How to Speak Korean


When learning to speak Korean it is good to know words and phrases that can be used to interact with people. A good expression to learn is “How are you?” and in Korean this is “Chuh-eum Bwepgetsupnida?” 처음 뵙겠습니다. You can also say “Glad to meet you” and the Korean translation for this is “Mannasuh Bangawuh-yo” 만나서 반가워요. In either case, these are good greetings to learn and they can be used to strike up a conversation.

Aside from learning to greet people it is also good to learn how to ask questions. Examples of such questions could include asking someone “How may I get to …….?” which in the Korean language can be translated as “……… eh Uhdduhkeh Gapnika?” ~에 어떻게 갑니까? When shopping a good phrase to know is “How much is …………?” which in Korean is “….. .eun Uhlma-ipnika?” ~은 얼마입니까?

Let’s say a person loves Korean music, then questions could be asked about that or any other subject matter, if one knows the vocabulary. Memorizing Korean words and phrases is one way to begin understanding the language. “Eum-ak” 음악 is the Korean term for “music.” One good question to ask to start the conversation concerning music is “Uhdduhn Jangreu-eui Eum-ak-eul Joh-ah-haseyo” 어떤 장르의 음악을 좋아하세요 which means “What kind of music do you like?” You might get a variety of responses and may not be able to fully grasp all the words and phrases. Nevertheless, if you can comprehend the majority of words you might be able to piece together what is being said.

Conversing about music, most of the answers would likely use terms related to music. Here are a number of common music associated words and the Korean translation for those words. To say “jazz” in Korean the term used is “jez” 째즈 and the word for “rock” music is “lak” . When talking about “classic” music then the word “cleshic” 클래식 is used. When speaking about music performance the word for “concert” is “cohnsuht ” 콘서트in the Korean language.

Here are additional Korean words which can be memorized. “time” is a frequently used word and the word for “time” in Korean is “Shigan” 시간. To ask somebody the time you would ask “Jigeum Myuht Si-eh-yo” 지금 몇시에요? which means “What time is it?” If someone says “It’s 11:30″ in Korean, you’ll hear “Yuhlhan-si Samship-bun-ipnida” 1130분 입니다 where “-si” - means o’clock and “bun” –means minutes. If you asked someone what time your flight will leave and you were answered with “ahchim,” 아침 then that would mean that the airplane leaves in the “morning.” If the response is “Juhnyuhk” 저녁, then your plane departs in the “evening.”

There are four seasons in Korea. The word for “winter” in Korean is “Gyuhwool” 겨울. When speaking about the winter, an associated term is the word “snow” and the word for “snow” in Korean is “noon” . On the other hand, if your vacation is in the “summer” the word for “summer” is “Yuh-reum” 여름. Words associated with “summer” are “an electric fan” which translates as “suhnpoonggi” 선풍기 and “hot weather” which translates as “Duhwii” 더위 in Korean. You could also tell friends “the weather is hot” and in Korean this is “Nalssi-ga Duhpda” 날씨가 덥다.

When learning to speak Korean it is good to know words and phrases that can be used to interact with people. Memorizing and learning vocabulary is important to getting a grasp on the language.