These past two weeks, we learned in class about how to share about our family. We learned how to say the various family titles (mother, grandma, uncle) in Korean, and it was interesting to see that the family titles for the mother's side are different from the titles for the father's side. I was fascinated because this is the opposite case for English. Whether it is your dad's or mom's sister, the family member would still be called aunt. In Korean, the word for grandma and grandpa are the same. However, there were front characters that differentiated the two sides.
We also learned how to describe the actions they were doing. If they are significantly older and are deserving of more respect, we used the formal verbs to describe their actions. However, in the case of older brothers and sisters, they were given informal verbs. I thought that this was interesting because the idea that elders all get formal language was not universal. As elders are revered in Korean society, they are honored through the changing of the verbs to formal. However, though siblings are older, the level of closeness may possibly be taken into account (closeness in friendship, age), and there is a lack of a hierarchy in this way.
Lastly, we learned how to say our family members' occupations and where they currently reside. The same concept applied- elders were respected, but if they were closer in relation/ age, they could be referred to in an informal way. I think that this is interesting because I would also assume that this would apply to parents. At home I speak to my parents informally, but I think that it makes sense that when speaking about them with others, they are spoken about formally to add a level of respect.
To practice, I have changed all of my family members' names on my phone to their Korean title. While it comes naturally for my immediate family, it takes a few seconds for me to make the connection what the terms mean. However, it is a nice challenge.
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