Using minimal language to help foreign learners understand Korean honorifics

Abstract

Due to an influx of foreign residents, there are increasing numbers of multicultural families in South Korea and increasing numbers of learners of Korean as a Second Language (KSL). One of the greatest challenges facing KSL learners is the Korean honorific system, often regarded as one of the most complex in the world. Learning to understand the honorific system and to navigate it is essential to forming close social relationships, as well as to displaying necessary respect when appropriate. Using an ethnopragmatic approach, this chapter proposes a set of semantic explications and cultural scripts written in minimal language, aimed at explaining the ideas behind Korean honorific language from the point of view of cultural insiders in South Korea.