These past two weeks, we learned about ordering in a variety of service settings, such as at a restaurant or at a cafe. We learned about the fundamental differences between restaurant structures in South Korea, such as how many restaurants have floor seating and you address the waiter as "aunt". Along with the service culture, we also learned about specific phrases to use when ordering. For example, if we wanted to order a cup of coffee, we would use the keyword "한 잔". In Korean, there are different types of nouns we use based on what we are counting. While in English where most of our nouns can be counted using the term "things," Korean requires more specific terminology to describe different objects. Things like cups, paper, and pens all have different nouns to use when counting them.
Along with the useful expressions, we also learned grammar for changing verbs from informal to formal. When describing what elders are doing, we use the characters 으시. We would keep the verb's first character, but we would incorporate this phrase into the verb to transform it to formal.
We also learned how to ask elders questions by transforming the verb using the characters 아, 어, and 여. For this, we would attach the proper character to the end of the verb.
I have been practicing these tasks by challenging myself to use the formal version when speaking about what my parents are doing/ asking them for something. When I call my mom on the phone, I have been challenging myself to use these grammar tips, and at least using them three times throughout our conversation.
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