Speaker A
Personally, I think it would be very hard without my husband, is what our Korean learner said.
Learn 13 common Konglish mistakes Korean learners make and how native English speakers express these ideas more naturally.
Key Takeaways
- Avoid direct Konglish translations; choose phrases native speakers commonly use.
- Use warmer, more casual expressions to sound natural in English conversations.
- Pay attention to subtle differences in word choice and sentence structure for clarity.
- Phrases like 'strike up a conversation' and 'have a soft spot for' enrich your English.
- Small changes like 'the other son' vs. 'other son' and 'mentioned' vs. 'said' improve fluency.
Summary
- The video highlights 13 Konglish phrases Korean learners often use that native speakers avoid.
- It explains why certain Korean-to-English translations sound awkward or overly formal in casual conversation.
- Examples include replacing 'manages the building' with 'looks after the building' for a warmer tone.
- The phrase 'elderly generation' is discouraged in favor of 'older generation' to sound more friendly.
- Expressions like 'strike up a conversation' and 'have a soft spot for' are introduced for natural speech.
- The video discusses smoother sentence structures, such as 'when I finally got the chance' instead of 'finally, when the chance came.'
- It emphasizes using 'with' instead of 'has' when talking about children for more natural phrasing.
- The difference between 'said' and 'mentioned' is explained for warmer storytelling.
- It advises on using 'caught me off guard' instead of 'was unexpected' for conversational English.
- Overall, the video teaches how to sound more native-like by avoiding direct Konglish translations.
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
Grammatically, it is okay. Instead, we have the phrase I'd be without. This is really common.
Speaker A
Anything. It's good for anything. And then you can explain why or ask them questions about what they said.
Speaker A
Hello everyone. It's day 41 of Gabrielle's English Diary. Today our title is Coffee and Conversation on the Rooftop.
Speaker A
Let's see. Number one. Our Korean learners say, "There's an elderly gentleman who manages the building our academy is in." And our native speakers say, "There's an elderly gentleman who looks after the building where my academy is located." Elderly gentleman
Speaker A
is correct. Here, we want to be careful not to use elderly in every situation because it can give kind of a clinical atmosphere. But when we're talking about shinsa, gentlemen, then it gives more of a respected atmosphere. Elderly
Speaker A
gentlemen. Good. Now let's compare manages and looks after. Manages is more about administration like an event or a manager might manage something. But looking after gives a warm feeling of caring about what you're doing. So a lot of times I'll see him walking around
Speaker A
checking the building and he says, he cares about the building. That's why I said look after. And instead of our academy is in, this is correct grammatically. Saying where our academy is located is a little bit better because number one we're in the
Speaker A
beginning of the story explaining where and when the story is happening. In that case, this kind of where to is a little bit better to explain. And also we're in a narrative storytelling mode here and this kind of sentence better suits this
Speaker A
type of phrase in that case. So there's an elderly gentleman who looks after the building where my academy is located.
Speaker A
Number two, our Korean learners say, "I like listening to stories from the elderly generation, so I wanted to talk with him." Now, here, elderly generation.
Speaker A
This sounds more clinical than friendly, like elderly gentlemen. Instead, we can just say, "I've always had a soft spot for hearing stories from the older generation, so I was eager to strike up a conversation with him." Elderly generation, older generation,
Speaker A
it sounds a little bit more relevant for a casual conversation. Elderly generation is probably which he is, but it makes them sound a little bit old in this case. Instead, just saying older generation.
Speaker A
generation conversation. Now I like listening to is correct. But if we want to give more of a warm nuance casual conversation had a soft spot.
Speaker A
Had a soft spot is a really great phrase for saying something that you like or when you see it your heart just gets kind of warm. And I have a soft spot for dogs and kids. So when I see them, I
Speaker A
just automatically smile. So in this story, I talk about having a soft spot for hearing stories from the older generation, which is really true.
Speaker A
They're really interesting, you know. So whenever I hear those, I'm very eager eager. I can want to talk with him.
Speaker A
I want to talk with you about something. Instead, eager to strike up a conversation.
Speaker A
I want to start a conversation. Strike up a conversation. This is a great phrase that shows I'm excited about it, too. Like, I really want to strike up a conversation with that guy from the store across the street, but I haven't
Speaker A
gotten the chance yet. I want to start a conversation in a casual, fun way. I've always had a soft spot for hearing stories from the older generation, so I was eager to strike up a conversation with him.
Speaker A
Our Korean learners say, "Finally, when the chance came, he told me his life story." And our native speakers say, "When I finally got the chance, he told me his life story." Now, I mentioned this before, but when I where I
Speaker A
structure, so when I finally got the chance sounds much smoother than finally, when the chance came when I finally got the chance, we're putting less stress on finally.
Speaker A
It's still emphasized, but it's less stress, so it sounds a little less negative. When I finally got the chance, had the chance. Using chance here as a subject is a little bit awkward.
Speaker A
Instead, got the chance or get the chance or had the chance is much more common in spoken conversation. When I finally got the chance, he told me his life story.
Speaker A
He really didn't have any. How can we say this? He's 87 years old and has two children, but surprisingly he had no grandchildren. This is a little bit awkward. Can you tell why he has two children? This is okay for describing
Speaker A
someone and if they have kids or not, but there's a much better way to say this.
Speaker A
If you say had, it sounds like he passed away. He's gone. Plus, we're mixing heads and head here.
Speaker A
Instead, he's 87 years old with two children, but surprisingly no grandkids. Better for spoken English. Let's go over it one more time. So, he's 87 years old with two children. Instead of saying has two children, with is much more common.
Speaker A
For example, oh, she's married with two kids or she's single with no kids. Something like this with talking about children is very common. But surprisingly, here we're connecting these two parts smoother by using these dashes, but also adding emphasis. Listen, he's 87 years
Speaker A
old with two children. But surprisingly, we're pausing before and after to add emphasis about having no grandkids. No grandkids.
Speaker A
Grandkid speaking. It's a little bit less polite, but because it's grandchildren, you don't really have to be super polite. For a grandfather or grandmother, you might want to use that polite long form instead of grandpa or grandma. But for
Speaker A
grandchildren, it's okay to just say grandkids. Let's say one more time together. He's 87 years old with two children, but surprisingly no grandkids.
Speaker A
Our Korean learners say one of his sons runs a Korean medicine clinic and other son worked in China before he came back to Korea recently.
Speaker A
Now our native speakers say one of his sons runs a Korean medicine clinic and the other had been working in China before moving back to Korea recently.
Speaker A
Let's talk about the differences here. First, we have other son and the other. article.
Speaker A
You need to have the or his in here grammatically for it to work. Also, adding sun here is a little bit flat.
Speaker A
You can just say the other had been working. Using had been here makes that connection to now much more clear. We're adding imagery to our sentence. Had been working until recently. If we say worked, we don't know exactly when he
Speaker A
worked or anything like that. So, it's just making the sentence clear. Now, here too, came back.
Speaker A
Came back coming in. Came back for how long? Is he coming back for good? Is he going back to China? This is not clear if we just say came back. But if we say moving back, he's coming here permanently.
Speaker A
We can feel that it has more of a clear meaning. He came back to Korea permanently. He moved back.
Speaker A
One of his sons runs a Korean medicine clinic and the other had been working in China before moving back to Korea recently.
Speaker A
He said that he and his wife are living separately. Now here are living separately.
Speaker A
He mentioned that he and his wife live separately. Now this sounds much simpler and smoother in the sentence.
Speaker A
So instead of are living separately, we'll say live separately. And here said Marita said this is perfectly okay grammar-wise but if we want to say it in a little more warmer more casual storytelling mentioned mentioned when we're recalling
Speaker A
something that someone said ah he mentioned that he had to go to work he mentioned that he had to pick up something from the store mentioned is much better than said is a little bit more direct. act then mentioned he mentioned that he and
Speaker A
his wife live separately now. Our Korean learners say that was unexpected and sounded a little lonely to me. And our native speakers say that caught me off guard. It sounded a bit lonely to me. here. Instead of a little
Speaker A
lonely, you can say a bit. Now, little and a bit are both okay. There's no problem with either. A bit is a bit better for conversational English, but mostly I want you to focus on us
Speaker A
much. Don't use a bit too much. We're going to mix them. Use a little bit of both.
Speaker A
Okay? Now, here was unexpected. Unexpected is a good phrase, but it's more common for written English because it's a little bit formal. Instead, caught me off guard.
Speaker A
It's better used in spoken English because it's a little bit informal describing that situation. Oh, really?
Speaker A
That caught me off guard. Unexpected is more like about something. Oh, that was unexpected.
Speaker A
That caught me off guard. So, let's say one more time. That caught me off guard. It sounded a bit lonely to me.
Speaker A
This is really interesting to me. But he just smiled and said, "This is better." This is better is actually grammatically fine. But there's a phrase that we use a lot in this type of situation. That is, but he simply smiled and said, "It's
Speaker A
better this way." It's better this way. Is one phrase that commonly comes out in a situation where maybe you're not exactly happy about it, but you realize that it's better that way. For example, I'm so busy. I have a dog.
Speaker A
It's better this way. It's better this way. It's better this way. If we use simply, he sounds softer and wiser.
Speaker A
An elderly gentleman who's softly smiling simply smiled. This kind of phrase, this kind of nuance comes out with this phrase. He simply smiled. It sounds much warmer than just smiled. He simply smiled and said, "It's better this way."
Speaker A
I think each person has a different standard for happiness. Ah, standard for happiness. standard.
Speaker A
There's a much better way to say this in conversational English and that is I guess everyone has their own idea of happiness. You can also use this phrase when asking a question like oh what's your idea of happiness if you're curious
Speaker A
about what that person thinks happiness is. Here also think sounds a little bit sure here like I'm saying my opinion about something but I guess is more like I guess I guess everyone each person is also correct everyone I guess everyone has their own
Speaker A
idea of happiness number 10 personally I think it would be very hard without my husband is what our Korean learner said. Now, let's compare.
Speaker A
Personally, I'd be lost without my husband. This phrase, it would be very hard without grammatically is okay.
Speaker A
Instead, we have the phrase, I'd be lost without. This is really common. I mean, you can use this in conversation. What would you be lost without? I'd be lost without my dog. I'd be lost without my sister. I'd be lost without my computer.
Speaker A
Anything. It's good for anything. And then you can explain why or ask them questions about what they said. Here I said, I'd be lost without my husband.
Speaker A
We're showing our dependence on that thing or person. Personally, I'd be lost without my husband.
Speaker A
Number 11. Let's look at the first half first. He gave me a cup of instant coffee and we sat in his small rooftop office. But our native speakers say he offered me a cup of instant coffee and we sat together in
Speaker A
his small rooftop office. Here, let's talk about the difference between gave and offered. Now, what is givea here? When you're saying when you're talking about coffee or something like this, gave doesn't imply that I had a choice. But offer is more like would you
Speaker A
like this? I'm not going to refuse. But offer gives that nuance of letting someone choose. So this is a bit softer in this case than give.
Speaker A
So he offered me a cup of instant coffee and we sat together. Why do you think I added together here?
Speaker A
Because it makes it warmer. We're not sitting alone. We're not just sitting. We're sitting together in his small rooftop office talking together. Makes it warmer and gives more of that atmosphere that we want to show in this story. He offered me a cup of instant
Speaker A
coffee and we sat together in his small rooftop office. Now the second half. Talking for about 30 minutes until I had to go back to class. Here.
Speaker A
Isn't there a different phrase that we have learned already that we can use here? I think there is. Chatting.
Speaker A
Chatting away for about 30 minutes before I had to head back to class. Now, here talking chatting away, like I've said before, is much better for spoken English and it gives that warm feeling of talking together, having fun.
Speaker A
We added away here. Now, go back to class. I need to go back to class. This is common to say, but instead, if we're describing the situation and we want to add a warmer atmosphere to that, we can
Speaker A
say before I had to go back to class. So, that's why we changed it to before and then head back, which is a commonly used phrasal verb in casual spoken English. So, padding away for about 30 minutes before I had to head back to
Speaker A
class. Number 12. How can we say this? Our Korean learners say talking with him felt like a time travel to the past.
Speaker A
I've seen this a lot with my students who try and write it and it's okay.
Speaker A
a time travel to the past. This sounds really awkward. Instead, talking with him felt like taking a step back in time. Memorize this phrase. This is the way we commonly say, "If you're going back to your high school, you go and you walk down the
Speaker A
halls, everything looks the same." and you remember playing with your friends, running down the halls, or you can say, "Wow, it's like taking a step back in time." When you're going through something or seeing something that brings back those
Speaker A
old memories. So, instead of a time travel to the past, we're taking a step back in time.
Speaker A
If we use chatting every single time, it gets a little bit repetitive. So, we set that warm atmosphere using chatting first, right? Then we can switch back to talking to kind of give us a little more of a mix of verbs. Talking with him felt
Speaker A
like taking a step back in time. Wonderful. I am excited to talk with him later again. I am excited.
Speaker A
Yeah, I'm excited. When you're talking about talking with someone, maybe if you're going to talk to your favorite idol, you might say, "Oh my gosh, I'm so excited to meet him." But talking to an elderly gentleman, instead, I'm really looking forward to. This is
Speaker A
I'm really looking forward to the next time we can sit down and chat. Sit down and chat.
Speaker A
Sit down and chat is also better here than talk. Like I said, getting a mix is always better. Sit down and chat implies that it won't be some kind of quick conversation. Instead, I actually enjoyed it and I want to have that kind
Speaker A
of conversation again. I'm really looking forward to the next time we can sit down and chat.
Speaker A
Okay, everyone. I'm really looking forward to the next time I can see you or teach you or be together with you.
Speaker A
and I will see you next in reading points. Bye-bye for now, usually quickly or briefly. And this is neutral tone, so it can be formal and it can be informal. Now, I hear a lot of mistakes with favorite because it's a
Speaker A
really common word that almost all English students know.
Topics:KonglishEnglish learningKorean learnersnative English expressionscommon mistakesEnglish conversationlanguage tipsGabrielle's English DiaryEnglish storytellingnatural English phrases
