How to Introduce Yourself in Korean

A self-introduction is one of the first things you'll ever need to say in Korean. Here's how to build one that doesn't sound memorized.

At some point, usually earlier than you’d like, someone is going to turn to you and expect a few sentences about who you are. A class, a meetup, a work call, a friend’s friend at a party. It’s one of the first moments where memorized vocabulary has to turn into something you actually produce on the spot, and it’s also one of the easiest things to prepare for, because the shape of a self-introduction barely changes from person to person. Only the details do.

This article gives you that shape, then shows you how to dress it up or down depending on who you’re talking to.

The five building blocks

Almost every Korean self-introduction is built from the same five pieces, in roughly this order. You don’t need all five every time, but knowing them means you’re never stuck deciding what to say next.

1. Your name.

제 이름은 [이름]이에요/예요. = My name is [name]. (이에요 after a consonant, 예요 after a vowel)
저는 [이름]이라고 해요. = I’m called [name]. (a common, slightly more natural alternative)

2. Where you’re from.

저는 [나라/도시]에서 왔어요. = I’m from [country/city].
저는 [나라] 사람이에요. = I’m [nationality].

3. What you do.

저는 학생이에요. = I’m a student.
저는 [직업]이에요. = I’m a [job].
저는 [회사]에서 일해요. = I work at [company].

4. A hobby or interest.

저는 [취미]을/를 좋아해요. = I like [hobby].
시간이 있을 때 [활동]해요. = When I have time, I [activity].

5. A closing phrase.

만나서 반가워요. = Nice to meet you. (standard polite)
잘 부탁드립니다. = Please treat me well going forward. (no clean English equivalent, but standard at the end of a formal introduction, especially in a new class or workplace)

Notice: 잘 부탁드립니다 doesn't translate cleanly because English doesn't really have this move. It's less a statement and more a social gesture, roughly "I'm counting on your goodwill as we start this relationship." Skipping it in a formal introduction isn't wrong, exactly, but using it can make you look more like a fluent speaker.

Put together, formal version

안녕하세요. 제 이름은 루나에요. 저는 멕시코에서 왔어요. 지금 한국어를 공부하고 있어요. 시간이 있을 때 영화 보는 걸 좋아해요. 만나서 반가워요. 잘 부탁드립니다.

Hello. My name is Luna. I’m from Mexico. I’m currently studying Korean. When I have time, I like watching movies. Nice to meet you. Please treat me well going forward.

Five sentences, five blocks, in the order listed above. That’s the whole template. Notice 멕시코에서 왔어요 and 멕시코 사람이에요 have the same level of formality.

Formality changes almost everything except the content

The blocks stay the same. The endings around them don’t. A self-introduction at a first business meeting and one to a friend’s friend at a barbecue are built from identical information delivered in almost unrecognizably different Korean.

Formal / first meeting (처음 뵙는 자리). Use 처음 뵙겠습니다 instead of 안녕하세요 at the very start; it specifically marks that this is the first time you’re meeting this person, which 안녕하세요 doesn’t. Close every sentence in 습니다/이에요 formal-polite level, and end with 잘 부탁드립니다.

처음 뵙겠습니다. 저는 [이름]이라고 합니다. = It’s nice to meet you for the first time. I’m called [name].

Casual / friend’s introduction (반말). Drop 요 and 습니다 entirely, drop the closing formality, and it’s normal to start with something more relaxed than 안녕하세요.

안녕! 나는 루나야. 멕시코에서 왔어. 지금 한국어 공부하고 있어. 영화 보는 거 좋아해. 반가워!

Hi! I’m Luna. I’m from Mexico. I’m studying Korean right now. I like watching movies. Nice to meet you!

이야 (iya): Is used if the name ends in a consonant (for example, “나는 존이야” - I am John).

Notice how little the actual content changed between the formal and casual versions above. Same name, same country, same hobby. What changed is entirely in the endings: (이)에요/합니다 became (이)야/해, 좋아해요 became 좋아해, and the whole thing got noticeably shorter and faster, the way casual speech tends to.

Which one should you default to? If you're not sure which register a situation calls for, formal is always the safer opening move. Korean speakers generally expect you to start polite with someone new and only shift to banmal once the other person invites it, often literally, by saying something like 말 편하게 해도 돼요 ("you can speak casually with me"). Starting too casual with a stranger reads as presumptuous in a way that starting too formal simply doesn't.

Sounding like you, not like a script

The template above is useful precisely because it’s predictable, but predictable is also the trap. If you memorize one exact version word for word and recite it identically every single time, it starts to sound recited, because it is. A few ways to keep it from flattening into that:

Vary the order. Lead with your hobby instead of your job sometimes. Nothing requires the five blocks in a fixed sequence.
Add a small extra detail. 저는 강아지가 있어요 (I have a dog) or 한국에 여행 온 지 일주일 됐어요 (it’s been a week since I traveled to Korea) turns a template into something specific to you, which is also just easier for the other person to remember and respond to.
Leave in a little hesitation. 음… or 그러니까… before a sentence is what real spontaneous speech sounds like. A completely smooth, zero-pause introduction can actually read as more memorized, not less.

If you want to build a version of this that’s genuinely yours instead of copy-pasted from this article, Method 1: Self-talk from How to Practice Korean Speaking Alone is exactly the tool for it: narrate who you are out loud, notice where you get stuck, and fill those specific gaps instead of memorizing someone else’s version wholesale.

For more prompts to build out what comes right after the introduction, since nobody just stops talking after 만나서 반가워요, 50 Korean Speaking Prompts has a full “daily life” and “people and relationships” section built for exactly that next step.

And if you’d rather practice a new introduction-style scenario daily instead of building this alone from scratch, 30 Days of Korean Speaking gives you a fresh role and goal each day, self-introductions included.