r/KoreanAdvice

Hi!

Im a Ukrainian teen who wants to date a Korean girl further into the future. Any girl or Korean advice I could get?

I myself am an introvert so I'm nervous getting in contact with someone.

I have never been in Korea and I am studying in Ukraine rather than in Korea so its a hard one also.

Thanks!

Hi everyone!
I’m an exchange student 25yo from Italy, currently staying in Seoul all summer, I want to do some sports but I don’t know how, like playing some football ⚽️ matches, or start a boxe/ martial mart course. Do you have some foreigner friendly academy to reccomend me?

Thank youuu

Thinking about getting my very first tattoo. 일취월장 in Korean. Would love some opinions.

A little over a year ago I met a Korean girl. The relationship was short (5 months) and ended badly, but during that time I started learning Korean, at first just for fun on Duolingo, then more seriously with textbooks she gave me.

When it ended it hit me hard. Still does, honestly. But I never stopped studying. What started as a way to not let go completely became something else over time, a personal outlet, proof to myself that I could stick with something even when everything felt heavy.

My birthday is coming up, which also happens to be around the anniversary of the breakup. I want to mark it with something meaningful.

일취월장 means "to improve day by day, month by month." I think it captures the journey better than anything else, not really about her anymore, but about who I've become through it.

I stumbled upon this word by chance here and also found out it’s a sajaseongeo. To be honest, my Korean isn’t that advanced, which is why I wanted to double-check with someone who speaks it way better than I do. My biggest fear is getting a tattoo with a misleading and/or incorrect meaning.

Small tattoo, forearm. Thoughts? Thank you for any feedback, it means a lot to me!

Hey everyone, first time posting on Reddit. I need some outside perspective from Koreans or people familiar with Korean culture!

I’m a single 30F foreigner (Asian not Korean) living in Seoul. I’ve visited a local pharmacy four times recently for a minor ankle injury. I can walk normally with no bandages and sometimes just wear a cap, and my Korean is actually fluent, most Koreans don't even notice I'm a foreigner. So, I think I’m not likely to attract any extra attention or be remembered about those things I guess haha
I already knew the old pharmacist had changed to a new young man from a couple of months ago because I bought eye drops and skincare stuff there like maybe two times before my injury. But I'm not sure if he noticed me from that time or not, because nothing special happened as far as I can remember.

Recently, I've noticed something during my prescription visits. Every single time (4 times straight), he explained well and checked up my prescription and also naturally grabbed a bottled energy drink into my prescription paper bag from his desk without mentioning anything. I thought it was just a leftover or some kind of promotion until the third time.

But on my 3rd visit, I happened to notice like I saw a middle-aged lady leave with an empty bag before I walked in. Inside, the pharmacy was busy but he seemed to remember me well and followed up my reaction as before and even took the time to reach under the counter to grab a drink to put it on my prescription paper bag before he handed it to me (without mentioning it). So, I started to question everything from here haha. And also on my 4th visit, it was after two weeks, he still seemed to instantly recognize me and immediately noted my prescription got "lighter" because a painkiller was removed. He asked me like followed up my reaction and gave good advice as before and still managed to give me a drink on my paper bag without mentioning it.
Normally, I don’t drink energy drinks and rarely buy them, so they are all sitting in my refrigerator and I noticed all are a bit far from exp. Like they expire in November 2027. So, it’s not likely to be that the pharmacy is just clearing out old stock ig lol. He knows my name and age from my prescription (even if it's a bit wrong in Korean lol). I don’t know his age but I think he’s similar with me. He seems patient and nice, and I'd love to get to know him, but I'm incredibly shy 😅

So, my question is finally here. My next visit in two weeks will likely to be end. I’m not sure that the doctor will still give me prescription or not. Would it be weird if I stopped by one final time just to say thank you and asked him if he’s single or not? It’s okay to leave my Kakao ID if he’s single? Am I safe to try?? Or shouldn’t I?

Thank you in advance for any advice!

I've been trying a few different food delivery apps, but some of them require a Korean phone number or other verification that I don't have yet. For anyone who's been in a similar situation, which apps did you find easiest to use as a foreigner?

I'm mainly looking for something that's straightforward to set up and works with international payment methods.

I have been learning korean for the past 6 months. I'm only at a beginners level. I heard from many that you need to speak to Koreans to be great at speaking. I did try hello talk once but I find many who didn't reply or some use it as a dating app. Do you have any recommendations or ways to practice speaking

I have been living in south korea since 2 years without having korean friends. What is easiest way to find korean friends

Hello everyone,

I'm a writer from Greece and over the past 2 years I've been researching the history of the Greek Expeditionary Force that fought alongside South Korea during the Korean War.

My research included official military archives, historical documents, battle reports, and interviews with one of the last surviving Greek veterans, Konstantinos Faros.

That research eventually became a historical novel.

I'm not here to promote it. I'm genuinely curious about something.

How familiar are people in South Korea today with the Greek soldiers who fought during the Korean War?

Do schools teach about them?

Would Korean readers be interested in a historical novel told partly through the eyes of a Greek volunteer and a Korean woman living through the war?

I'm especially interested in knowing whether this part of history still resonates with younger generations.

I'd really appreciate your honest thoughts.

Thank you from Greece 🇬🇷❤️🇰🇷

I’m trying to start an international online donation page that allows Koreans to donate. The Koreans im targeting may have broken English to basic English. I’d also want them to have the option to hide their names. What do you guys suggest?

So i wanna right this down but im not sure if it’s correct🥲

3년 동안 짝사랑했던 사람을 13년 동안 짝사랑했던 사람을 만나게 해줬어요. 그 사람 잘생겼나요?

I wanted to say “ I took my 3 years of love to meet my 13 years of love❤️ is he handsome?

Please correct the sentence if it is wrong. Thank you for your kindness❤️❤️

Hi everyone,

I have a question about learning Korean dialects.

For Korean learners, how useful is it to study regional dialects such as Gyeongsang-do, Jeolla-do, Chungcheong-do, or Jeju dialect?

I know standard Korean is the main priority for most learners, but dialects seem to appear often in dramas, variety shows, YouTube videos, and real conversations depending on the region.

For those who are learning Korean or have lived in Korea:

• Have you ever tried to learn a Korean dialect?
• Did dialects make Korean media or conversations harder to understand?
• At what level do you think it makes sense to start learning dialects?
• Are intonation and pronunciation differences more difficult than vocabulary differences?

I’m mainly curious about how Korean learners think about dialects as part of language learning.

So i was visiting south korea for travel/ leisure 2 years ago . For context i am indian . Seoul was super beautiful and nice but i liked Busan even more . One of these nights i got lost in busan as i dint know korean and all the blocks looked the same . So i got tired and sat on a bench on a side walk next to a 7 11 and started smoking a cigarette . A few minutes go by and this guy maybe in his 40s-50s came up to me and started talking to me .. offered me a cigarette as well . He asked me if i was alone and where i am from . He was on a bicycle . He told me that he lived nearby and if i wanted to come to his house . We might have barely talked for like 2 minutes . Now if this was in india i would totally understand because indian people will always invite you home . But i got flustered and told him no and thanks . What do you think would have happened if i went along with him? It has always been one of my ‘what ifs?’ Is it common for korean people to invite strangers home? Btw i absolutely loved south korea . I hope i get to go back soon .

Hi everyone, i work with a korean team and they all use kakao talk, i'm a foreigner and i tried creating kakao account but it just won't work, it keeps asking me to send a verification message to a +44 number, so i got international sms credits but still won't work :(

My team is going out of their way and contacting me on other social media, but i don't want to bother them, also i want to stay in the loop without making them transfer messages back and forth

can someone please let me know how i can solve this? they're a very wonderful team and i would be very happy to take one burden off their back

thank you so much

Trying to switch from short grain white rice to mixed grain rice for my health. I did 1 part store bought 5 grain mix to 3 parts white rice. I soaked it overnight and then tried to cook it on the stovetop but it turned into a starchy mushy mess 😭 all the recipes I see online involve a rice cooker but I don’t have one. Does anyone have tips?

Me (F24) and my husband (M26) are almost married for two years now . He dated this girl back in Korea who he knew for 4 years in college they dated for six months in total before headed for the us to start school again. We met a year later and got married on our one year. During that first year his ex reached out to his for the first time since they broke up by sending him a couple voice memos in kakao about how she moved and that she found a picture of them when they were together and thought he should know . They have friends in common so she already knew he was married. He told me as soon as that happened and I told him if he wanted to respond he could then she goes to say in a voice memos talking about when is he coming back to Korea that they should meet up and that he should buy her some good food. I told him to respond let me ask my wife she never responded after that. Fast forward to this week we have our wedding ceremony in korea for his family and when he was sending out invitations he had asked me if he could send it to her I told him it was up to him. Turns out that she had asked I a group chat with their mutual friends why she didn’t receive an invitation and that’s why he asked me. But since we’ve been here she’s been nonstop contacting him and he’s been responding I already told him how it makes me feel and he said he could ignore her but I told him if it’s that hard to ignore her the obviously there’s something you want to say to her. She even said or your back in Korea did you buy me gift and instead of him replying why would I buy you a gift he said he had no money to buy a gift . He doesn’t even mention he his wife at all when texting her. He messages her like if he was here alone. Yesterday was when I brought it up again that it makes me feel like he’s cheating cause he texts her when we’re together and I said how would he feel if I was texting my ex boyfriend he said bad yet today he still messaged her but this time when we were apart and when he came back I asked him about if he texted her back and he said no but I literally saw the messages and he said ah i don’t want to text her I just replied but they had a whole conversation. What are your thoughts on this.

Hello everyone,

I'm planning to go to South Korea in about a year, I'm currently studying Korean and saving money. I think I would go with a Work & Travel visa, which would allow me to stay in the country for a year, and work legally.

Also, as I am a huge fan of Korean films and K-Dramas, my absolute dream would be to work on set. I've been working for the film industry in France for the last 8 years so I'm very well aware of how difficult it can be to get access to this industry.

Could you please share your experience as foreigners living in South Korea, what is your life like ? And if you are working in the film industry, what is your experience like, do they hire foreigners easily ? Do you have to live in Seoul for it ? Because I would love to stay in a smaller city.

Thank you :)

I live in noida which famous korean cafe dish is near my place.

Posting mostly for my friend

One of my good friends (Julie) is Nepali and we went to a Craft Circle hosted by her friend, where we met this girl named Elana. 

Julie is really into Korean culture and loves k-pop, k-dramas, etc so she saw this as a good conversation starter. She also lived in Seoul for two weeks so she loves to meet other Asians and ask where they’re from. 

So when we first met Elana and when Julie immediately asks her, “Are you Chinese?”, she was really surprised to hear that Elana is full Korean because of her features.  Elana is tanner than Julie, tall (5’9) and broad shouldered, has very high cheekbones and heart shaped face, very large eyes, full natural lips (not filler lips), natural brown hair (when we asked, she said she has never dyed her hair). She almost looked Islander or she could be half Polynesian/Filipina/Cambodian.

We got to talking to Elana later about other stuff, and Julie was excitedly telling her about all the fun she had in Korea, how much she loves the country and how so many ajimas in the subway were calling her “beautiful” and that “she looks Thai”. Elana says, “That’s great to hear and I’m glad Korea has evolved from when my mom lived there until she was 10, where she was made fun of for being dark.” 

Julie asked her what her mom looked like and she showed me a photo of her family, and all her family looks very Korean except for her and one of her siblings, which Julie points out. Elana laughed and said, “Yeah I take after my grandpa. He was very tan and many people in America have mistaken him for Indian or Southeast Asian when he moved here.” 

Julie is fascinated and asked Elana if she was for sure full Korean. Elana said that her 23andme test says she’s 100% Korean. Julie said to her, “Yeah when I saw you, I thought you were Cambodian or Southern Chinese. It’s funny, even I look more Korean than you!” 

Julie meant it in a joking way, but the vibe changed and Elana kinda stared/gave an annoyed look and she changed the subject. When we were all leaving to go, Julie asked Elana if she’d like to hang out some time, and Elana gave her number out but didn’t follow-up with plans the next day. 

We heard from the mutual friend that hosted the craft circle that Elana was “offended” by Julie because she told her she looks Cambodian and that Julie’s statements were intrusive. Julie didn’t mean it at all and found Elana to be pretty, just not someone who looks Korean at all based on when she lived in Korea.

I want to ask, is this generally insulting for Koreans? Elana is very Americanized and doesn’t speak Korean, so Julie didn’t see this being an issue and felt that Elana was agreeing with what Julie said. Should she apologize to her? We’re all in our late 20s and live in the US, btw.