ABOUT K-MANNER
Korean social context, made clearer.
K-MANNER is an educational set of tools for people who want to understand how Korean forms of address and speech choices change with social context.
Why K-MANNER exists
Direct translations rarely explain why one Korean expression sounds natural in one relationship but awkward in another. Age matters, but so do social role, closeness, setting, existing speech patterns, and the conventions of a workplace, school, family, or community. K-MANNER brings those signals together instead of treating a single rule as universal.
How the tools work
Each tool asks only for the context relevant to its question. The Address Finder considers who is speaking, relative age, relationship, closeness, and setting. The Banmal Finder tests whether a casual switch is socially established; the Speech Level Finder separately chooses a broader conversational register. The -ssi / -nim Finder evaluates a name suffix against a title or neutral alternative; the School & Workplace Title Finder starts from a known organizational role. The Family Title Finder uses the exact family viewpoint, speaker, generation, marriage context, and whether the term is used in address or reference.
What a result means
A result is a practical starting point for the situation described, not a claim that every Korean speaker would make the same choice. Results explain the reasoning, provide an example, identify alternatives, and flag choices that are better avoided by default.
Editorial approach
K-MANNER is designed around contextual distinctions rather than simple age-based shortcuts. Guidance is written and reviewed as educational content, and the tools use explicit decision rules so similar situations can be handled consistently. As Korean usage varies by generation, organization, region, and individual preference, sensitive or unfamiliar situations should begin politely and adapt to the preference of the people involved.
Current tools
K-MANNER currently maintains six tools: the Address Finder, Banmal Finder, -ssi / -nim Finder, School & Workplace Title Finder, Speech Level Finder, and Family Title Finder. Each tool preserves a distinct decision boundary while sharing the same contextual approach. The focus is on making a small set of tools useful and explainable rather than publishing unfinished tools.
Guides and editorial responsibility
The independent guides explain the reasoning that a short tool result cannot carry on its own. They use paired cases, Korean dialogue, romanization, English meaning, common mistakes, and explicit limits. Cultural patterns are presented as context-dependent tendencies—not universal rules—and a person’s stated preference or an organization’s documented convention takes priority over a generalized recommendation.
Operation and updates
K-MANNER is an independently operated educational project. It does not require an account, and tool answers are processed in the browser. Tool logic, examples, and editorial pages are versioned together so changes can be reviewed consistently. The current content and decision boundaries were reviewed on October 29, 2026; material editorial updates are recorded by updating the relevant page and site map.