How To Introduce Yourself in Korean in 1 Minute

76 Comments / Korean / By The Junkie / April 26, 2014

Hi there!

Want to introduce yourself in Korean? Read this lesson. It’ll take you a minute, and ALL the Korean lines you need are here.

If you don’t, I don’t care – this is ONLY for people that truly want to speak Korean.

OK! Here’s how you introduce yourself in Korean. You learn the 6 MUST-KNOW lines. We’ll go from 1-6 and translate it so you can easily start talking Korean ASAP.

Let’s jump in.

Want FREE Korean PDF Cheat Sheets? Click Here to Get 20+ Cheat Sheets from KoreanClass101 (a Korean learning program.)

1. Formal Way: Jeoneun (name)-imnida.

So first, let’s cover the formal way to introduce yourself in Korean.

안녕하세요? 저는 (name)입니다. 처음 뵙겠습니다.
Annyeonghaseyo? Jeoneun (name)-imnida. Cheoeum boepgesseumnida.
1. Annyeonghaseyo? Jeoneun John-imnida. Cheoeum boepgesseumnida.
2. Hello, my name is John. Nice to meet you!

As you can tell, “Annyeonghaseyo” means “Hello,” then “Jeoneun (name)-imnida” means “my name is (name)”, and finally “Cheoeum boepgesseumnida” is “Nice to meet you.

Do you want to hear how this is pronounced?

Then you should also listen and hear real Korean. Press play below. Try this Free Lesson from KoreanClass101.com (click here to visit) for the complete explanation about introducing yourself!

Ok, what’s next?

2. Casual Way: (Name)-Ya. Bangawayo.

Here’s a more casual way to introduce yourself.

안녕. (Name)야. 반가워.
Annyeong. (Name)–ya. bangawo.
Hi, I’m (Name). Nice to meet you.

So, if you want to introduce yourself casually, just say your name and “ya.”

3. I am from … — (place) eseo wasseumnida.

(place) 서 왔습니다.
(place) eseo wasseumnida.
1. 미국 miguk – America
2. 미국서 왔습니다. Migugeseo wasseumnida. I’m from the U.S.A.

But what if you’re not from the United States? How can you introduce yourself in Korean and talk about YOUR country? Fear not; below is a list that will help you. Simply find your country and add it to the line above!

Australia 호주 hoju
Austria 오스트리아 osu t’ria
Brazil 브라질 burajil
Canada 캐나다 k’aenada
China (PRC) 중국 chung-guk
China (Taiwan) 대만 daeman
England (United Kingdom) 영국 yeong-guk
France 프랑스 p’urangsu
Germany 독일 tok-il
Hong Kong 홍콩 hong k’ong
India 인도 indo
Italy 이탈리아 it’al-lia
Japan 일본 ilbon
Malaysia 말레이지아 mallae-i jia
Mexico 멕시코 maeksik’o
Mongolia 몽고 mong-go
Myanmar (Burma) 미얀마 miyanma
New Zealand 뉴질랜드 nyu jeelaendu
The Philippines 필리핀 p’ileepeen
Singapore 싱가폴 sing-gap’ol
Spain 스페인 sup’ai-in
Sweden 스웨덴 suwei-dain
Switzerland 스위스 suweisu
Thailand 태국 t’ae-guk
Vietnam 베트남 baet’unam

Now, let’s talk about your age.

4. “I am (age) years old” — (age) sal imnida.

(age) 살 입니다.
(age) sal imnida.
1. 열여덟살 입니다. Yeolyeodeolsal imnida. I am 18 years old.

Okay, to fully introduce yourself in Korean and state your age, you’ll need to know numbers.

Below is a chart of the Korean numbers (there are 2 sets – this is the Korean Native System) which is used for age. If you’re wondering how to do in-between numbers like 23, 35, 47 and so on, heres what you should do.

Take the Korean word for 20, 30, 40, etc. – whichever is your age
Then take the single digit number (1-9)
Add the two together.
- For example: 45 is…
  - 40 is maheun
  - 5 is daseot
  - so, 45 is maheundaseot

#	Korean	Romanization
1	하나	hana	11	열하나	yeol hana	30	서른	seoreun
2	둘	dul	12	열둘	yeol dul	40	마흔	maheun
3	셋	set	13	열셋	yeol set	50	쉰	shwin
4	넷	net	14	열넷	yeol net	60	예순	yesun
5	다섯	daseot	15	열다섯	yeol daseot	70	일흔	ilheun
6	여섯	yeoseot	16	열여섯	yeol yeoseot	80	여든	yeodeun
7	일곱	ilgop	17	열일곱	yeol ilgop	90	아흔	aheun
8	여덟	yeodeol	18	열여덟	yeol yeodeol	100	온	on
9	아홉	ahop	19	열아홉	yeol ahop
10	열	yeol	20	스물	seumul

To learn more about Korean numbers, check out my other lesson here.

5. I am a (occupation). (occupation)-imnida.

Next, you’ll need to talk about your work or occupation in Korean.

(occupation)-imnida.
1. 학생입니다. Haksaeng-imnida I’m a student.
2. 회사원입니다. Hoisawon-imnida. I’m an office worker.

6. “I’ve been learning Korean for….” — (time duration) dong-an gonbu-haesseumnida.

If your Korean is pretty good, Koreans will want to know about how you learned their language. So, that’s where this and the next phrase come in.

(time duration) 동안 공부했습니다.
(time duration) dong-an gonbu-haesseumnida.
1. I’ve been learning for 1 month.
2. handaldong-an gonbu-haesseumnida.
3. 한달 동안 공부했습니다.

7. I’ve learned Korean in (place) — (place)eseo baewosseumnida.

(place/location)에서 배웠습니다.
(place/location)eseo baewosseumnida.
1. I learned it in school.
2. hakkyoeseo baewosseumnida.
3. 학교에서 배웠습니다.

Conclusion on How to Introduce Yourself in Korean.

You learned two ways to introduce yourself. One was formal. One was casual. Let’s review them one more time but in roman letters. You may not know the alphabet (Hangul) yet.

Casual: annyeong. (name)-ya.
Formal: Jeoneun annyeonghaseyo. (name)-imnida.

You can also listen to this extra 3-minute long audio lesson.

3-Minute Korean S1 #1 – Self Introduction
By KoreanClass101.com (click here to visit for more fun lessons.)

Now, what if you want a whole Korean introduction speech? Here’s your Korean self introduction script you might want to use.

Annyeonghaseyo? Jeoneun (name)-imnida. Cheoeum boepgesseumnida. (place) eseo wasseumnida. (Age) sal imnida. (occupation)-imnida. (time duration) dong-an gonbu-haesseumnida. (place/location)eseo baewosseumnida.

Now you know how to introduce yourself in Korean!

And…

The first thing any beginner Korean learner needs is an introduction. Why? Because who the hell are you? Where are you from? Why are you learning Korean & why should anyone care? If you got this far, you should now have a full script about yourself to use in conversations.

Conclusion

So, what do you do now?

Take the script I gave you above and put in your name, age, etc. There’s your introduction.
Introduce yourself in Korean by leaving a comment below!
Start using your introduction.
..and learn even more Korean.

Do you want a PDF version of this lesson to save, print and keep? Just click on the image below.Want more even more, you greedy Korean learner?

Get Free Korean Audio Lessons: Korean Audio Lesson
Best Korean TextBooks. A List for Beginners.
Say Hello in Korean
How Are You in Korean

– The Main Junkie

P.S. I highly recommend this for Korean learners.