When you meet a new Korean person, you’ll want to introduce yourself and make small talk. So learning how to introduce yourself in Korean is very important!
How you’ll introduce yourself in Korean will vary based on the situation, we can get you started on the basics. Add to these based on your situation. Let’s get started!
Below is a free PDF guide that you can download and take with you:
Manners and Culture in Korea for Meeting New People in Korea
It’s good to go over a couple of points on the manners and culture in Korea first. After you’ve learned them, we’ll get started on how to introduce yourself in Korean!
1. Before anything else, greet them by saying 안녕하세요 (annyeonghaseyo).
It is important in Korean culture to be polite and show respect towards others. First impressions are everything.
2. Bow as you greet them.
This is a sign of respect and politeness. If you’re already acquainted then just a head nod should do.
3. If you shake hands, use your right hand or both hands.
When you shake hands, use your right hand or both hands. You can show more respect by bowing and touching your left hand to your right or grabbing your stomach with your left hand.
4. Address them by their title or family name.
Koreans do not refer to each other by their first name unless they are close and even then they often go by ‘언니 (eonni)’, ‘오빠 (oppa)’ and so on. When you are meeting a new person use their title or family name unless they say otherwise.
Basic Greetings in Korean
The greeting is an essential part to introduce yourself in Korean! These are the basics of what you can use, in both the formal and standard ways of saying them. When you greet people in Korean, they are likely to talk to you in Korean.
If you don’t know how to read the Korean Alphabet yet, you can learn here in about 1 hour.
Standard
Hello!
Formal
It’s nice to meet you!
Standard
It’s nice to meet you!
Formal
My name is John
Introducing Your Age in Korean
Age makes a big difference in your interactions in Korea. You want to use more formal and polite language in introductions for people in a higher social position (your boss, your elders, etc.). You can use standard versions of the Korean language when you introduce yourself in Korean to those who are the same age or younger than you.
Formal
I’m 24 years old
Standard
I’m 24 years old
As you tell others your age, you should use the native Korean Number System. We have a complete guide for Korean numbers here. Here’s a quick refresher if you need it.
| English | Korean |
|---|---|
| ONE | |
| TWO | |
| THREE | |
| FOUR | |
| FIVE | |
| SIX | |
| SEVEN | |
| EIGHT | |
| NINE | |
| TEN |
Note that Korean age is not the same as international age. You can be up to two years older in Korean age.
Introducing Where You Are From in Korean
Something that will come up when you introduce yourself in Korean, your partner will probably want to know where you’re from.
Formal
I am from U.S.
Standard
I am from U.S.
Example Countries
You can fill in the blank with the country that applies to you. For more countries, you can check our post about how to say “country” in Korean.
United States =
Canada =
United Kingdom =
Australia =
Thailand =
Germany =
Introducing Your Occupation in Korean
Work is important in Korean culture and it’s likely to come up when you introduce yourself in Korean. Either during your self-introduction or as a question after you finish.
Formal
I am a student
Standard
I am a model
I am a singer
You can use this sentence to introduce yourself in Korean as well as to explain your occupation. Just replace the X with what you want to say.
Example Occupations
Student =
Teacher =
Engineer =
Part-timer =
Web-developer =
Nurse =
Singer =
Free-lancer =
Hairdresser =
Salesperson =
Clerk =
Model =
Conversation Topics
After you introduce yourself in Korean and finish with the basic questions Koreans will ask, you might want to introduce some other topics to keep the conversation going. Here are some basic sentences you can use.
Formal
I learned Korean at the academy
Standard
I studied Korean by myself
I learned Korean from my friend
Formal
I live in Seoul
Standard
I live in the Philippines
My hobby is running
My hobby is cooking
Reading is one of my hobbies
List of Hobbies
Reading =
Cooking =
Hiking =
Soccer =
Basketball =
Baseball =
Listening to music =
running = or
If you're looking for more, check out our fantastic resources on learning Korean here. We also have a structured online Korean language web program that will teach you how to have a 3-minute conversation in the first 90 days.
Did you find today's lesson useful? Practice introducing yourself in the comments and we'll reply with how you did!
76 replies to "How to Introduce Yourself in Korean"
Isn’t 이에요 formal and 입니다 standard? Or was I just learning this incorrectly?
Hi, Carmella! ‘이에요’ is standard and ‘입니다’ is even more polite and formal. ^^
Thank you a lot. It helped to pass my exam😊
Congratulations, Lily! Great work! ^^
This really helped me a lot to shoot an intro video for my audition. Thank you guys.
Awesome! We’re glad that it has been valuable to you. ^^
Thank You Very Much for this , I really like to learn from here !!
Kamsahamnida 🙂
Great! Keep going, Samsmritha! ^^