Years earlier I had a Korean friend I spoke to in English. She mumbled some Spanish and, of course, I didn’t know a word of Korean apart from ’thanks’ 감사합니다 (gamsahamnida) and 안녕하세요 (annyeonghaseyo), “hello”.
In English- and Spanish-speaking countries, the day you are born and the day you add a year to your age coincide. English, however, emphasizes the first concept (birth-day), and Spanish the second (cumple-años, “turns years”). In Korea these are different concepts because, no matter the day they are born, everyone adds a year to their age on the 1st of January.
So we were practicing her Spanish, and I asked about her ‘cumpleaños’, to which she replied ‘Jan the 1st’. However, had I asked in English, I’d have gotten the answer I was really looking for.