u/kbkimkorean

I’ve noticed that a lot of my international friends learning Korean seem to really like learning idioms and proverbs even when they’re a little above their current level.

I totally get it because when I was learning English (and still am lol), I always wanted to be able to casually throw an idiom into the conversation and sound like a total native. It just makes you feel like you’ve reached another level of fluency. Also, sometimes one good expression is much more effective than explaining something with long sentences right?

There are A LOT of idioms and proverbs in Korean. Well of course you don't need to memorize all of them, but I thought I’d share a few 고사성어 (four-character idioms) that I come across occasionally and think are worth knowing.

고사성어 (four-character idiom; derived from historical Chinese stories often with hidden meaning)

1. 작심삼일

Literally: “A determined mind lasts three days.”

This is when you make a big plan or resolution, but give up very quickly. I think we all have some experience of 작심삼일 at some point.

"새해에 매일 운동하려고 했는데 또 작심삼일이었어"
= I planned to work out every day as of New Year, but I gave up after a few days again.

I think this one is especially useful because Koreans use it very casually. A close English expression would be “New Year’s resolutions never last”, but I don’t think there is an exact equivalent.

2. 일석이조
Literally : "One stone, two birds."
 
This one is easy because it’s the exact same expression in English:
"Kill two birds with one stone." It means you can get two good results from doing just one thing.

"한국어도 연습하고 친구도 사귀니까 일석이조네"
= I can practice Korean and make friends at the same time. Two birds with one stone.
and yeah, learning Korean while making Korean friends = 일석이조 

3. 새옹지마
This one is a little harder to translate directly.

Basically, something that looks bad now might turn out to be something good later, and vice versa. You never really know how things might turn out. I think it's quite true in life (what do you think?)

A somewhat similar English expression would be "Every cloud has a sliver lining," But 새옹지마 has a little different meaning because it's not only saying that something bad can happen to be good. It's more like you never know if something is really good or bad until later.

For example, "토픽 시험을 잘 못봐서 속상했는데, 그 덕분에 오히려 더 좋은 기회를 찾았어. 진짜 새옹지마인 것 같아" = I was upset because I didn't do well on TOPIK, but because of that I actually found a better chance. You really never know how things will turn out.

Personally, I love this idiom since it's quite true in life, especially during tough times.
"인생은 새옹지마"

4. 금상첨화
Literally : “Adding flowers on top of silk”

Something is already good, and then something else makes it even better.

Very close to the expression "the icing on the cake"

For example, "여행도 좋았는데 날씨까지 좋아서 금상첨화였어"
= The trip was already good, and the nice weather made it even better.

5. 유비무환
Literally : something like "if you're prepared, there will be no trouble".

The idea is that being preparer in advance prevents problems later.
The closest English equivalent would probably be "Better safe than sorry".

“비 올 수도 있으니까 우산 가져가. 유비무환이잖아.”
= It might rain, so take an umbrella. Better safe than sorry.
You can use this one often if you are a Type A kind of person haha (MBTI wise, it's more like J person)

Have you heard any of these before? Which 고사성어 is your favorite? I might do a post about Korean 속담 next!

모두 한국어 공부 파이팅!!!

For the past 4 months, I’ve had the great pleasure to run a Korean speaking class for dedicated, intermediate+ Korean language learners in Seoul. Above all, I’m most grateful to have met people who are consistent and serious about Korean speaking practice.

 1. ㄱ/ㄲ/ㅋ (기본형/거센소리/된소리) sound the same? Here's a simple trick 

As a native speaker, I never had a problem telling these sounds apart (ㄱ, ㄲ, ㅋ). But for many foreigners they seem to sound almost the same.

One way to tell them apart is by paying attention to how much air comes out of your mouth at the sound.  "ㅋ" is the most obvious one! There's a simple test: put a tissue in front of your mouth and make the sound. When you say "ㅋ", the tissue should move. You can feel quite a strong puff of air when you use 거센소리 (ㅋ, ㅌ, ㅍ, ㅊ)

On the other hand, 된소리(ㄲ, ㄸ,ㅃ,ㅆ,ㅉ) don't really sound that much different from the basic sounds, 기본형(ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ, ㅅ, ㅈ). The main difference here is tension. "ㄱ" is more relaxed and soft, while "ㄲ" is tight and strong. When you say "ㄲ", tense your mouth and throat a little and make the sound short and sharp. You can also make your voice pitch a little higher.

Think of "ㄱ" (기본형) as a relaxed “k,” and "ㄲ" (된소리) as a “k” that you hold back for a tiny moment (like controlled explosion) before releasing it.
Hope it helps!

 2. Too many adjectives? Just break the sentence (형용사 구 또는 형용사절이 2개 이상일 때, 자연스러운 한국어 문장으로 말하는 방법)
 
I got this question from one of my students who is an english native speaker. It was something that I had never thought about before.

She was struggling to make a sentence where there were two or more adjectives or clauses describing something in Korean. For example, she wanted to say, "I went to a beautiful beach with a panoramic view" and she was trying to make it into one sentence like: "나는 아름답고 (beautiful), 전망이 파노라믹한(konglish: panoramic) 곳에....".

But this doesn’t sound very natural. First, the sentence gets too long. Second, you need to connect and conjugate many things, so it can get pretty confusing.

I found a solution ! (of which I'm very proud of ㅎㅎ)

To formulate this kind of sentence in Korean: try to cut the sentence into different parts and make another shorter sentence.

For example, start with "나는 아름다운 해변가에 갔어 (I went to a beautiful beach)". Then add add something like, "근데 (and/but) 그 해변 전망이 레알 좋았어 (the view was panoramic; damn good)".

Basically, don't try to put every description into one sentence. Divide it into two or more short sentences. You can also add "근데" or "그런데" to naturally connect them when speaking (in a conversational situation).

Another example: "I met a good-looking, funny, whole-package kind of guy). When you try to put all of description here (three: good looking, funny, whole-package), it can be really difficult. But, when you try dividing the sentences,  "나는 홍대에서 잘생긴 (good looking) 남자 만났어", "근데 유머 감각도 있어서 (funny), 완벽한 (whole package) 사람 같았어".

Of course there is no one rule for exactly where you should cut the sentence. But especially in conversation, breaking a long sentence into shorter ones when you want to add lots of description into your Korean sentence can make your Korean sound much more natural and help you convey your thoughts better.

3. Don’t stress over all the different ways to say “wear” (입다)

Didn't know there were so many of ways to say "wear (입다)" in Korean...? "입다, 쓰다, 끼다, 신다, 두르다, 차다, 매다, 메다...".

One simple tip: don't stress too much about getting the right verb every single time. Even if you use "입다" in most of cases, and it doesn't completely sound natural, people will understand what you mean. if you try to get them all right at once, you might just get tired and lose interest.

Instead, I recommend slowly getting used to this kind of collocations (모자를 쓰다, 안경을 끼다, 양말을 신다, 목도리를 두르다, 벨트를 차다, 넥타이를 매다, 가방을 메다). It mostly depends on where you put it on your body. After hearing the same combination over a long period of time, they will stick to your ear and you can actively use it. Also, sometimes, you can use both collocations (e.g: 손목 시계를 차다 or 손목 시계를 매다).

There are also so many ways to say "open (열다)" and "close (닫다)"… but 'll just leave that one for another timeㅎㅎ.

4. Big Korean numbers are really hard. Practice with real example! (큰 숫자 세는 법: 10만 단위, 억 단위)

Many people thinks that big numbers in Korean, especially, 십만 단위 (100,000 KRW~999,999 KRW) and 억 단위 (100,000,000 KRW ~ 999,999,999 KRW) are so hard to get. Well yes, they are... unfortunately I don’t have a simple hack to learn them fast.

But what helps is if you practice with something that you'd actually or usually buy). For example, when you buy a concert tickets, the price can be around 십만 단위 (100,000 KRW~999,999 KRW). Try converting the price from your own currency to KRW and the other way around with these kinds of real example that fits you. After doing it 10+ times, I'm sure you'll start getting more used to it.

In terms of 억 단위 (100,000,000 KRW ~ 999,999,999 KRW), this is really bigger money. So, think of buying a future house in Korea or in your home country. For example, instead of just trying to memorize 억 단위 with unrelavant examples, imagine an actual apartment that costs around 5억 원. It gives the number something real you can connect to.

So practice with things you actually buy, have bought before, or can imagine buying. I think that's the best way to really get used to big numbers in Korean.

 5. 이미 vs 벌써, 에 vs 에서, 지금 vs 이제

이미 vs. 벌써: Both can mean "already" but '벌써' often has a feeling of surprise because something happened earlier or faster than you expected. For example, "벌써 밥 먹었어?" = You already ate? that fast or that early? There's a little bit of "Oh, already?" in 벌써. On the other hand, "이미 밥 먹었어" = I already ate is more like neutral. You're simply saying that something has already happened.

Simply put : 이미 = already, 벌써 = already?!

Hope it makes sense! Of course this doesn't explain every situation but I think it's a good starting point.

에 vs. 에서: These can also be a bit confusing. Think of "에" as a dot or destination. You're there, or you're going there. 에 is like "BE there" / "Go there". e.g: 집에 있어요 = I’m at home, 집에 가요 = I’m going home. But, "에서" is more like "DO something there". an action is happening at that place. "집에서 먹어요" = "I eat at home".

지금 vs. 이제: both can be translated into "now" but "지금" is about this moment right now. "지금 뭐해? = What are you doing right now?" However, "이제 집에 가야 돼"is like "Now I have to go home". 이제 담배 끊을 거야. "From now on, I'll quit smoking". 이제 is "now, from this point on or now that things have changed".

Hope these tips can help you guys. It can get complicated and I'm not a certified teacher, just a native Korean who wants people to learn Korean. These were somethings that I just learned from running the conversation class and talking with my students over the last 4 months. Might be doing this again in September or October. (ofc, it's totally free, somewhere in Seoul, every Saturday).