Language fact file: Korean

Korean is spoken as an official language in: North Korea, South Korea

Number of native speakers: 81 million

Learn some: Get someone’s attention politely by saying 실례합니다 (pronounced ‘sillyehamnida’), which means ‘excuse me’. You might need to follow up with: 영어 할 수 있어요? (yeongeo hal su isseoyo?), which means ‘do you speak English?’

Fast facts:

Hangul, the Korean alphabet, is one of the youngest in the world. It was designed in the 15th century to reduce illiteracy; the previous script was based on Chinese characters and was very difficult to learn.

Hangul’s characters are designed in the shape of a tongue and teeth, helping readers to pronounce the words even if they haven’t heard them before.

In contrast with English speakers, Korean speakers tend to use plural pronouns – ie we and us – much more often than the singular – ie I and me. This reflects the more communal and less individualistic culture, where emphasis is on the collective rather than the person.