Using Romanized Korean Phrases/Words

*cue le sigh*

Why, oh why, must I even write this chapter?

Oh wait, it’s because most some authors decide that everyone knows Korean and put oh so many Korean phrases in their stories.

Look, not all of us are k-drama and/or k-pop fans. Alright. (I mean, I totally am, but I have to think about my other friends out there as well. *cough* Alice *cough*) So not all of us will know what (and excuse my spelling on these words, I’m not Korean…):

1. Annyeonghaseyo
2. Gomayo
3. Kamsahamnida
4. Mianhae
5. (insert other commonly seen Korean phrases here)

all mean. (The a in all is not capitalized because it’s a continuation of the ious sentence.) We should, but some of us don’t.

Putting in Korean phrases in your story is fine as long as YOU DO SO IN MODERATION. I don't want to read a fic and every other sentence is a romanized Korean phrase. I'm not Korean so there's a good chance I won't know what they mean. Titles are okay (again, this depends). Oppa, Unnie, Noona, Hyung - we know what they mean (well, most of us do). But for other phrases, you must use it in moderation and do this:

PUT THE FREAKING TRANSLATION!!!

Include the English translation of the phrase you use in your author’s note at the bottom. Even with the ones we all should know (annyeong for example), put the translation! It may seem tough to all of you lazy writers *cough* me *cough* out there, but just take five minutes of your precious life (or maybe even less depending on how fast you type) and add in the translation. Hell, if you really want to, dedicate an entire chapter to the translations. I don’t care, JUST DO IT!

(((On side note, only put the translation once. If your readers are too lazy to read the translations the first time, for them.)))

Or if you’re really too lazy to include translations, then, I don’t know, don’t use Korean phrases in the first place. (Didn’t think about that one, did you?)

So yeah, that’s about all I have to say.

Oh yeah, and before I forget. Here are my lovely rules that you guys just love so much~

RULES TO USING KOREAN PHRASES:

1. If you don’t have to, then don’t. Don’t try to be all fancy and confuse your readers.
2. If you do use Korean phrases, PUT THE DAMN TRANSLATIONS. Not all of us are smart okay.
3. If you use Korean phrases, make sure your spelling’s right (not like what I did at the top).
4. There is no number four, I just like this number for some reason.
5. Only because number four would get lonely.
6. …

FINAL THOUGHTS

I do get why you (authors) would want to include Korean phrases in your story. It makes it feel more Korean-y and such. But not everyone knows what all commonly used phrases are. Some of your readers may be new to k-pop or don’t watch k-dramas where majority of us learn about these phrases. So like I have stressed in this chapter, don’t use them if you don’t have to. If you do, just put the translations in your author’s note. Pretty please with EXO and a dash of SHINee on top?

Funny, I eat kiwis the same way. Just bite it like I would an apple :D

RANDOM FACT: I just recently got into making graphics (read: I'm still learning), but they so bad... >< If you want an example of how horrible it is, just go to my other story but please don't.

ANOTHER RANDOM FACT: My ultimate female bias is Juniel, who is in the gif above, and I ship her with practically anybody and everybody (especially EXO's Kai and/or Sehun [yet my other story features Luhan and Juniel as a couple for some unknown reason...]).

AND ONE MORE RANDOM FACT: Today is my eldest brother's 22nd birthday! (Wow, he's getting old...) Heh, turning 22 on the 22nd of August.