r/Korean

According to the rules, is 잘 pronounced ‘jal’ or ‘chal’? I learned that it’s pronounced ‘chal,’ but when I look it up, I hear ‘chal

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!!!

I'm Korean 재수생, and I can't explain the 재수 thingy in English.

My best is to say "I'm having a gap year to prepare for CSAT again"

Is there any better translation or explanation for 재수?

idk if this is the right subreddit, sorry if I'm wrong 😭

i've been trying to learn korean for a few months now, and i use htsk, series and Ai for questions (because i don't know any Koreans). But my question is, has anyone ever learnt the language with htsk or do you actually need to spend money on tutors, workbooks and things like that. And does anyone have tips to do, other than just reading on the website. And the guy keeps fussin with things like: "you dont have to remember this but i want to learn you this and we would focus on this in lesson 57 and especially use it in lesson 85."

I’m learning Hangul from Billy Go! From Youtube and in Part 4 he introduces 4 new vowels from Hangul.

In the video he introduces ㅡ which he says the sound/pronunciation of it is similar to middle sound in, “Good”.

Other sources I’ve looked into have it written in eu for pronunciation but for me that sounds like, “Eeyoo”.

I saw a video from Talk to me in Korean where they stated to try to make an ooo sound but keep your lips flat instead of rounded and when I do this I get the sound, “Eh” as in the phrase, “Meh” just without the M.

Am I correct in feeling that ㅡ is, “eh” in pronunciation? I just want to make sure I have it right.

Thank you so much for your time.

Hey guys, I just need opinion on this, would it be a good idea to change some apps/games to korean. For example changing the language on my Instagram or in Valorant/League/Deadlock(since I frequently play). I may not know what I'm reading nor if I'm reading it right, but would it good firstly for reading and secondly practicing pronouncing syllables/sentences (it would take me a couple of minutes to read a single sentence depending how long it is). I would say I got 100% of the alphabet, but still somewhat struggle with some consonant groups (ex. j/ch group and s group). I still plan on getting like children's book/ short stories, but would this be good idea or would it be hindering my "learning"

is there a Korean term for a younger female close friend who acts more like a nuna working too hard to take care of everyone?

I’ve received fully funded fellowship at hanyang university and I don’t even have TOPIK 1. We were told that the classes for this specific scholarship students - the first semester is going to be taught entirely in Korean.

Basically it’s structured - 3.5 months of major related courses + 2.5 months of Korean language training every semester and TOPIK L4 is the graduation requirement.

Do you think I’ll be able to handle it? My major is going to be in AI.

I’ve heard people - since it’s engineering related field, most terms are going to be in English and graduate level schools wouldn’t have many exams but more assignments and projects and can be coded and submitted. But I really don’t know if I’m making a right choice. I’ve my flight next week.

Y’all I’ve been in korea for 2 years and I still cant understand or speak for shit. I’m broke asf and dont really have koreans to talk to so i cant practice my speaking skills and I don’t get out much. Any tips how i can study or practice alone at home?

So, a couple of weeks ago I shared here my experience taking the TOPIK 1 exams and I was confident I was able to get 2급, and results came in yesterday: I managed to get 2급! 89 points on 듣기 and 90 points on 읽기. To be honest, getting almost the same scores on both sections was pretty shocking to me, as I was expecting to get hard carried by the 읽기 part, but hey, it was definetly a nice surprise.

Now I'm going to start studying to take TOPIK II next year, maybe targeting 4급!

Hi! Are there any idioms in Korean to say that someone is very drunk? Thanks!

Hi everyone! This is my first post in this subreddit, and I was wondering if anyone could help me with my study progression. I have been studying on and off for several years, and have gotten to a point that I can decently watch videos/dramas and know what’s going on. However, I seem to be at a loss as far as how I should progress from here. I am an intermediate reader/writer, though my speaking isn’t nearly as good. I am nervous to speak to natives/text them, but I feel like at this point it‘s necessary to see the improvement I need. Are there any good ways to practice speaking, in addition to typing out messages for practice? I know a multitude of grammar, though I haven’t written them nearly enough for my understanding to be concrete. Any tips/advice?

Hi! So my Korean classes are taught (fully) in Korean. And sometimes the teacher speaks quite fast, which makes it a bit hard for me to pick up what they’re saying. On the flip side, I’m also having difficulty asking questions related to, say, grammar because I’m not equipped with metalanguage or idiomatic expressions for classroom discussion.

Could you please suggest commonly used/heard/encountered classroom expressions in Korean? Anything that teacher usually says. Anything that students can say in response to a certain question.

Thanks a ton for the help!

PS: My class is upper beginner if this matters. :)

Backstory: Hi, I've been lurking here for a while but I started learning Korean in December (after wanting to for a long time) simply because I think the language sounds so cool (my favourite word was and still is "진짜")

As I started learning, I fell into the K-Pop rabbit whole and now 90% of my YouTube watch time goes to 장더연 의 사롱 드립 (Jang DoYoun's Salon Drip) and Workdol. I added the Korean keyboard a few months ago and also changed my Spotify to Korean. But apart from the 1 hour of Korean input I get with my tutor, I don't get to output much. And even though this isn't output either, I think it would be great for learning more words.

Has anyone else ever done this? How useful is/was it?

Looking forward to this, 열심히하게습니다 (I'm really hoping "게시" means post instead of delete 💔

I've seen it spelled 부리토, 브리또, and the other sub said it could be 부리또. I understand its a loan word and it won't be perfect. But which is used more often? Which sounds more natural to say in Korean? For example, if you were to message a friend asking to get burritos together, which would you use?

okay so this is probably a dumb question but i am curious what regional accents and dialects sound like as well as what the cultural stereotype is. like with english in america if you hear a texan accent theres the immediate assumption that they likely have a thing for guns, or new york accent and being aggressive, et cetera. im curious what the accents of various areas sound like and what the immediate assumption would be

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).

여려분 안녕하세요~!

저는 유럽에서운 철도기관사입니다.

During summer time there are many sports events and concerts that draws thousands and thousands of tourists to my city.

Everytime I see a Korean sports jersey, or hear Korean being spoken on the platforms, I want to make the announcements in Korean as well. The problem is that I don't quite know how to say some specific phrases. I've tried to remember the phrases used on the metro in Seoul, which I heard daily while living there. Now, that was 8 years ago. 😅

If it's not too much trouble I'd like to get some translation assistance from the native speakers, as well as a second opinion on some phrases I've been constructing.

What I want to say:

**"Welcome onboard *KoRail*¹ train number *1234*² bound for *Seoul*³"**

¹ Substitute for the company name.

² The number is said as "twelve thirty four".

³ Just a city name to work with.

I would also like to know how to say:

"*We are waiting at a stop signal/red signal.*"

and

*"We are waiting for a train meeting (교행)*". Here we can also add *"which is according to our timetable/schedule"*, as well as the opposite: *"a late train meeting"*.

Is it correct to say *내리실 문은 오른쪽/왼쪽 입니다.*?

I am so sorry, this is getting so long! 😅

Out of these two statements, which one, if any, soubds more natural/correct?

▪이 역은 타는 곳과 열차 사이가 넓습니다. 내리실 때 조심하시기 바랍니다.

▪이 역은 열차와 승강장 사이가 넓으니 내리실 때 발빠짐에 주의하시기 바랍니다.

And *finally* the last one! Is this correct?

이번 역은 우리 열차의 마지막 역인 서울, 서울 역입나다. 내리실 때에는 두고 내리는 물건 없는지 다시 한 번 살펴보시기 바랍니다.

Again, I am so sorry for the long post, but I will humbly recieve your corrections, ideas of different phrasing, and critique for writing *way* too long. Thanknyou for making it all the way through. You are truly the best! 죄송합니다! 감사합니다! 🙇‍♂️

I want it to sound more "raw" and messy, it's a comment I will post under a webtoon, directed at the creator, i'd like just a few expressions only a native korean would use:
몰겠음 요즘 스토리가 어떻든간에 가만보면 (Author's name)님이 (....) 좋아한다고 하셨던거 생각하면 아직도 빡치는듯.. 그 발언 땜에 거의 1년을 피했었는데 이제 믿어도 되는거 맞음? 다시는 그런거 안그리실거죠..? 걍 돌아온거 후회하기 싫음

original English text to help: "I don't know, even though the story is going good these days, I still feel angry for saying that you liked (...) I avoided your work for almost a year because of that statement, can I trust you now? you won't draw something like that ever again, right? I don't wanna regret coming back."

Thank you all in advance.

As title states, how do you read faster? I have my pronunciations down, but I read very, very slow. How did you overcome this? This is interfering with my ability to learn words a little bit. I was thinking just non stop reading korean words to memorize blocks and improve my speed.