Korean For Dummies®
Published by
Wiley Publishing, Inc.
111 River St.
Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774
www.wiley.com
Copyright © 2008 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published simultaneously in Canada
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax 978-646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201)748-6011, fax (201)748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.
Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A Reference for the Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy Way, Dummies.com and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.
LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: THE PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS WORK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NO WARRANTY MAY BE CREATED OR EXTENDED BY SALES OR PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS. THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIES CONTAINED HEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR EVERY SITUATION. THIS WORK IS SOLD WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THE PUBLISHER IS NOT ENGAGED IN RENDERING LEGAL, ACCOUNTING, OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES. IF PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE IS REQUIRED, THE SERVICES OF A COMPETENT PROFESSIONAL PERSON SHOULD BE SOUGHT. NEITHER THE PUBLISHER NOR THE AUTHOR SHALL BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES ARISING HEREFROM. THE FACT THAT AN ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE IS REFERRED TO IN THIS WORK AS A CITATION AND/OR A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF FURTHER INFORMATION DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE AUTHOR OR THE PUBLISHER ENDORSES THE INFORMATION THE ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE MAY PROVIDE OR RECOMMENDATIONS IT MAY MAKE. FURTHER, READERS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT INTERNET WEBSITES LISTED IN THIS WORK MAY HAVE CHANGED OR DISAPPEARED BETWEEN WHEN THIS WORK WAS WRITTEN AND WHEN IT IS READ.
For general information on our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax 317-572-4002.
For technical support, please visit www.wiley.com/techsupport.
Wiley publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats and by print-on-demand. Some material included with standard print versions of this book may not be included in e-books or in print-on-demand. If this book refers to media such as a CD or DVD that was not included in the version you purchased, you may download this material at booksupport.wiley.com For more information about Wiley products, visit www.wiley.com.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2007925982
ISBN: 978-0-470-03718-8
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Wang Lee was born in Seoul, Korea, and he moved at an early age to the Middle East. He spent two years in Kuwait and another six and a half in Saudi Arabia. At the age of 13, he moved with his family to the United States and has been there ever since. He graduated from Shimer College in 2000, with a B.A. in Humanities. Since then, he’s been working as an interpreter and a translator. He has worked for various school districts helping children with disabilities and has worked as a translator in many different fields ranging from the medical profession to the auto industry. He tutors Korean children in English and writes in his spare time.
This book is dedicated to my parents, Sang Gil and Tae Kyun Lee, and my sister, Eun Jung. I am forever in their debt for all the love and support they were kind enough to show. None of this would have been possible without their help and guidance.
When I was a little kid, I was fortunate enough to travel the world and live in many different places. It had a large part in shaping the person that I became. I was only three or four when my family moved to Kuwait. My sister, being a couple years older than myself, attended school while we were there. She went to a British school and I first learned English looking over her shoulders. I didn’t learn to read then; I just memorized what she was reading and correlated that with the pictures that were on the pages. Later, when my family moved to Saudi Arabia, I continued to learn English from a British lady named Mrs. Brodure. For the first few years of my English-speaking career, I said things like “parcels” instead of “packages,” “bonnet” instead of “hood,” “lift” instead of “elevator,” and the like.
When I moved to the States, I quickly learned that my bilingual skills were a valuable asset. It was a very marketable skill, in fact. I quickly realized that something that came quite naturally to me was something that many people struggled with. I knew that I was fortunate to learn English at an early age, which enabled me to communicate with perfect pronunciation and pass myself off as a native speaker. Then, I would raise a few eyebrows by turning around and speaking perfect Korean as well. My parents at home made sure I spoke Korean very well.
So my first set of thanks goes out to my parents, who taught me Korean and made sure I read and spoke it well. To my father, who always brought home a Korean newspaper for me to read, and for my mother, who was always there for me and pushed me to test my limits.
A most sincere thanks to my sister, Eun, and my brother-in-law, Jin Won Jung, who helped me maintain my sanity while I was sick and in the hospital. A special thanks to my sister, without whom this project would not have been possible.
To my nephew Miles, though he’s just 14 months old, he taught me to smile and take delight in the little things, like pointing and laughing, and putting things in your mouth.
To Mike Grossinger, for coming through for me time and time again, no matter what I needed. He has been a sympathetic ear as well as a sounding board for my ideas and rough translations, even though he doesn’t speak a word of Korean.
To Eric Hoch, for fixing my computer when it was on the fritz and I was freaking out, worried that I’d lost all my work. His calm patience and computer repair skills saved my hide more than once.
To Tom Cyr, who was always there to help me take the edge off, who also seemed to know exactly when I needed to take a break.
A sincere thanks goes out to Barb Doyen, my agent, who found this work for me. Without her, I would have never been involved with the For Dummies project and the fine folks at Wiley. I have to thank her also for having faith in me even when I doubted myself. Her steadfastness, like fuel, allowed me to keep going.
To Jennifer Connolly, my project manager, whose seemingly unending patience I tested time and time again, with one delay after another, and who was a tremendous help to me every step of the way.
To Stacy Kennedy, Acquisitions Editor at Wiley, who along with Jennifer, showed an incredible amount of patience with me and stuck with me through all the hassles, problems, and delays. I owe both of you a great deal of gratitude.
We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our Dummies online registration form located at www.dummies.com/register/.
Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:
Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development
Project Editors: Jennifer Connolly, Natalie Harris
Acquisitions Editor: Stacy Kennedy
Copy Editors: Jennifer Connolly, Sarah Faulkner
Technical Editors: Sung-Eun Wou, Teresa Lee
Media Development Coordinator: Jenny Swisher
Assistant Producer: Shawn Patrick
Quality Assurance: Angie Denny
Senior Editorial Manager: Jennifer Ehrlich
Editorial Supervisor: Carmen Krikorian
Media Development Manager: Laura VanWinkle
Editorial Assistants: Erin Calligan Mooney, Joe Niesen, Jennette Einaggar, Leeann Harney, David Lutton
Cartoons: Rich Tennant (www.the5thwave.com)
Composition Services
Project Coordinator: Patrick Redmond
Layout and Graphics: Claudia Bell, Melanee Habig, Stephanie D. Jumper
Proofreaders: Melissa Bronnenberg, Mildred Rosenzweig, Amanda Steiner
Indexer: Joan K. Griffitts
Special Help: Constance Carlisle
Publishing and Editorial for Consumer Dummies
Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher, Consumer Dummies
Joyce Pepple, Acquisitions Director, Consumer Dummies
Kristin A. Cocks, Product Development Director, Consumer Dummies
Michael Spring, Vice President and Publisher, Travel
Kelly Regan, Editorial Director, Travel
Publishing for Technology Dummies
Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher, Dummies Technology/General User
Composition Services
Gerry Fahey, Vice President of Production Services
Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services
Title
Introduction
About This Book
Conventions Used in This Book
Foolish Assumptions
How This Book Is Organized
Icons Used in This Book
Where to Go from Here
Part I : Getting Started
Chapter 1: Getting Down the Basics
Getting the Basic Sounds
The Basic Vowel Sounds
The Basic Consonant Sounds
Sounding Fluent
Talkin’ the Talk
Saying It with Body Language
Chapter 2: The Nitty-Gritty: Basic Korean Grammar and Numbers
Speaking Politely
Knowing the Basic Parts of Speech
Talkin’ the Talk
Asking Questions
Talkin’ the Talk
Counting Korean Style
Chapter 3: Introductions and Greetings
Making Introductions
Talkin’ the Talk
Talkin’ the Talk
Talkin’ the Talk
Asking for Names
Talkin’ the Talk
Talkin’ the Talk
Giving Thanks and Saying Sorry
Saying Goodbye
Talkin’ the Talk
Part II : Korean in Action
Chapter 4: Getting to Know You: Making Small Talk
Asking Questions with Essential Words and Formal Usages
“Where Are You From?”
Talkin’ the Talk
The Weather, the Seasons, and Everything in Between
Talking About Jobs and Occupations
Describing the Members of Your Family
Talkin’ the Talk
Exchanging Contact Information
Chapter 5: Eating and Drinking
Dig In! Let’s Eat!
Getting to Know Korean Cuisine
Dining Out
Talkin’ the Talk
Chapter 6: Shopping Made Easy
Navigating Stores
Talkin’ the Talk
Talkin’ the Talk
Comparing Merchandise
Shopping for Clothes
Talkin’ the Talk
Shopping for Specific Items
All About Buying: Pricing, Bargaining, Purchasing, Refunding
Chapter 7: Exploring the Town
Knowing the Time and Day
Talkin’ the Talk
Exploring Fun Places
Talkin’ the Talk
Talkin’ the Talk
Giving and Receiving Invitations
Talkin’ the Talk
Chapter 8: Enjoying Yourself: Recreation and Sports
Naming Your Hobbies
Talkin’ the Talk
Exploring Nature
Talkin’ the Talk
Talkin’ the Talk
Talking about the Arts
Playing Sports and Gaming
Chapter 9: Making Connections: Phone, Mail, Fax, and Internet
Phoning Made Easy
Talkin’ the Talk
Talkin’ the Talk
Sending a Fax
Looking for an Internet Connection
Talkin’ the Talk
Chapter 10: At the Office and Around the House
Getting Down to Work
Talkin’ the Talk
Attending Meetings
Making the Rounds: Business Dinners
Making Yourself at Home
Visting Koreans at Home
Talkin’ the Talk
Talkin’ the Talk
Talkin’ the Talk
Part III : Korean on the Go
Chapter 11: Money, Money, Money
Knowing Korean Currency
Changing Currency
Talkin’ the Talk
Working the ATM
Paying for Your Purchases
Talkin’ the Talk
Chapter 12: Asking Directions
Asking for Directions
Talkin’ the Talk
Talkin’ the Talk
Giving Directions
Talkin’ the Talk
Chapter 13: Staying at a Hotel
Sorting Out the Accommodation Options
Finding Accommodations
Talkin’ the Talk
Making Reservations
Talkin’ the Talk
Talkin’ the Talk
Complaining 101
Checking Out
Talkin’ the Talk
Chapter 14: Transportation
Getting Around at the Airport
Talkin’ the Talk
Getting Around Town
Talkin’ the Talk
Chapter 15: Planning a Trip
Picking a Good Time for Travel
Talkin’ the Talk
Choosing Your Destination
Packing for Your Trip
Getting the Help of a Travel Agency
Chapter 16: Handling an Emergency
Shouting for Help
Calling the Police
Talkin’ the Talk
Getting Medical Help
Talkin’ the Talk
Getting Legal Help
Part IV : The Part of Tens
Chapter 17: Ten Ways to Get a Quick Handle on Korean
Find Koreans (or Other Korean Speakers) Near You
Use Korean Language Tapes, CDs, and Other Multimedia Resources
Visit Korean Restaurants and Bars
Sing Korean Songs
Watch Korean Movies
Watch Korean Drama
Surf the Net for Korean Web Sites
Look Up Words in a Korean Dictionary
Make Korean Word and Phrase Lists
Go to Korea!
Chapter 18: Ten Things to Avoid Doing in Korea
Bragging or Accepting Compliments
Making Someone Lose Face in Public
Sitting or Eating Before the Seniors in the Group
Calling Your Boss or Teachers by Their First Names
Saying “Ssi” After Your Own Name
Walking into a House with Your Shoes on
Crossing Your Legs When You Sit
Kissing in Public
Taking the First “No, Thank You” Literally
Picking Up Your Rice Bowl and Using Your Spoon to Eat
Chapter 19: Ten Favorite Korean Expressions
ppalli
gwaenchanayo
jeongmal, jinjja, cham
a, geuraeyo
jamkkanmanyo
mwo haeyo
mollayo
joayo
jal doetneyo
jeoreon, ireon
Chapter 20: Ten Phrases That Make You Sound Korean
akkapda
eojjeol su eopgun
geureonde itjanayo
jom
jjajeungnanda
jukgetda
kkeunnaejunda
neukkihada
siwonhada
sugohaeyo
Part V : Appendixes
Appendix A: Korean Verbs
Appendix B: Korean-English Mini-DictionaryEnglish-Korean Mini-Dictionary
Appendix C: Answer Key
Appendix D: On the CD
Tracks on the CD
System Requirements
Customer Care
: Wiley Publishing, Inc. End-User License Agreement
: Download CD/DVD Content
You probably know more about Korean than you think you do. Maybe you own a Korean-made cellphone or car. You may have had some Korean food or watched a Korean film, and maybe you’ve even heard something interesting about Korea in the news. But if you want to learn how to speak Korean, you’re probably interested in speaking and interacting with Korean people. Perhaps you’re doing business with a company in Korea, or perhaps you’re planning to travel to Korea. Whatever the case, Korean For Dummies will go a long way toward helping you get a handle on the Korean language.
Some people say that speakers of different languages perceive things differently. If that’s truly the case, perhaps learning a bit of Korean will help you see things the way a Korean does. Regardless of whether the language changes your perception, however, Koreans will perceive you differently when you try speaking some Korean. Speaking their language will certainly give them a good first impression! If you want to befriend people at school, on the job, or while traveling, show them that you’re not only interested in them, but also that you’re trying to understand and live by their culture.
Korean For Dummies helps you take those first steps toward understanding some Korean and tells you about some Korean mannerisms. As with anything, the first few steps can be the hardest to take, but they’re worthwhile. After you make some friends using the Korean that you pick up from this book, you’ll know that learning Korean is rewarding and fun!
If you don’t like memorizing tables upon tables of grammatical rules and declensions, or if you love it but don’t have much time, this book is for you. Each chapter is organized so that you can look up and say a little something in the many situations that you may encounter while shopping, traveling, eating, and so on.
Learn a few words and sentences as you go along through this book, and surprise Koreans with a few well-placed phrases. Pick up this book when you need it, and flip through the sections that you find useful. Each section has a few phrases and cultural pointers that are meant to give Koreans a “Where did you learn that from?” sort of reaction. And if you’re interested, you can learn a few sentence structures that you can add to as you become more comfortable with the language. The chapters are structured so that you can take away the bits that you need when you need them, so get ready to learn by speaking a little bit at a time as opposed to memorizing a whole lot at once.
I use a few conventions in this book to help your reading go smoothly:
Web addresses appear in monofont.
Korean terms are in boldface to make them stand out.
Korean words are spelled out phonetically, so that you see how to pronounce them.
Definitions, which are shown in parentheses, follow the phonetically spelled Korean words the first time they appear in a section.
Throughout the book, I give a nonliteral translation of the dialogues and phrases and, when necessary, I add a literal translation to help you better understand not only the phrase that you’re saying, but also how and when to use it.
Degrees of politeness are very important in Korean phrases. For important sentences, the formal polite, informal polite, intimate, and plain degrees of politeness are pointed out as necessary.
Verb and adjective conjugations are given in the following order: dictionary stem and informal polite stem.
Anytime you’re learning a language, you want to reinforce the material that you’re learning by putting your lessons in the correct context. I use the following elements to help you do just that:
Talkin’ the Talk: These dialogues include bits and pieces of material from each lesson. They put the material in a daily context and show you the situations in which they may happen. Each dialogue has a brief introduction to the scenario in which the conversation takes place and often includes cultural tidbits. Each dialogue has the Korean words spelled out phonetically so that you can see their English pronunciations, so reading through them should be a breeze. If they’re not so easy to read at first, look for dialogues that have a CD icon next to them — you can listen to those dialogues on the CD that comes with the book. In no time, you’ll get the hang of speaking Korean!
Words to Know: On the blackboards in this section, important words are highlighted for you to have at your disposal. I include the informal polite form of the verbs. (Chapter 2 has more information on verb forms and their various endings.)
Fun & Games: These sections include a few exercises to help jog your memory and reinforce what you learn in the chapter. The exercises help you gauge your performance, so make sure you give them a try.
Here are a few foolish assumptions that I made about you while writing this book:
You don’t know much Korean aside from a phrase or two that you picked up from films or from your friends.
You’re not planning to take a proficiency test any time soon, nor are you trying to start translating literature or begin interpreting. All you want to do is learn a few bits of Korean here and there in order to communicate with some Koreans around you.
You don’t want to wake up in a cold sweat after memorizing tables upon tables of grammatical rules and conjugations.
You want to have fun while learning Korean.
This book is organized thematically into four parts and a set of appendixes. Each part focuses on a particular theme, such as shopping, introductions, or eating out at a restaurant.
This portion of the book introduces you to Korean pronunciation and gives you an overview of basic Korean grammar. If you can, make sure that you go through Part I carefully, because it will significantly help your understanding of what’s happening throughout the rest of the book.
Here, you begin learning Korean — and Korean culture — for everyday life. Meeting someone? Eating? Shopping? Look through this section if you want to look for information and expressions that you can use with your friends.
This part of the book gives you more task-specific expressions to use when you want to travel. If you need to exchange currency, book a hotel room, or ask for directions, go through this chapter.
Even if you’re really strapped for time, you should go through Part IV. Here I include ten ways to learn Korean quickly, ten phrases to make you sound more Korean, ten expressions that Koreans like to use, and ten things you shouldn’t do in front of Koreans. These sections are short and easy to remember, so go through them when you can.
This part contains various references that you may want to turn to while flipping through the rest of the chapters. You can find verb tables that show the conjugations of regular and irregular verbs, and a mini-dictionary for Korean-to-English and English-to-Korean words. In addition, check the answers to the Fun & Games sections at the end of each chapter, and look for the list of tracks that appear on the audio CD.
Throughout the book, I use icons in the margins and sidebars to help you find information quickly. Here are the icons to look for:
To get a sense of what’s going on behind the scenes in terms of grammar, read Chapter 2. Korean grammar is very different from English grammar. I don’t present all there is to know about Korean grammar, because that’s beyond the scope of this book. You can, however, find enough grammar info to figure out what’s going on and possibly figure out which words are playing what role when you listen to your Korean friends.
Chapter 2 aside, listening and speaking are the focus of this book. And although I try to provide you with as much information on specific topics as I can, the best way to learn is by trial and error. Learning a language involves learning how to interact with people, and no book or language course — however well designed — can trump actual conversation with someone. Go on and read a topic that strikes your fancy, listen to the audio CD, try using a Korean phrase here and there, but most importantly try speaking with a Korean speaker whenever you can. You’ll undoubtedly form friendships and fond memories along the way.
In this part . . .
If you’ve never been introduced to the Korean language before now, this part is for you. You can become familiar with Korean pronunciation and get an overview of basic Korean grammar. Try to go through Part I carefully because it lays the foundation for understanding the rest of the book.