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How Old Are You? In Korea, Answers May Differ
Lee Dong Kil’s daughter was born on December 31, 2018.
李东基（音译）的女儿于2018年12月31日出生。
She arrived late in the night - two hours before the start of the New Year. But two hours later, the baby girl became 2 years old.
她在当天夜里很晚才来到这个世界——出生时离新年只有两小时的时间。但两小时后，这位女婴就两岁了。
She was not alone in aging quickly. Every baby born in South Korea last year turned 2 on January 1st, 2019.
她并不是唯一一位迅速“被长大”的孩子。去年在韩国出生的所有婴儿在2019年1月1号这天都满两岁了。
Based on an unusual system for calculating ages, South Korea's babies become 1 on the day of their birth. They become an additional year older on January 1st.
根据一套不同寻常的年龄计算系统，韩国的婴儿在出生当天就满一岁。（第二年）1月1日起，他们又长大了一岁。
Lee Dong Kil remembers sharing news about his daughter's birth on social media. His friends immediately sent him messages to congratulate him.
李东基还记得在社交媒体上分享女儿出生的消息的情景。他的朋友们立即给他发消息表示祝贺。
An hour later, when the New Year began, they phoned me again to say congratulations for my baby becoming 2-years-old, said Lee. "I thought, 'Ah, right. She's now 2 years old, though it's been only two hours since she was born. What the heck!'"
李表示到：“一小时后，新年到来时，他们又打电话恭喜我孩子满两岁了。我心想‘哦，对啊。她现在满两岁了，虽然他才出生两小时而已。真见鬼！”
By the way, Lee is 32 years old internationally, but 34 in South Korea.
顺便说一下，李东基今年按国际算法是32岁，但按韩国算法是34岁。
Exactly how this aging system developed is not clear. Defining a full-term pregnancy1 as one lasting2 40 weeks is one way to explain why babies are one when they are born.
这种计算年龄的方法是如何形成的，人们都不太清楚。因足月妊娠的定义是40周，宝宝出生即满一岁这一点还尚且说得通。
But becoming a year older on January 1st? That is even harder to explain.
但每年1月1日长一岁呢？这就很难解释了。
Jung Yon-hak is with the National Folk Museum of Korea in Seoul. He suggests that perhaps ancient Koreans cared about the year in which they were born in the Chinese 60-year cycle. Without modern methods of measuring time, they did not care much about the specific day they were born.
郑永学（音译）就职于首尔的韩国国家民俗博物馆。他认为，也许古代韩国人只关心他们生于“六十甲子”（天干地支，从"甲子"起﹐到"癸亥"止﹐满六十为一周）周期中的哪一年。由于当时没有测量计算时间的方法，他们也不太关心他们出生的具体日期。
Officially, South Korea has used Western-style calculations since the early 1960s. But many South Koreans still use the old system in their daily lives. The government has done little to get people to change over to the Western system.
从上世纪60年代初开始，韩国官方就开始采用西式年龄计算方法。但许多韩国人仍然在日常生活中使用旧的算法。政府在促使人们转用西式算法方面收效甚微。
In January, lawmaker Hwang Ju-hong proposed a bill that would require the government to put international ages in official documents. The bill also urges citizens to go with their international ages in everyday life. It is the first legislative3 attempt to end "Korean age."
今年1月，立法委员黄菊宏（音译）提出一项法案，要求政府在官方文件中注明国际年龄。该法案还敦促公民在日常生活中也采用国际年龄。这是结束“韩国年龄算法”的第一次立法尝试。
The goal of the bill is to end confusion "caused by the mixed use of age-counting systems," Hwang said in the proposed legislation.
黄在提议的立法文件中写到，该法案的目的是结束“因使用不同年龄算法所造成的混乱。”
His office said a parliamentary committee discussion and a public hearing on the issue are expected in coming months.
他的部门表示，预计议会委员将在未来几个月就这个问题进行讨论，并举行公开听证会。
Opinion studies in recent years showed more South Koreans supported international age. It was not clear, however, how seriously they wanted a change.
近年来的民意调查显示，越来越多的韩国人支持用国际算法计算年龄。然而，目前还不清楚他们想要改变的意向有多强烈。
If we use international age, things could get more complicated because it's a society that cares so much about which year you were born, said Lim Kyoung Jae, head of the Seoul-based Miko Travel agency. "We should also definitely count the time of a baby being conceived and growing in its mother's womb."
总部位于首尔的美光旅行社负责人林金宰（音译）表示：“如果我们采用国际年龄算法，事情可能会变得更加复杂，因为是一个非常关心你是哪一年出生的社会。我们还应该明确计算一个婴孩在母腹中受孕和生长的时间。”
Lim's employee Choi Min Kyung, who is 26 internationally and 28 in South Korea, disagreed.
林的雇员崔珉京不同意这一观点。崔珉京按国际年龄算法现年26岁，而按韩国年龄算法今年28岁。
It's good to be two years younger ... (especially) when you meet men on blind dates, Choi said with a laugh. "There is a big difference between 26 and 28."
崔笑着说：“年轻两岁的感觉真好，（尤其是）当你在相亲中遇到男性时，年龄是26岁还是28岁，差别真的很大。”
Words in This Story
calculate – v. to find a number or answer by using mathematics
What the heck! -- expression informal – an expression of shock or misunderstanding
style – n. a way of doing things or expression
cycle – n. a period of time
complicated – adj. hard to understand, explain, or deal with
conceive – v. to become pregnant
blind date – n. when two people who do not know each other meet and decide if they may want to have a relationship
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pregnancy
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| n.怀孕，怀孕期 | |
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lasting
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| adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持 | |
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legislative
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| n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的 | |
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