🎂 How Koreans Celebrate Birthdays

🎈 More Than Just Cake and Candles!

Korean birthday celebrations go beyond singing a song and blowing out candles. Birthdays are tied to family, tradition, and even national identity! From the meaningful "Doljanchi" for 1-year-olds to modern cafe parties for friends, birthdays in Korea reveal how culture meets celebration.

🥶 1. Doljanchi (First Birthday Celebration)

A baby’s first birthday is one of the most important events in Korean culture. Historically, many babies didn’t survive infancy, so reaching the first year was a milestone worth celebrating!

Korean	Pronunciation	Meaning
돌잡이	dol-ja-bi	Item-picking event)
돌상	dol-sang	1 year birthday table display

🌱 2. Korean Age vs International Age

In Korea, age was traditionally calculated differently:

When you're born, you're already 1 year old.
Everyone adds a year together on January 1st, not on their birthday.
This means someone born in December could be “2 years old” in Korean age right away.

✅ Since 2023, Korea officially switched to the international age system in government documents — but you’ll still hear people mention their “Korean age” in casual conversation!

🎉 3. Modern Korean Birthday Traditions

Today, many Koreans celebrate with:

Seaweed soup (미역국 / mi-yeok-guk) in the morning (symbol of birth and gratitude to mothers)
Group dinners with friends
Cafe or karaoke party
Gift exchange or heartfelt messages on social media

👶 Common Birthday Vocabulary

Korean	Pronunciation	English Meaning
생일 축하합니다	saeng-il chu-ka-ham-ni-da	Happy Birthday
미역국	mi-yeok-guk	Seaweed soup
선물	seon-mul	Gift
생일 케이크	saeng-il ke-i-keu	Birthday cake
파티	pa-ti	Party

🗣️ Practice Sentences

오늘 제 생일이에요.
→ O-neul je saeng-il-i-e-yo.
→ It's my birthday today.
생일 축하해요!
→ Saeng-il chu-ka-hae-yo!
→ Happy birthday!
친구들이 생일 파티를 준비했어요.
→ Chin-gu-deul-i saeng-il pa-ti-reul jun-bi-hae-sseo-yo.
→ My friends prepared a birthday party.

👩‍🏫 Learn Korean Through Culture

In our class, we explore how Korean culture connects with real-life expressions — from traditional birthdays to daily phrases. Practice speaking with real context!

👉 Book a class with me on italki:
https://www.italki.com/ko/teacher/7916559