South Koreans Become Younger after Country Changes Counting Method
2023-06-30
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1Many South Koreans are now one or two years younger after the nation changed the way it counted ages on Wednesday.
2A new law will bring South Korea in line with how most countries around the world count a person's age.
3In the past, South Korea used a traditional age-counting method that considered a baby one year of age at birth.
4People then turned a year older every January 1.
5That means that a child born in December would turn 2 shortly after birth.
6One young girl told a local television station: "I turned 6 and then I became 5 again."
7Some South Koreans became two years younger.
8Oh Seung-youl went from 63 to 61. "It's always good to be younger," he said with a laugh.
9One person, however, reminded people that the new age-counting plan does not change a person's true age.
10Choi Eun-young is now 49. She used to be 50.
11"The law doesn't make you biologically younger and there are no real benefits other than feeling good about being called a year younger than before," she said.
12President Yoon Suk Yeol said updating all South Korean's ages to the international norm was an important goal for his government.
13He said he wanted to reduce "social and administrative confusion."
14But government officials said the new law does not change how South Koreans receive public services and benefits.
15They were always based on the international standard.
16So were rules about when a child starts school, when a young person is permitted to drive a car, and when an adult can get a pension.
17Kim Si-eun said she already misses the old method of age-counting. She is 21 years old.
18She said the old way seemed easier.
19"With everybody now going with international age, the changed ages feel awkward," Kim said.
20Some observers say the change will be helpful in situations such as giving medicine to children.
21Instructions on a box of medicine could say the amount for a 12-year-old is different from an 11-year-old.
22However, if the package was made outside of South Korea, it could be hard for South Korean parents to know how much medicine to give their child.
23One office worker noted that South Koreans respect older people.
24So if someone is now a bit younger, they may no longer be considered as important in an office or an organization.
25"You are losing as much as two years!" said 56-year-old office worker Choi Duck-sang.
26"Still, I think this is a change that should have been made much earlier. It's a good thing -- the entire nation got younger together," he said.
27I'm Dan Friedell.
1Many South Koreans are now one or two years younger after the nation changed the way it counted ages on Wednesday. A new law will bring South Korea in line with how most countries around the world count a person's age. 2In the past, South Korea used a traditional age-counting method that considered a baby one year of age at birth. People then turned a year older every January 1. That means that a child born in December would turn 2 shortly after birth. 3One young girl told a local television station: "I turned 6 and then I became 5 again." 4Some South Koreans became two years younger. Oh Seung-youl went from 63 to 61. "It's always good to be younger," he said with a laugh. 5One person, however, reminded people that the new age-counting plan does not change a person's true age. 6Choi Eun-young is now 49. She used to be 50. 7"The law doesn't make you biologically younger and there are no real benefits other than feeling good about being called a year younger than before," she said. 8President Yoon Suk Yeol said updating all South Korean's ages to the international norm was an important goal for his government. He said he wanted to reduce "social and administrative confusion." 9But government officials said the new law does not change how South Koreans receive public services and benefits. They were always based on the international standard. So were rules about when a child starts school, when a young person is permitted to drive a car, and when an adult can get a pension. 10Kim Si-eun said she already misses the old method of age-counting. She is 21 years old. She said the old way seemed easier. 11"With everybody now going with international age, the changed ages feel awkward," Kim said. 12Some observers say the change will be helpful in situations such as giving medicine to children. Instructions on a box of medicine could say the amount for a 12-year-old is different from an 11-year-old. However, if the package was made outside of South Korea, it could be hard for South Korean parents to know how much medicine to give their child. 13One office worker noted that South Koreans respect older people. So if someone is now a bit younger, they may no longer be considered as important in an office or an organization. 14"You are losing as much as two years!" said 56-year-old office worker Choi Duck-sang. "Still, I think this is a change that should have been made much earlier. It's a good thing -- the entire nation got younger together," he said. 15I'm Dan Friedell. 16Dan Friedell adapted this story for Learning English based on a story by The Associated Press. 17_________________________________________________________________ 18Words in This Story 19benefit -n. a good thing 20update -v. to change something so it is done in a new way 21standard -n. a common and accepted way of doing things 22confusion -n. the feeling of not understanding something 23pension -n. money received by older, retired people after working in a job for a long time; paid either by the company they worked for or the government 24awkward -adj. a feeling of being uncomfortable 25_________________________________________________________________ 26We want to hear from you. How would you feel if you suddenly became younger by one or two years overnight? 27Here is how our comment system works: 28Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.