Meet Jeong-eun Heo, the Voice Behind Your Korean Lessons

You have already heard her voice so many times, but you have no idea who she is!

If your journey of studying Korean can be compared to sailing in the sea, then her contribution is like the propelling power of the wind – invisible, but indispensable.

She is the voice behind LingoDeer’s Korean lessons – Jeong-eun Heo (허정은).

Jeong-eun Heo, the voice of LingoDeer’s Korean Lessons

Q: Tell us about yourself!

A: Hello everybody, my name is Jeong-eun Heo. I used to stay in Beijing and study Chinese for 5 years. Now I have graduated from college, and am living in Seoul, the capital of Korea.

Despite living in Seoul, I miss Beijing very much, especially Guo-bao-rou (known as fried pork in scoop or double cooked pork slices in English, a renowned dish from Northeastern China)! If you ever go to Beijing, please definitely try Guo-bao-rou. I think you will like it too.

안녕하세요, 허정은입니다. 저는 베이징에서 5년 동안 중국어를 공부했어요. 대학교를 졸업한 지금은 한국에 살고 있고요. 저는 한국에 수도인 서울에 살아요. 서울에 살고 있지만 베이징이 너무 그립네요. 특히 꿔바로우가요! 베이징에 가면 꿔바로우를 꼭 먹어보세요. 아마 당신도 좋아할 거예요.

Jeonge-eun’s Beloved Guo-bao-rou, image from Annylee on Steemit

Q: What would you do to prepare your voice before a recording?

A: On the recording day, I almost don’t eat any sweet food. If I eat sweet food before a recording, my voice is likely to crack a lot.

Also, as the recordings usually happen in the afternoon, I almost don’t eat any greasy food for lunch before that. When my throat feels uncomfortable, I would drink something warm, like a cup of warm Americano, which is my personal preference.

저는 녹음 당일에는 단 음식을 거의 안 먹어요. 단 음식을 먹고 녹음을 하게 되면 목이 갈라지는 소리가 되게 많이 나더라고요. 그리고 녹음도 보통 오후에 있으니까 점심시간에도 기름진 음식은 거의 안 먹는 것 같아요. 또 목이 아플 때는 따뜻한 아메리카노 같은 거 한잔 마셔요. 제가 아메리카노를 좋아하거든요.

Q: Is there anything in Korean that you consider particularly hard to pronounce? Anything particularly beautiful-sounding?

A: When I recorded for the first time, the ㅅ(s) sound was the most difficult, as it turned out to sound like /f/. In order to fix the pronunciation of ㅅ(s), you have no idea how many time I recorded before it worked.

My dream is to be a TV announcer, so I attend an announcer academy in Korea every holiday. Thanks to my hard effort to practice pronunciation and articulation at the announcer academy, I could successfully pronounce the 수 sound well.

I personally think that all the pronunciations in Korean sound good. Do you agree with me?

It may be a little corny, but my favorite Korean word is 열정 (passion). I think that with passion I am able to do anything.

처음에 녹음했을 땐 시옷 발음이 제일 어려웠어요. 시옷 발음이 f처럼 들렸거든요. 그래서 시옷 발음을 고치려고 정말 몇 번을 녹음했는지 모르겠어요. 제 꿈이 아나운서거든요. 그래서 방학 때마다 한국에서 아나운서 학원을 다녔어요. 아나운서 학원에서 발성이랑 발음을 열심히 연습하다 보니까 그제서야 ‘수’ 발음이 되더라고요. 제 생각에 한국어 발음은 다 듣기 좋은 것 같아요. 다들 공감하시나요? 좀 오글거릴 수도 있지만 제가 제일 좋아하는 단어는 열정이에요. 열정만 있으면 뭐든 다 할 수 있다고 생각하거든요.

Q: If a LingoDeer user travels to Korea, please recommend an interesting activity to him/her and explain the reason.

A: If you come to Korea, please experience wearing a Hanbok (the traditional Korean clothes) and going to Gyeongbokgung Palace (the main royal palace of the Joseon dynasty, located in Seoul, Korea).

If you wear a Hanbok, you can enter Gyeongbokgung Palace for free.

Even if you don’t have a Hanbok, you can find many places around that area to rent one. By paying around 20000 won (≈ 17 US dollars), you can even get your hair nicely done in addition to the Hanbok.

With the outfit and hairstyling, it would be nicer to take many pictures. I also did this with my friends recently and I liked it.

한국에 오면 한복을 입고 경복궁에 한번 가보세요. 한복을 입고 가면 입장이 무료거든요. 한복이 없어도 그 주변에 빌릴 수 있는 곳이 되게 많거든요. 2만 원 정도 내면 머리도 예쁘게 손질해 줘요. 그러면 더 사진 찍을 맛도 나는 것 같고, 음 저도 최근에 친구들이랑 한번 갔다 왔는데 되게 괜찮더라고요.

Q: Are you fascinated by any film, TV or literary works recently? Please tell us about it.

A: I enjoy watching variety shows rather than TV dramas recently. Among the variety shows, I find Knowing Bros the most interesting.

You probably also have times when you simply want to laugh without having anything on your mind. At a time like that, watching Knowing Bros seems to really have a healing effect.

Sugeun Lee (이수근) is the funniest one among the MCs, who are referred to as “knowing bros”. He is a total comedian from head to toe.

저는 요즘 드라마보다는 예능을 즐겨보고요. 예능 중에서는 아는 형님이 제일 재밌는 것 같아요. 진짜 아무 생각 없이 웃고 싶을 때 있잖아요. 그럴 때 아는 형님을 보면 정말 힐링 되는 것 같아요. 아는 형님 중에서는 이수근이 제일 웃긴 것 같고요. 이수근은 진짜로 뼛속까지 개그맨인 것 같아요.