Step Brother vs Half Brother
Hey guys,
I just got back from another cool trip to Seoul Korea. I love the south part of the city. I wish I could speak Korean and hopefully one day I will be able to! I know a couple of funny words but then the conversation goes dead because I can’t really continue the conversation with my 20 word vocabulary. Lol.
I slept almost the entire way home during the flight. I used to be terrible at sleeping while I sit but I’m getting good at it now. I guess I shouldn’t be too proud because it’s not a very impressive skill. It is quite useful though if your Ipod runs out of batteries and you are bored. It was funny, I woke up about 10 minutes before we landed and made sure I got my “food”. Everyone knows that airplane food is terrible but I had to feel I wasn’t wasting money or something. I’m not sure exactly which stupid thought I was using at the time.
Actually, airplane food is much better than it used to be, maybe with all the competition. I don’t know.
Ok, on to my little lesson. I am not sure if you know this one or not but it’s a good one. I was noticing again that many Asian cultures, and perhaps more too but I don’t know, use words like “brother, sister, and cousin” quite differently than we do in English.
Sometimes I’ll introduce Add as my brother, and I’ll hear a question like, “Is he your real brother?”. In English, if we say brother, sister, or cousin, it is our real one. We don’t use these words for close friends. I’m not saying it’s a good or bad thing, it’s just a little difference I noticed.
I was watching TV, no surprise, and I noticed someone was talking about his “half brother”. I thought that this is an interesting term and needs to be explained. I’ll also explain what a “step brother” is.
A “half” brother or sister, means that you share one parent. For example, Imagine your father got divorced and then had a child with his new wife. This child would be your “half brother” or “half sister”. This is very common all over the world.
“Step” on the other hand is a bit different. If your mom got married to someone who isn’t your father, this new guy is your “step father” or “step dad”. If he had children from a previous marriage, then his son would be your “step brother” and his daughter would be your “step sister”.
I think you get the idea. I just wanted to write about these because I know that these terms are useful for understanding real English. It’s cool if you can use these words and I guarantee that they will be useful someday in real life. I love your comments as always.
April 8th, 2011 at 8:30 pm
I’m glad you’re back!
Learning different language isn’t so easy, right? But maybe the reason why you don’t know Korean is that there is no so good podcasts for Korean language…
Looking forward to hearing something new from you!
Kate
April 8th, 2011 at 8:58 pm
Hey, Andy!
Really like to read your blog!
and what about the word “sibling”? I found this word in a vocab book for ielts, but i used to see it rarely in other books or something.
Thanks for all!
Your big fan,
Victoria
April 9th, 2011 at 12:57 am
Andy,
Thank you for your blog and the interresting choice of topics,
every time , I learn more and more
I like the way you teach us english , you are very interesting and sympathetic
I took a lot of english courses and I spent a lot of money but the result was pathetic!!!
Since I discovered your site and listened your podcasts, my english improve day after day.
Good luck and I’m impatiently waiting for the new lessons
April 9th, 2011 at 7:53 am
Thank you again, Andrew, for such the interesting story about your another trip. I hope your time in Korea was amazing.
Regarding today’s topic, I can say that here, in Russia, we often call our cousins- “brothers” and “sisters”. But if it is needed we can explain whether he/she is our sibling or he/she is our aunt/uncle’s son or daughter. We don’t use these words for our close friends either (at least I didn’t hear of it), but if he/she is really the closest friend of yours, you can say something like :”He/she is LIKE brother/sister to me”
Also men can use the word “brother” in the situations when you say “Hey, bro!” For example Russian man can ask another man for the cigarette while walking down the street: “Hey, brother, do you have a cigarette?”
~Val
You are like elder brother to me, Andrew =)
April 9th, 2011 at 9:46 am
Hi Val,
Great comment. I’m glad you think of me as your older bro, although, I hope you aren’t thinking too old. I’m still trying to pretend I’m young. Lol
April 9th, 2011 at 10:51 am
Andy, of course you are young =) I’m 25, but I personally feel like I’m 18, and think that I will feel so for many many years. And you look pretty young, by the way
But if you want you can be my younger bro 
April 9th, 2011 at 11:03 pm
i m gonna talk generally guys i think you are using the best method for teaching.you are making us like not studying somethin your podcast makes us feel like we sit with u at a cafe and we have a talk, to cut it short they re not boring like lessons
April 10th, 2011 at 7:09 am
Hi,
THX for sharing it.it was very useful .I should also mention that it is so common in Muslems to call each other sister and brother,which means ideological sister & brother.
April 11th, 2011 at 11:59 am
Hi guys!!
I’m braziliam and in my country we only say brother and sister to our real brother and sister. Sometimes we can use “brother” or “sister” talking about a friend to say that we are VERY friend, but we use that just when the listener knows that he/she isn’t my real brother or sister.For step brother, we haven’t a word in Portuguese to express it, but we have a word to express half brother, that is “meio irmão” to half brother, and “meia irmã” to half sister. If one of my parents has a new husband/wife, we say “padrasto” to my Mom’s husband and “madrasta” to my Dad’s wife.
April 17th, 2011 at 11:58 pm
I Love your lesson! Thanks so much!
April 21st, 2011 at 2:27 am
Hi Andy,
Interesting..!! I have heard those two wards but never have been thinking about the
meaning.
Thank you Bro……..
Cheers
Manuri
April 21st, 2011 at 2:29 pm
I love your podcast! You two did a great job in making Eng lessons interesting. HOpe you can do more Free podcast later~
May 3rd, 2011 at 8:58 am
Thank you very much. these terms are easy to understand and useful
May 17th, 2011 at 6:35 am
Hi,
Good luck!
It is really very interesting! I have never known about this different, in my opinion, I think they are same as each other. Thank you very much, I know this different! I look forward to any interesting thing.
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April 3rd, 2012 at 12:43 am
Andy,
Learning Korean is very hard especially the writing. I am Sout Korean and I only went to school there till 2nd grade. And in Asian cultture, u hav to call several names if the person is older than u. Let’s say if u hav a big brother: in korean u hav to call them hyung(형) But if u hav a younger brother than u can call him ya(야). But if u hav a big sister and u r a man u hav to call her nuna(누나). If its a sister to sister the younger one has to call older one Eonni(언니). If u r a boy to boy it doesn’t matter. But if it’s a little sister to a big brother, the sister has to call big brother oppa(오빠). If u want to know more Korean and Asian culture please email me. My email is southkorean1998@gmail.com
I hope this helps Andy.
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