Sunday 23 October 2011

Useful Korean Phrases For Tourists Staying In Seoul To Search For Bae Young-Joon

A good friend, together with her fellow Winter Sonata fans, is returning to Korea and to visit Nami Island, do some serious shopping in Myeong-dong, and roam the rest of Seoul in search for Bae Young-Joon.


So, I thought of preparing a list of Korean phrases that I expect they would need while navigating the city corners and find themselves talking to somebody who could not speak English.


I haven't even opened my old Korean textbook in years since I dropped out of my Korean classes due to boredom. Ha-ha-ha! So, I hope the list I came up with would rescue them from tight language-barrier situations. Ha-ha-ha! 


ENGLISH
KOREAN
Hello / Good-bye
An-nyeong haseyo. (formal)
Hello / good-bye (to friends or pets)
An-nyeong. (informal)

I am Cielo.
Cho-noon Cielo im-nida.
I am from the Philippines.
Cho-noon peeleepeen saram im-nida.
What is your name?
You ee-reum? (with index finger pointed to the person being asked)
Where is the toilet?
Hwa-jang-shil  ode-yeyo?
toilet
Hwa-jang-shil
Where is Bae Young Joon?
Bae Young Joon ode-yeyo?
Where is the Seoul Station?
Seo-ul yeok ode-yeyo?
station
yeok
Are you going to Seoul Station
Seo-ul yeok ka-yo?
Incheon Airport bus
In-cheon kong-hang bas-seu
Taxi
Tek-shi
Wait!
Chang-ka man-yo!
It’s okay.
Kwan-cha na-yo.
Are you okay?
Kwan-cha na-yo?
I don’t speak freakin’ Korean.
Han-guk mal chal mo-teyo.
How much?
Ool-ma-e-yo?
Give me (blank).
(Blank) choo-seyo.
Give me water, please
Mool choo-seyo.
Coffee, please.
Koh-pee choo-seyo.
Give me discount and I will buy everything in your store.
Chom-kak-ka choo-seyo.
This is freakin’ expensive.
Bee-ssa-yo.


And this one I picked up from the Internet:
NUMBERS:

·         1 = 하나 = Han
·         2 = (dhul)
·         3 = (seht)(t is almost silent)
·         4 = (neh) nett (t is almost silent)
·         5 = 다섯 (DA-seot)(t is silent)
·         6 = 여섯 (Yeo-seot)(t is silent)
·         7 = 일곱 (il-gop)
·         8 = 여덟 (YUH-deol)
·         9 = 아홉(AH-hop) (say as one syllable)
·         10 = (yeol)
                         (My dusty Korean text books)

2 comments:

  1. This English to Korean translations will be very useful for those who are traveling to Korea. Aside from that, you can even use this to talk to Koreans visiting your hometown. Thanks for sharing this!

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  2. yah its very great,gamsamnida!!!

    ReplyDelete