Last night myself and Shauna (from the amazing “What a Waygook” blog) decided to make our very first Vlog. We wanted it to be informative but also fun, so we decided to talk about the ‘Top 10 Korean Phrases’ that you should know while living here. Shauna asked all of her Facebook friends and followers which phrases they thought were the most useful and then we sat down in Shauna’s apartment, cup of Barry’s Tea in hand and pretty much had a chat about learning Korean.
We must have been chatting for about half an hour when we realised our beautiful video had cut off after 12 minutes due to the memory card being full. DISASTER!! A real beginners mistake, I know, but as my Dad always says, “If you do not learn from your mistakes, your are doomed to repeat them” and I can guarantee you this is not a mistake we will be repeating again!We hoped to teach you the Top 10 Korean Phrases (with a few BONUS phrases thrown in for good measure) but as our video cuts off early, you only get to enjoy the top 8 Korean phrases this time. We will finish the Vlog next week though, don’t you worry!
We really enjoyed making the video together and we are hoping you will enjoy watching it. It was our FIRST EVER time doing this, so please let us know (leave a comment here or tweet us @iamshaunabrowne or @janetnewenham) if you would like us to make any other videos about life in Korea.
Here are the phrases (Yes, there are actually more than 10, we know!!) written in both Korean and English and with what we hope is the proper way to pronounce them. Happy Learning!
1. Hello – 안녕하세요. Anyeong ha sayo.
2. Thank You – 감사합니다 Gamsa ham ni da
3. Yes – 네 ney
4. No – 아니요 ah ni o
5. Where is the ___________? ________ 이 어디에 있어요? ___ o d eh is oh yo? For example, “Where is the bathroom?’ The word for bathroom is 화장실( hwa jang shil) so the sentence becomes 화장실이 어디에 있어요?
6. How to I get to _______? _________ 어땋게 가요? o ddeok kay gay yo? For example, How do I get to Seoul is 서울 어떻게 가요?
7. I’m sorry – 미안합니다. me ann ham ni da. There are a few ways to say I’m sorry. This one is very polite and once you get better at Korean you can change the polite level depending on the situation.
8.Discount Please, 갂아 주세요. Gakk ah chew say yo. This can only be used when the price isn’t set. For example at a market or somewhere.
9. Simmer down/calm down; 침착해요. Chim chak hay yo. A great one if you’re out and about and someone is bothering you or something like that.
10. How much is this? 이거 얼마예요? e go ul mah eh yo? (이거 being “this”).
11. Directions; 직진- jik jin, Straight
오른쪽 oh ruhn chuk, Right
윈쪽 wen chuk, Left
여기 세워 주세요. yoh gi say woh Chew say yo, Stop here please
12. Really? 진짜? jiin ja? I love this word! Even these days when I can’t follow my student or whatever I just reply “진짜”?
13. One moment please, 잠깐만요. Jam can man yo, . You can use this when getting off the subway, bus or just to say “wait a minute”