So, I’ve come to notice that you don’t need to know much of a language to live in a country like S. Korea. In Seoul, where I live, MANY people speak at least a little bit of English and I can get by just fine. However, a person would want to learn at least a little bit to get by. It would make your life much easier and it’d be appreciated by all the Koreans you meet!
The purpose of this is not to teach you Korean formally, but to help you easily live in S. Korea as a foreigner. If you would like to actually LEARN Korean, check out this fantastic website! I love them! IT’S FREE! TTMIK.com
This post is all general everyday conversation such as hello, goodbye, and thank you. Later, I will tell you conversational questions, things you need to know to go shopping, how to order food, get a taxi or other types of transportation, and maybe some other random things that would be good to know.
I’m not Korean, nor am I an expert in Korean. So, if you happen to be Korean or are an expert feel free to correct my mistakes, nobody is perfect! (send me a message and I will change the error)
You need to know how to pronounce the Korean romanization for some things. This isn’t all of them but it’s a good start.
‘EO’= AW (as in awesome!)
‘K and G” = a mix between the K and G sounds in English… you will have to figure that one out on your own….
‘ R and L’ = mix between the R and L sounds in English…. you will also have to figure this out on your own…
‘U’ = OO (as in Spoon)
‘I’ = EE (as in Beet)
‘AE’ = A (as in Pan)
‘E’ = A (as in Say)
Also, there are many levels of formality when using Korean. There is casual, polite, formal, and very formal. I felt that if I told you the casual forms of all of these you would have people mad at you because you are being rude. I also felt that if I told you the formal or very formal versions of all of these you would sound like an ass (lack of a better term)….. So I choose to give you the polite form for them.
English Phrase
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Brief explanation or
literal translation (if needed)
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Hangul/Romanization
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Hello
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Hello/’Are you at peace?’
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안녕하세요? Anyanghaseyo?
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Hello
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Hello, when on the phone/’Are you at peace?’
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여보세요.Yeoboseyo.
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Goodbye
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I’m leaving, you’re staying/ we both are leaving/ ‘Go in peace.’
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안녕히 가세요.
Anyanghikahaseyo.
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Goodbye
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You’re leaving, I’m staying/ Stay in peace.
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안녕히 계세요. Anyanghikayhaseyo.
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Yes
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Yes/ I agree
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네.Ne.
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No
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No/ I don’t agree
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아니요.Aniyo.
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Please
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추세요.Chu-se-yo.
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Thank you
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Thank you (no really… thank you!)
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감사합니다. Gam-sa-ham-ni-da.
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You’re welcome
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You’re welcome/ No problem
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뭘요.Mwol-yo./ 아니예요.A-ni-ye-yo. |
Excuse me
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Get a person’s attention ‘hey you, over there’
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저기요. Yeo-gi-yo.
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Excuse me
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You’re in my way, can you move…. ‘just a second’
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잠시만요. jam-si mon-yo.
잠깐만요. jam-kkan-mon-yo.
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I’m sorry.
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I’m really sorry, it’s my fault.
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미안합니다. Mi-an-ham-ni-da. |
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