In Korea, there are two basic ways of talking. Formal and informal.

To get really specific, there is a formal and there is a very very formal.

Informal way of talking is used between friends and sometimes between parent and child. (Usually as children go older, they talk formally toward their parents).

Formal is used toward a senior, parents, adults, strangers etc. Generally anyone who is not a friend or a family member. Also towards grandparents usually.

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I'll start with family members; I think most people know this, but I've seen some cases where it is used incorrectly.

(Don't worry about the Korean letters yet, they'll be learned in the next few lessons.)

First off, is mom.

Pronounced "umma" and looks like 엄마 in Korean.

Dad. Pronounced "appa" looks like 아빠 in Korean.

For a boy, he would call an older male "hyung" looks like 형. Also, you can say hyung formally, it would be hyungnim. (Note. Hyungnim is also what you call your husband's older sister.)

A boy would call an older female "noona" it looks like 누나 in korean. Noona formally would be "noonim."

A girl  would call an older male, "oppa" looks like 오빠. There is no formal way of calling someone oppa.

A girl would call an older female "unni" looks like 언니 in korean. There is no formal way to say unni.

There are several ways to say younger sibiling. Generally if you are talking to your younger sibling, you would just call him or her by his or her name.

(Note. I noticed in a lot of fanfics; authors would write dialogue where the character is speaking to a younger person, and would call him or her "dongsaeng." That's pretty awkward.)

If you are talking about your younger sibling you could say "dongsaeng" to refer to him or her. (I wouldn't ever call my brother "dongsaeng" always by his name.)

-Quick English Reference- It is the same in English too. When you talk to your brother, you don't actually call him brother; do you? You would call him by his name. However, sometimes when you talk about him, you refer to your brother as "brother," or by his name. It's the same thing.

A younger brother could be referred to as "nam-dongsaeng." (you could just call him dongsaeng, it doesn't really matter.)

A younger sister can be referred to as "yeo-dongsaeng."

I think I covered all of the immediate family members, I'm sorry if this was confusing. If there are any questions please leave them in the comment box and I promise I will answer them.

 Note: Even though you call your younger sibling by his or her name, you would never do that to an older sibiling. That would be considered very rude. You would call your sister "unni" or "noona," and you can stick your sister's name in front (ex. Jiyeon noona). Never would you call your sister by just her name.

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So as I've been reading stories, I have noticed the most misused word YAH! as in hey!

In case you didn't know the word "yah" means HEY! Not hey like, hey how's it going~ but more like HEY GTFO.

It actually only means "hey" but the level of it can differ depending on context. For example, "Yah, do you want to help me?" or "YAH. DO YOU WANT TO DIE." there are many example of using "yah" but I won't list them all..too many...

Just know that "yah" is sort of like "hey"

What I wanted to point out is, SO MANY PEOPLE MISUSE YAH.

YOU CAN NEVER EVER SAY YAH TO AN OLDER PERSON.

It is extremely rude.

In AFF I've read countless stories where a younger character says "yah" to an older person. Never do that.

Instead, you can say "HYUNG!" "UNNI!" etc. That is the equivalent of "yah." it may not be so prominent writing "hyung" but when you talk it is differentiable.

Also, I think people here think that "yah" can only be used negatively. That is not necessarily true. You can use it to get someone's attention, but only to someone who is younger or equal age to you.

Is this confusing?

Example 1: "Yah, what do you want to eat?" A sentence like this could be used between friends, or a mother can say this to her child. This isn't negatine simple asking, "Hey, what do you want to eat?"

Example 2: "YAH. SHUT UP. GO AWAY. GO DIE IN A HOLE." clearly used in a negative way.

Example 3: to an older person( this case younger girl to a boy): "Oppa!" instead of saying "Yah!" you can say oppa and it means the same thing as yah. You can also yell at an older person by using noon etc. (but really you shouldn't be yelling at someone who's older than you, anyways.)

"Yah" simply means "hey"

Remember to never ever use "yah" to an older person, or anyone who is a higher social status than you.

If you have anything you want to know also leave them down below in the comment box, I'll make it into a lesson!