To be thought of as ‘unusual’ or a little ‘strange’ is not really an insult when speaking English. This word is so confusing, Talk to me in Korean actually dedicated an entire lesson to ‘dangshin.’Ĩ) Strange (referring to a person) / Unusual Direct Translation: Isanghan / 이상한 The vast majority of people should never be addressed as ‘you,’ and instead, should be called to by given name + ssi (씨) or their title (teacher, doctor, auntie, etc). The dictionary translation is literally ‘you,’ but it is actually very tricky to use and only under specific conditions should it even be attempted (such as: actually trying to insult someone). In Korean, it is even more impolite to use ‘dangshin.’ ‘Eung’ can also show you are following along, you understand, ‘oh really?’ and so on. Think of it as an informal “Ne / Ye,” which was covered in the last list.įor this one, I imagine myself referring to a shop keeper I don’t know with the word ‘tu’ (Spanish for ‘you’) and am horrified.

However, even the correct translation can be confusing. If you are the kind of learner that likes to play it by ear, good luck getting that into a translator! The seemingly meaningless sound that is acting as filler while you are telling a story is actually the Korean word for ‘yeah.’ Romanized as ‘eung,’ this word is incredibly handy if you know how to use it. Here are another 10 words and phrases where it’s best to ditch Google Translate and read the long form explanation before you cause an international incident.

My Korean language studies have been a bumpy ride of miscommunication and mishaps. On top of all these new sounds you didn’t even know were associated with speaking, context is key. Learning a new language is hard… REALLY REALLY hard.

Google korean to english translation