speaks really well at home

doesn’t speak at all when they go out somewhere. (Right.)

When they keep their mouth closed and are shy, they don’t want—

there’s the shyness too, but they also don’t talk because they don’t want to make a mistake, I think. (Yeah.)

I see.

I wish there would be this kind of atmosphere.

When you make a mistake, it’s actually Koreans that say, “He made a mistake” more,

so it becomes hard to talk,

but if we were to embrace each other and say, “You made a mistake? That’s okay”...

I feel like we need to pat each other.

If we did that… That memory must have become…

Exactly. It stayed with me a little.

That’s okay.

So, how do you ask if someone saw something? It should be “Did you see”...

I also, when I was talking to people—was I twenty?

It was basically the first time I talked to someone in English,

and the past tense of “fly” is “flew,” and I knew that,

but in conversation, I said “flied.” I didn’t realize.

I went home and then remembered.

I remember being embarrassed then too.

Right, I think I’ve done this kind of thing more than a hundred times. Yeah.

But I’m still a bit afraid of making mistakes.

But people say, “Don’t be afraid to make mistakes.”

But in my language learning process up until now,

in the current state, “Don’t be afraid to make mistakes”

doesn’t really apply to me.

I’m afraid of making mistakes, but there’s nothing I can do about it, so I make them anyway.

And as I’m still scared I get used to the embarrassment of the mistake,

so at first I was this embarrassed, and it gradually gets tinier, it gets smaller, I think.

Yeah, I think that’s right.

Like, saying “Don’t be scared” (All of a sudden.)

can’t make it not scary.

Even horror movies.

Right. (“Don’t be scared.”) “Don’t be scared.” (Right.) Doesn’t that make no sense?

I think the people that say “Don’t be afraid”

are just already not afraid,

and that’s why they can say that.

People’s tendencies are just different. (Right.)

People’s tendencies are different, but when you really have to say something

because it’s needed, you end up having to say that. Yeah.

So for people that are a bit scared or have trouble because of their perfectionism,

I think it’s good to create a situation where you have to speak.

And continue… Continue.

exposing yourself to those situations, right?

Right. Something that was really hard for me,

in Chinese the meaning changes when the tone changes. Right.

So for example, in Chinese,

the Chinese city name “Shanghai” should be “shànghǎi”,

ut if you say “shānghài,” it means to inflict an injury, a totally different word.

But I mixed them up.

“What was it? I don’t want to say it wrong.” (Yeah.)

When that happens, you just have to go for it. (Right.)

“They’ll understand it from the context.” I don’t know whether I was right or wrong, though.

So that’s happened a lot.

And then when you hear someone else speak you realize you were wrong,

and you copy.

Right, it’s okay as long as when someone tells you the correct word,

you acknowledge it and fix it right away.

That’s right. Yes. Mistakes aren’t bad!

Yes. Everyone, you’ll make a lot of mistakes while learning Korean, too.

And you might still be afraid no matter how many you make.

But that fear will get smaller little by little, and the embarrassment will get smaller little by little.

And while it does, your Korean will improve.

So make as many mistakes as you like.

Right. You might be afraid and that fear might get bigger,

but don’t think about that. You can keep thinking, “Make mistakes and get used to it.”

Alright. We’re going to end this conversation here,

and we’ll be back next time with another interesting topic.

Thank you. Bye.

In English, there's this word, "pet peeves." (Yes.)

Yes.

You know that one, right?

Uh, yeah. Actually, when you say "pet peeves",

everyone here understands what it is,

but when you say, "Translate it into Korean,"

there isn't much of a word like that.

No, not really.

You just have to explain it.

Yeah.

Explain it for us.

You have to describe the word to explain it... Yes.

If I explain it in Korean, it's probably "things that irritate me"

or "things I hate for no reason." (That's right.) That's what it means in Korean.

There are personal differences, and we're talking about things

that I don't like, things that I find annoying, right?

It can't be people, right? People…

I was just wondering, "Do people not count?"

Yeah, I think she was saying that looking at me, yeah.

But I don't think I'm the right person for this topic, "pet peeves."

I thought about that and... Oh, I...

came to the studio.

"I'm so generous

that nothing annoys me." I'd like to say that

but actually I have a lot of pet peeves.

Uh, really? Yeah.

He has a lot of them, so I can think of a few, right now.

Actually, I thought you wouldn't have any, so we were going to make one for you today.

How do you make...

If you say you don't have one... Like we can keep clapping like this next to your ear. Like this...

But usually when you say a "pet peeve"... Like this.

Like this... Isn't that annoying?

No... It's annoying, right?

Oh, really? That sounds so good.

Actually, it's not a pet peeve if you annoy someone just once today.

It's just one of those little things that people do all the time

and you seem to be the only person who hates it for no reason.

(That kind of thing...) Oh, when something's getting on your nerves. (Yes, when something's getting on your nerves.)

"거슬린다(Something gets on someone's nerves)" sounds right.

What do you have, Yeji?

For me, the first one is flashing lights.

I commute by subway,

and sometimes a light goes off in the subway and flickers really subtly.

Then, I feel it without exception, and I can't stand it.

I have to go to a different car.

Sometimes, I even got off and got back on the train because there were too many people (to go to a different car.)

I hate it, so yeah, it's my pet peeve for sure.

I see.

If you go to the next car and it blinks again... No, no, no.

You have to get off again... I hate it so much that I'd take a different train.

Could you just get off, just because of that?

Yes, I hate it so much. Is it just me?

You can close your eyes for a while and listen to the announcement to check when to get off, maybe?

But I can still feel the light blinking even with my eyes closed.

That really bothers me but other passengers

don't seem to mind it at all.

What do you think?

Uh, I wouldn't like it too, but I don't think I hate it to the point where I can say it's my pet peeve.

I'd be just like, "Oh, it's blinking".

I don't think I'm at that level,

but there's a pet peeve that comes to my mind when I think of public transportation...

I commute to work by bus. (Yeah.)

So I take it every day, and the bus drivers have different ways of driving.

Some bus drivers have a habit of

keeping stepping on the brake.

(Oh, I know.) Then (Right.)

the speed wouldn't diminish gradually.

Instead, your body would keep swaying like this. (Yeah, yeah.)

Then, I get motion sickness, so I hate that. (Right.)

So when I get on such a bus,

as I can't get off, I just sigh (Yeah, yeah.)

and stay on the bus, (Yeah, yeah.) hanging in there.

(The driver doesn't know their habits.) Yeah.

Even if they know, they don't feel (any inconvenience).

So, it's just the driver who is okay and everyone else will be struggling.

I was just kidding

when I said I don't have any pet peeves. I found that I have many pet peeves.

I didn't think I was a picky person,

but there's a lot of things I don't like,

and the list gets longer and longer as I get older.

First of all, uh, I don't dislike loud sounds.

I mean, I have no problem hearing loud music or being next to a construction site,

but I don't like people's loud voices. No, yeah.

I'm the loudest one among us...

You're famous for your loud voice. Yeah.

It's not that I don't like people with loud voices.

I don't like when people make loud noises.

So you mean you don't like people talking loudly... I don't like it.

In my opinion... Yeah.

When you have a conversation at a cafe, your voice can get really loud all of a sudden.

But, he really doesn't like it when that happens. That's right, So I...

He hates it so much. Other people's voices in the cafe...

I think that's why I rarely go to cafes these days.

I just take my coffee on the go and come back to the office.

I don't like hearing other people's voices,

and it leads to my biggest pet peeve

which is that other people can hear the conversation I'm having with this person in public.

So I talk really quietly so no one can hear me

and if anybody in my group is talking too loudly

to the point that other people can hear it,

I tell them to turn it down a little bit.

That's, that's my, that's my pet peeve, but what do you think?

Is it okay if other people can hear you?

I don't mind.

I don't mind because I think my voice is being drowned out.

Other people don't come to the cafe to hear my voice.

They come to the cafe to have a conversation or to do something.

So they don't care about me.

So I'm like, well, as long as they're not laughing or talking too loudly in the cafe,

I don't mind.

But actually, you know, as I've been working with Hyunwoo for a long time,

I've realized that he has strong preferences. (Ah.)

Yes, Hyunwoo... (As you've known me for a long time)?

Yeah. I have worked with Hyunwoo for a long time, and we've gone to a lot of cafes together.

And it was very obvious that he didn't like it.

I found out about it recently.

Really?

…that I'm like that. Yes.

But he's very precise about what he likes and dislikes,

so if he doesn't like something,

he's very clear about it. But...

Me? Yeah.

Yeah. Yes, you, Hyunwoo.

I'm sorry.

You don't talk to the person directly, do you? You go over and say,

"You're too loud, could you please..."

Oh, to other people? Yeah.

Uh, I've done that before.

How? It was mostly in cafes

because people don't stay that long in restaurants, as you leave when you're done eating.

But in the case of cafes… it was a middle-aged man

and he was too loud,

so I said, "I'm sorry, but there are a lot of people here, so could you please be a little quieter?"

But very few people got angry when I said that. Oh, really?

They don't realize how loud their voice is,

and that's kind of the interesting thing for me.

They are the only ones that don't know how high their voice decibel is.

Uh, I can totally relate to that because I was that person, always.

My voice is basically louder than other people’s,

so I have to work hard to get it down to the same level as everyone else.

And I don't recognize it,

so when I talk to my friends, and if I talk too loud,

my friends are like this, meaning, "Turn it down." Oh, turn it down.

So if you had met me in the past, you might not have liked me.

Oh, it would have been okay if we were in the same group like this,

but if we were sitting at nearby tables, I would have given you the side eye like,

"That person is too loud."

He would have been like, "Shh, shh, shh, shh."

(Oh, really?) Yeah. He would have done it in a way that wouldn't be offensive. (Yeah.)

Kyeong-eun, what do you have? What else do you have?

I thought I didn't have many, but recently I've noticed that

I really don't like having pointy things in front of me.

And at home, I have knives and everything

and I have to put them in the sink after I'm done with them,

or I feel a little bit threatened by these knives or pointy things.

I don't know if it's because I didn't have to use knives before,

but I really don't like having knives and sharp things around.

So I have to put them all away or make sure that they won't hurt anyone.

If it gets really bad, isn't it a phobia?

That's right, that's what I thought.

But fortunately, it's not a phobia yet,

but I thought that at home,

'm just naturally try to be careful with knives because I have a child.

But I don't like seeing anything sharp even when I'm in the office.

So I thought, "Oh, if this gets worse, it could be close to a phobia."

But it's still a pet peeve (not a phobia). Yeah, it is.

That's good to hear. What about you, Seung-wan?

I have a pet peeve about getting my socks wet. I don't really like that.

Doesn't everyone hate that? (Everyone hates it.)

That's not a pet peeve, then.

I think most people will hate this one, yeah.

(I think we should leave out the ones that everyone would hate...)

(That's right.) When you say, "I don't like this,"

and the people around you are like, "Oh, really?”

Isn't there anything like that?

I don't think there's a lot of that...

What I'm thinking of is...

(I don't think it's a pet peeve,

but when I forget what I'm supposed to do…)

for example, when I leave something at home

so I have to go back home, I get really angry and hate that situation.

Oh, I feel the same way. Yeah.

You do, right? I think everyone does that too.

Then it's not a pet peeve.

Don’t you have something like that?

When someone is shaking their legs, you can just be like, "Oh, they're shaking their legs,"

but I particularly hate that.

So if my child is, like, shaking her legs,

I'm like, "Don't shake your legs." I have to make it clear.

And then if I go to a cafe or somewhere else, and someone is shaking their legs,

I try not to look at them.

Oh, that reminds me of a time

when I was having a meeting with Yeji

and I was shaking my legs (yeah.)

and she told me not to shake my legs.

And I was clicking my ballpoint pen, and she told me not to click my ballpoint pen. (Oh, I'm very sensitive).

I've been called out on it a couple of times and I'm trying to be more careful.

(You must feel uncomfortable in meetings, right?)

Oh, that must be tough.

Well, maybe I click the pen more often because I get more nervous.

(Oh, right.)

No, but this is my second pet peeve.

I really don't like sounds that are repeated regularly.

Things like this, you know.

Even when I can hear it from really far away, it's just, I hate it.

So it's not that I don't like people shaking their legs

But I don't like the sound made when they shake their legs

and the sound of the ballpoint pen being pressed.

Oh, I can relate to that, too,

because I'm sensitive to sound. I'm not just sensitive to the volume of the sound,

but when I hear something repetitive like that,

I have to find the cause and be aware of it,

or I have to get rid of it.

Me, too. Yeah.

Uh, then you would really hate it if I turn on and off the light switch

making clicking noises?

Oh, how to bully Yeji... it's really...

You know how to bully Yeji so well. You're really mean.

There's also a clicking sound... And the light.

flickering...

Do it while shaking your legs. That's the worst.

Worst, worst.

Worst? Uh, it's the worst.

Oh, I just remembered something. Yeah.

I hope I'm the only one who hates it.

I hate it when a group of people walk down side by side

and block the street when I'm walking down it. That's right, that's...

That's something I also... I think everyone hates it.

I think everyone hates that. It's not only your pet peeve. Yeah.

You don't really hate anything in particular...

Wait, are you pretending to be a good person... Isn't that what you're trying to do?

I didn't know I was a generous and tolerant person. Oh, my.

But maybe it’s just that you don't realize your own pet peeves.

Yeah, I think we can find some for him. That's right.

Do you want me to make one for you? And...

Oh, I have one. Yeah, yeah.

I don't like it when people drag their slippers around like that,

because it makes too much noise... dragging their slippers around...

Does Yeji do that?

That's really mean. When you want to come up with something, you keep thinking of Yeji...

I think you're thinking about my behavior...

And speaking of sound... I keep talking about sound. It's weird.

When I get in my car or somebody else's car,

there's this kind of noise, like a shaking sound.

It's not a normal sound. It's like something's rattling,

or the seatbelt's rattling,

or when there's something in the cup holder.

There's some lipstick or something in there and it's rattling

and the driver or other people don't feel it,

but I need to get rid of that, the sound.

So if I was in my friend's car, or my sister's car

and there's this constant bumping sound, every time they drive.

So whenever we're going fast or going over something,

I'm like, "What's that sound?" but they don’t know.

They don't know what sound I'm talking about. And it turned out that,

you know, the door bin...

It's like, the thing you can put something in there...

The one on the door?

There's a door bin on the door,

and there was a ballpoint pen in there.

It kept rattling in there but the car owner didn't realize it,

and I was like, "What's that sound?" and "I have to get rid of it.”

You sound like me, really. (But it's definitely...)

The sensitivity to the five senses really varies from person to person.

There are many pet peeves that come from that.

(I see.) Yeah. (I'm...) I don't have any pet peeves related to smell.

So I've never had a moment in my life where I thought, "That smell is bothering me," or "That scent is too strong,"

or in the elevator, "That person's perfume is too strong."

Uh, that's also similar to me, too,

because I was going to talk about the sense of smell. Oh, really?

My friend's pet peeve is to have a sweaty person

sitting next to her on the subway.

When I think about it, I don't remember ever having a sweaty person sitting next to me,

which means I couldn't feel it because

I'm insensitive.

My daughter has a very sensitive sense of smell.

So while I'm cooking, you know,

she hates the food smell, the cooking smells.

I didn't know that she had a sensitive sense of smell,

so I just thought, "Why does she hate it so much?"

But then I realized that when we went to other places, she could smell things that I couldn't.

So she has a very sensitive sense of smell,

and she really doesn't like to be in environments where something smells.

So, like you said, when you have a particularly sensitive sense,

that can cause a pet peeve.

That reminds me.

Finally.

I...

Last pet peeve.

Yeah, what did Yeji do?

So, uh, when you're on the subway or using the restroom... Yeah.

I really don't like it when people sit or stand right next to me even when there is plenty of room.

Uh, I accept that as a pet peeve.

Yeah? Yes.

I think I can accept this too, this is... Yeah.

Of course, you might not be the only person who hates it.

There might be some people who don't like it, too... Yeah.

But still... That's right.

Because some people don't care.

When they sit right next to me for no reason

even though there are a lot of seats,

it feels like they're invading my space (Right).

Of course, I don't mind people sitting right next to me when there are no other seats.

When I use an urinal, there are multiple urinals, you know.

When no one else is there, and I'm the only one using it,

and if they come over and use the urinal next to me,

I'm like, "Why would you come right next to me to pee?" I get angry like this.

(Angry?) (Yeah.) It's a little annoying,

it's just that this person... (Yes.)

That's your pet peeve.

You can't say anything to him. (Yeah.)

He's free to do that. (Right.)

Finally, before we end our conversation,

Seung-wan managed to come up with one of his pet peeves...

Yeah. I'm happy for him.

I'm glad.

Yes. (Thank you.)

Okay, we've been talking about pet peeves today.

Let’s have another fun conversation between the four of us next time.

Thank you very much. Bye.

Kyeong-eun, do you like your name?

No, I don't. Do you not like it?

(What's your name?)

Huh? My name is Kyeong-eun Choi.

Uh, it's just fine now,

but when I was younger,

I thought, "Why is my name Kyeong-eun Choi? ‘ Why?

First of all, when I was younger, there were a lot of prejudices about the last name, Choi.

Was there such a thing?

Yes, when I was younger, there were a lot of bad stories about people

with the last name "Choi" that they are stubborn,

greedy or something like that.

So, I didn't like my last name to begin with,

and the name "Kyeong-eun" itself is a little bit...

It's not common,

but I guess I didn’t think it was a pretty name, either.

You're right, there are some images about people with the last name, "Choi",

but where did they come from?

Well, there was a very famous rich man in the past.

He was Mr. Choi, who lived in Gyeongju. Oh, the Choi family...

They were very rich? The Choi family was rich,

but they weren't very good people, I guess.

They didn't share and weren't nice to people.

They were bad rich people so they became infamous.

That's interesting.

So there were a lot of prejudices like, "The Choi's are stubborn,

greedy, and not nice,"

and things like that.

Well, I haven't heard of that before. (Yeah.) Did you know that?

Oh, they have such an image. An image...

People with the last name, Choi. They do have such an image.

I thought it's unfounded, but as there's some evidence, it must feel even more unfair.

Yeah, but I don't know if the grounds are exactly true, but now I... That's what they say, right?

As my last name is Choi, I was wondering, "Why do we have such an image?"

and I got to hear those stories.

Isn't there such a thing?

"People with curly hair are a little bit stubborn," or something like that. Yes.

Like that... Yeah.

I think it's similar to that

I heard it when I was younger.

But I personally thought Choi was a very pretty last name. (ah, really?), yeah.

It's my first time (hearing that). "Choi" sounds a little strong. It is strong.

But there's something... Choi, it's like this.

Uh, yes, yes, yes. Choi!

You surprised me. I thought you were going to start rapping.

I remember when I was younger, you know, Choi has "ㅊ" and "ㅗ" and a lot of strokes.

As the letter extends in all directions, I was like, "It's like a flower."

Oh, from now on... Oh, wow! That's amazing!

Thank you. So I've been thinking since I was a kid, "Choi is a pretty last name."

No, but after hearing this... Yeah, when I heard it...

When I think about "ㅊ", it's really like a flower. Doesn't it look like a flower?

Flowers and stems and...

Wow!

Wow!

Thank you so much.

This is amazing, really.

What do you think of your name, Yeji?

I don't like it.

Oh, really?

Because Yeji is a really popular name among people around my age,

but Kim is also the most common surname in Korea.

That's right.

So I don't like it because my first name is common and my last name is also common

so eventually it's a super common name.

I wanted to change it.

But is "Yeji Kim" also common?

The name, "Yeji Kim"?

Are there many people with the same last name and the same first name as you?

Yeah, I see people with the name "Yeji Kim" on the news from time to time.

Oh, really?

What about you, Seung-wan? (I'm...)

I think I've seen one or two Seung-wan Yu. (Including "Yu"?)

Yeah. I've seen it about twice,

and I've seen a few more people with the name "Seung-wan",

but I don't think it's a common name anyway.

That's right, I didn't think it was a common name either,

but recently there's a celebrity named 'Seung-wan', right?

That's right, Red Velvet...

It's a girl, right?

Yes, there's a girl named 'Wendy' in that group...

A member?

The member is named 'Seung-wan', so...

What's her last name?

Her last name is Son.

Oh, Seung-wan Son?

Yes.

That's a very masculine name. Yeah.

I think it's definitely a very masculine name, and it's hard to say

it's a gender-neutral name.

But when I was a kid, I didn't like my name. Why?

I don't know. I just didn't like it. It wasn't cool.

When I was younger, I wanted something strong...

You mean like Cheol-min? Cheol-min sounds really strong.

Cheol-min. Something like that, like Joon-su.

Joon-su? Joon-su is... It doesn't sound strong.

Something Joon. “Joon” seems to be cool,

so I felt that such names were cool,

but now I'm kind of satisfied (with my name).

But when I first heard your name, Seung-wan, I thought of peas.

There are two ㅇ(이응) in your name, but the last letter is also "완",

so I thought of three peas like this.

(I suddenly thought of when I was a child...)

I thought of peas when I heard my name. Oh, really?

Yes. Even though it's my name... Your own name...

When I write my name, it reminds me of peas. It was a little bit like that.

Oh, it's so funny. Didn't they make fun of you or anything?

(Peas.) They did make fun of it.

Back then, even when you have the same one letter as something else, (right, right, right.) you get a nickname out of it. (Yes.)

Yu Seung-wan-du-kong? Something like this? (Uh, like that.)

But I don't have any specific nickname that I can think of other than peas.

But depending on my friends, some of them just call me "Wan Wan" like this. (Wan Wan.)

And some of them...

But what does "Seung-wan" mean?

Oh, "Seung" means "to connect" and "wan" means "to be complete".

So I don't know...

Uh, I have the answer.

This is completely... Why are you ignoring me?

Oh, yeah. Guess it. I don't know... I know the answer!

"Completely connect Korea with the world through Korean."

"Completely connect..." That's such a good interpretation.

What do you think? Do you like it?

Yes, I'll be that person. Yes.

"To completely connect." I asked my parents once, but they didn't know.

But isn't there always a time in school to explain things like that?

When I was younger, in elementary school,

there was a time when you had to explain your name, "Ask your parents what your name means and explain it.

Give a presentation,"

and that was really hard for me.

What does your name mean?

My name is not something my parents put a lot of importance or thought into.

They have three kids.

The names of the three of us are all different so I even thought that maybe our parents named us kind of randomly.

It's Hyunju, Kyeong-eun, and Suyoung,

and for my name, they used 경 meaning "happy occasions."

"Happy occasions."

And for "은", it means "grace"

so the meaning doesn't really match up. That's true.

It doesn't have a definite meaning,

so my mom was just, my mom and I were just talking,

and she was like, "since Choi means "to be high", I think it means to become a person in a high position

and have many happy events and then repay your parents."

That's a good interpretation. That's right.

We made it up like that and I had a presentation.

Some names have a meaning, or you can just make up your own meaning.

(Then I'll...) So... (Please make it up for me.)

What does "Yeji Kim" mean?

It doesn't have a meaning.

Well, I think I told you this once before,

but for my name, my mom was watching a drama

and she thought the name of the girl in the drama was so pretty, so she just used it for my name.

Uh, I've never heard that before.

Really?

Yeah, but you have Hanja for your name.

No, I don't.

Oh, it's just a Korean name...

Yeah. (Hangeul name.) Wow.

It's a purely Korean name.

It sounds like it'd have Hanja. Yeah, yeah.

It does sound like it would have Hanja. Yeah,

like 지 with the meaning of "to know"... Oh, right, right, right.

or another 예 meaning "good manners" 인의예지(Benevolence, righteousness, propriety and wisdom).

인의예지, right. 예지 sounds like it would have such meanings but actually there are no Hanja

so on my ID card, only 'Kim' is written in Hanja, and 'Ye-ji' is written in Korean.

I'm jealous.

I did like it.

Because back in the past, when I took the Hanja test, I had to write my name... Right?

I only needed to write "Kim" in Hanja.

But then you have to explain, you know,

to the teachers. Didn’t you have to explain,

"My name doesn't have any Hanja" or something like that?

I think I did.

I think you probably had to,

because the name 'Yeji' is quite common,

but there are very few names without Hanja. No.

So I think you had to explain it.

I think I made up something,

but I don't have any meaning to my name. Then let's make one!

Uh, please make a meaning for me.

When you say "예", the first thing that comes to mind is politeness.

Well, for me...

Pretty and...

Both are good.

You can't do both, you have to pick one.

What about "지"? Pretty and wise.

I feel like "지" is a little bit knowledgeable and that, wise and that kind of thing.

Find another one. I already did.

What about "지" meaning "ground"?

Pretty land. Pretty land, real estate... The prettiest person on earth.

Oh, really.

You should have gone with something else. Something else...

The most polite person on earth.

I will be a pretty and wise person. Great!

So, if you were to change your name, do you have a name you'd like to change into? (Name you'd like to change?)

I want a gender neutral one. (uh, neutral)

(Something like Sumin)

Sumin? No. Ah, okay.

Earlier, you said you wanted something with Joon so… Oh, right. Right.

Joon Yu. Oh, Yu Joon is fine.

Joon Yu. It suits you well.

Yu Joon suits you well.

Joon Yu, it's strange. Oh, but Yu-joon Yu? Oh, you mean, Joon Yu.

I'll think about it.

But, do you have a name in mind? A name you wanted to change into?

Yes, for me, Ga-young. Ga-young.

Yes, how about Ga-young?가영이.

Oh, but it somehow suits your current clothes. (Really?)

That’s right. It seems to go well with your current style. Ga-young.

It doesn't go well with your usual style (Doesn't go well?) (Yes.)

but it seems to suit the style of the clothes you're wearing now.

It's somewhat like the style that a person with the name "Ga-young" is likely to wear.

It's a bit like something you'd see in a drama.

Do I look like a Ga-young?

Appearance-wise, we're so used to your name "Yeji".

So, you don't look like a Ga-young, but the style...

Today, I'll call you Ga-young Kim. (Oh, I'd like it.) (You'd like it?)

I think the name Ga-young or Gaeun…

By the way, isn't Ga-young a name from an animation? Inuyasha.

(That's right.) Right? (Oh, wow.)

Did you enjoy watching Inuyasha? (Yes.)

I really enjoyed watching the Japanese animation 'Inuyasha,'

and the name of the female protagonist there is Gayoung. Oh, really?

Wait, this is the same way that my mom named me… (What?)

That's right. There's not much difference.

That's true. I'll just try to like "Yeji." (Okay.)

Well, I think I'm so used to my name

that I don't want to change my name or anything.

But rather, I used to think,

"Oh, how nice it would be if I had a pretty name,"

but pretty names back then are so common now.

Actually, there aren't that many girls named "Kyeong-eun,"

so I think it's kind of okay.

I have a friend who's been close to me since elementary school,

and her name is "Jooseok Son,"

but she's a girl.

So whenever her name was called and she answered,

the teachers would say, "Oh, you're a girl,"

so she really hated it. But her sister's name is "Heungseok Son."

So they are Heungseok and Jooseok.

They both hated their names because they had very masculine names,

but now they're okay with their names.

They think, "It's good that it's unusual."

They didn't change their names.

Yeah, she didn't think about changing her name at all.

Actually, I wished my name were very unique

so that I could change my name.

Oh, really? Yeah. I guess I hated it so much.

I see. Oh, it's okay now.

The name "Yeji" is okay.

But the name "Yeji" sounds more attractive because it's a Korean name,

not based on Hanja, I think. 그렇죠.

That's right.

And when you write it in English, it's only four letters.

So it's relatively easy.

That's good. It's easy to pronounce.

The name "Yeji". Many people find my name

"Kyeong-eun Choi" hard to pronounce.

I see.

Yeah.

Are there some foreigners who want to have a Korean name

or have created a Korean name around you, Seung-wan?

Some people who are watching this might... Yeah.

They might think, "I want to have a Korean name, too."

Oh, I don't have many foreign friends around me. So…

Kyeong-eun, have you ever seen a foreigner...

Uh, yeah. I've noticed that there are a lot of Korean learners

who have Korean names.

But in the beginning, when we started to teach Korean,

there were a lot of unusual names.

There were a lot of funny names. I can't actually remember them now.

You know, the names that don't really sound like names.

There were a lot of names with funny meanings back then,

but now a lot of Korean learners know that Korean people use Hanja for their names.

So they create pretty names

with good meanings.

Or among Korean names,

they pick one that would suit them well.

I see. I have a friend whose name is memorable. Her name is Jasmine.

Jasmine, and she named herself

"Sumin Cha," which sounds similar to her original name.

It's so, so nice.

(It is!) "Cha" is a last name used in Korea.

Yeah, yeah.

So, it's kind of like, if you want a Korean name,

this could be one way to name yourself.

That's a good idea.

Find one that sounds similar or one that has the meaning... Oh, right.

For example, if you say, "I want to be a wise person,"

I think it would be good to add "지" or something like that.

Yeah. I think so.

It'd be good.

There might be a lot of people named Yeji among foreigners.

I like the name 'Yeji'. All of a sudden.

'Yeji' as a pretty and wise person. Do you like it? Recommended!

Okay, so we talked about names today,

and we'll be back next time with another fun topic.

Thank you very much. Bye.