Culture articles and intermediate vocabulary and grammar to get closer to Korea day by day!

Coronavirus Korean Vocabulary and Resources

As the Coronavirus progresses in South Korea, this article lists vocabulary and resources in English and Korean to stay on top of the infection if you are currently in South Korea. This page will get updated as more information is available.

What To Do

According to the CDC of Korea, for the general population (translated by KoniKorean):

  1. Wash your hands meticulously with soap under running water.
  2. When coughing or sneezing, cover your mouth and nose with your sleeve.
  3. Do not touch your eyes, mouth, and nose with unwashed hands.
  4. Wear a mask when visiting a medical institution
  5. Refrain from visiting places with many people

More instructions forthcoming.

The call center number is 1339 if you have any fever or respiratory symptoms such as cough or sore throat and after staying in self-quarantine at home for 3 to 4 days or if symptoms are severe (such as temperature above 38 degrees).

Coronavirus-related Korean Vocabulary

코로나바이러스 ko-ro-na-ba-i-reo-seu Corona virus
감염 gam-yeom infection
감염증 gam-yeom-jeung infectious disease
감염경로 gam-yeom-gyeong-ro infection route (channel)
입원 ib-weon hospitalization
확산 hwak-san spread, transmission (of virus)
방지 bang-ji prevention
고위험군 go-wi-heom-gun high risk group

More vocabulary and resources about Coronavirus here

Korea-inspired Christmas Gift Ideas (2019)

Want to gift your friends or close ones some Korean-inspired gifts this Christmas? KoniKorean has compiled a list of South Korea-inspired gift ideas for Christmas 2019 based on current trends in Korea and popular Korean items overseas.

For Technology Enthusiasts: Image and Sound

With many domestic technology brands like Samsung and LG, South Korea is home to many innovative products. The items below have been especially popular in the country over the past year.

Korean Pico Projectors: LG PH550 CineBeam LED Projector

This LG projector and similar projectors have been very popular for the past few years in South Korea. This LG projector is tiny and can fit easily in a backpack, comes with a travel cover, can connect to a smartphone wirelessly, and has a 2.5-hour battery to watch movies while traveling or quickly show PowerPoint presentations during business meetings. The main drawback with projectors this size is that they do not have very powerful lamps and can therefore only be used in very dark rooms or very close to the wall (thus reducing the image size).

Buy the LG PH550 CineBeam LED Projector ($350-$400) on Amazon

Kakao Friends AirPods Case Cover

Join useful with cute by offering an AirPods protective case cover with a Kakao character! These covers, available with different characters, are made of silicone and will protect your AirPods case with style. $15-$20 on Amazon.
Kakao Friends is one of the most recognized consumer brands in South Korea, and has a lot of merchandise ranging from notebooks to travel accessories. The company has started to sell some of their merchandise on Amazon for international customers (link to their official Amazon page).

Buy the Apeach Airpods case cover ($15-$20) on Amazon

Popular Red Velvet Songs for 노래방

Going to 노래방 (Norebang, Korean karaoke) is a daunting experience for many. From the complex remote to the big songbook, finding the right song to play can be challenging. "Popular Songs for 노래방" is a series of posts listing the most popular songs of an artist or theme, along with their track number for both TJ and Kumyoung (KY) machines. YouTube Karaoke videos are provided when available so that you can practice before heading to a real 노래방! 

Sing Red Velvet (레드벨벳)'s most popular songs next time you go to 노래방 (norebang, or Korean karaoke)! Red Velvet (레드벨벳) songs in the table below are ordered from most to least recent. Recent songs may be unavailable at your local 노래방 if the machines have not been updated. To determine the column to use for your karaoke session, look at the manufacturer of the karaoke machine either on the machine itself, on the remote, or on the interface. You should see two letters, either TJ or KY; use the corresponding column in the table below to add the song to the queue and start singing! See more detailed instructions on Korean norebang machines.

Song Title (Korean) Song Title (English) TJ # KY #
2019
음파음파 Umpah Umpah 91897 21021
짐살라빔 Zimzalabim 91570 79944
2018
릴리배드보이 RBB (Really Bad Boy) 98909 92598
파워 업 Power Up 98257 92160
배드보이 Bad Boy 97231 90924
2017
피카부 Peek-a-Boo 96836 49737
환생 Rebirth 96331 49642
빨간 맛 Red Flavor 49930 90338
우드 유 Would U 48922 90075
루키 Rookie 48564 76273
2016
러시안 룰렛 Russian Roulette 46928 76012
7월7일 One of These Nights 46197 49127
See more Red Velvet songs

러시안 룰렛 - Russian Roulette (2016)

List of Korean Movies in the Cannes Film Festival

The Cannes Film Festival (Festival de Cannes) is one of the most prominent film festivals in the world, with its top award (Palme d'Or) being considered as many as the holy grail of cinema. South Korean cinema has increasingly produced many cinematographic gems that have been competing for the Palme d'Or over the last two decades, with 기생충 (Parasite)  by 봉준호 (Bong Joon-ho) ultimately being the first Korean movie winning the Palme d'Or of the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. Despite the growing popularity of South Korean movies, it is still challenging to find comprehensive lists about recent Korean movies that have been entered in prestigious film festivals.

This post lists all the movies that have been presented at Cannes between 1990 and 2019 and includes movies in both the official selection and independent selections running parallel to the festival. The years below are the years for which the movies were entered in the competition, not necessarily their release year. 

In this post

Popular South Korean Drinking Games

One aspect of South Korean culture becomes very apparent after a few days in the country: the drinking culture is pretty developed. Alcohol made in South Korea is cheaply available in most convenient stores, and drinking establishments are open late at night/until early morning. South Koreans use alcohol to socialize and have developed many drinking games to do so. These games are especially popular among college students and in the army.

All the South Korean drinking games below play clockwise or counter-clockwise; just agree with other players before starting.

Soju bottle, white background

안녕클레오파트라 – Annyeong Cleopatra (Hello Cleopatra)

This simpler game consists of taking turns repeating the same song with a higher pitch than the previous player. The song is as follows:

(Korean)
안녕, 클레오파트라
세상에서 제일 가는
포테이토 칩

(Pronunciation)
Annyeong Ku-le-o-pa-teu-ra
Sesang-eso Je-il Ga-neun
Pote-ito Chip

(Translation)
Hello, Cleopatra
The greatest potato chip
In the world.

KPOP group Wanna One demonstrate the game 안녕클레오파트라 (Hello Cleopatra) in the video below.

삼육구 게임 – Sam-nyuk-gu Game (3-6-9 Game)

In this game, players take turns counting numbers, starting with 1; the catch is every time a player lands on a number that contains a 3, 6, or 9, the player must clap and must not say the number. The number of claps is based on the number of 3, 6, 9; for example, for 29 or 30 the player has to clap only once, but for 33 the player has to clap twice! The first player who messes up loses.

While this game sounds simple, it can get confusing really fast:

  • some players clap on multiples of 3 instead of numbers containing 3, 6, 9,
  • a lot of players forget that they cannot say anything between 29 and 39 (all these numbers contain a 3 or a 9!)
  • similarly, some players lose track of the current count between 29 and 39 and thus clap instead of saying 40.

A simple song is sung before the game:

(Korean)
삼육구 삼육구
삼육구 삼육구

(Pronunciation)
Sam-nyuk-gu Sam-nyuk-gu
Sam-nyuk-gu Sam-nyuk-gu

(Translation)
Three Six Nine, Three Six Nine
Three Six Nine, Three Six Nine

Watch the video for an example of 삼육구게임 (3-6-9 Game) explained by KPOP girl group APRIL.

Tricky Pronunciations of the Consonant ㄹ (Rieul)

In Korean, the pronunciation of ㄹ and consonants preceding or following it, such as ㄱ (기억, giyeok), ㅂ (비읍, bieup) or ㅁ, differs from the 한글 reading. Because of rules of assimilation of ㄹ to ㄴ after nasal consonants, the pronunciation of ㄱ, ㄹ, and ㅂ needs to be accounted for these changes. This post lists some of these uncommon pronunciation transformations; comprehensive pronunciation rules can be found in Korean: A Comprehensive Grammar by Jaehoon Yeon and Lucien Brown (Routledge Edition)

ㄱ followed by ㄹ → ㅇ followed by ㄴ

When a character ends either with a ㄱ sound, and the next character starts with a ㄹ sound, the ㄱ transforms into ㅇ and the ㄹ transforms into ㄴ. While words with this combination are not necessarily common, it could potentially be found in compound words or complex Sino-Korean words.

The table below lists all the words that show the pattern ㄱ followed by ㄹ among the 5000 most frequent Korean words (according to A Frequency Dictionary of Korean). While the list is short, be careful of compound words that may exhibit the same pattern.

Word Intermediate Step Final Pronunciation Meaning
국립 (→ 국닙) 궁닙 national
독립 (→ 독닙) 동닙 independent
목록 (→ 목녹) 몽녹 a list
식량 (→식냥) 싱냥 provisions (food)
폭력 (→폭녁) 퐁녁 violence

See more transformations and examples of the pronunciation of ㄹ.

Pattern V/Adj-은/는 척하다: To Pretend To V/A

Verb/Adjective (V/A)-은/는 척하다 is commonly used in spoken and written Korean to express "to pretend to (V/Adj)." It can also be translated at "to make it look like (V/Adj)" in more complex sentences (see examples below). 

The pattern is written differently depending on whether the word in front of the pattern is a verb or an adjective:

  • For verbs, present tense: V-는 척하다 regardless of the 받침 of the verb, using common conjugation rules. E.g., 모르다 → 모르는 척하다, 놀다 → 노는 척하다, 읽다 → 읽는 척하다, 넣다→ 넣는 척하다. 
  • For verbs, past tense: V-ㄴ/은 척하다. E.g., 모르다 →  모른 척하다, 놀다 →  논 척하다, 읽다 → 읽은 척하다, 넣다 →  넣은 척하다. See Note 3 for a usage note.
  • For adjectives: A-ㄴ/은 척하다. E.g., 똑똑하다 → 똑똑한 척하다, 이쁘다 → 이쁜 척하다.

Examples

Verbs

(모르다) 저는 전 여자친구를 모르는 척했어요. I pretended I didn't know my ex-girlfriend.
(놀다) 저는 친구들에게 어젯밤 노는 척(을) 했지만 시험 공부를 열심히 했어요. I pretended to my friends I was having fun last night but I was studying hard for my exam. 
(읽다) 그는 핸드폰을 쓰고 있었지만 책을 읽는 척했어요. He was using his phone but made it look like (=pretended) he was reading a book.Contrast with 그는 핸드폰을 썼지만 책을 읽은 척했어요. He used his phone but pretended he read a book. 
(넣다)  엄마가 볶음밥에 야채를 안 넣는 척했지만 양파를 많이 넣었어요. The mom pretended she did not put any vegetables in the fried rice but she put a lot of onions. Contrast with 엄마가 볶음밥에 야채를 안 넣는 것처럼 했지만 양파를 많이 넣었어요. The mom made it look like she did not put any vegetables in the fried rice but she put a lot of onions. The first sentence has a more negative connotation than the second one.

Popular BLACKPINK Songs for Norebang

Going to 노래방 (Norebang, Korean karaoke) is a daunting experience for many. From the complex remote to the big songbook, finding the right song to play can be challenging. "Popular Songs for 노래방" is a series of posts listing the most popular songs of an artist or theme, along with their track number for both TJ and Kumyoung (KY) machines. YouTube Karaoke videos are provided when available so that you can practice before heading to a real 노래방! 

BLACKPINK (블랙핑크) songs in the table below are ordered from most to least recent. Recent songs may be unavailable at your local 노래방 if the machines have not been updated. To determine the column to use for your karaoke session, look at the manufacturer of the karaoke machine either on the machine itself, on the remote, or on the interface. You should see two letters, either TJ or KY; use the corresponding column in the table below to add the song to the queue and start singing! See more detailed instructions on Korean norebang machines.

Song Title (Korean) Song Title (English) TJ # KY #
2019
킬디스러브 Kill This Love 53766 97847
2018
뚜두뚜두 Ddu-Du Ddu-Du 97986 49935
2017
마지막처럼 As If It's Your Last 49816 49590
2016
스테이 Stay 48148 76106
불장난 Playing With Fire 48147 49350
휘파람 Whistle 46769 78986
휘파람 (Acoustic Ver.) Whistle (Acoustic Ver.) 48376 76097
붐바야 Boombayah 46777 78983

뚜두뚜두 - Ddu-Du Ddu-Du (2018)

Most Common Korean Words Pronounced Wrong Part. 3

This is Part. 3  of the series Most Common Korean Words Pronounced Wrong (read Part. 1 (words 1-1000) and Part. 2 (words 1001-1500).

Pronouncing Korean can be difficult given the many exceptions to basic pronunciation rules. In many cases, words seemingly simple have a different pronunciation from their 한글 spelling. Below are listed the most common words that have a different pronunciation from their spelling. These common words were selected among words 1501-2000 from the book A Frequency Dictionary of Korean. This list will be updated with relevant pronunciation guides on KoniKorean when available.

Notes about the table:

  • Rank corresponds to the rank in A Frequency Dictionary of Koreanfrom most common in the Korean language to least common.
  • Pronunciation was extracted from the Naver Dictionary of Korean.
  • Words with especially tricky pronunciation are in yellow rows.
  • Meaning is presented for quick reference; many words have different meanings depending on context.
  • The colon : indicates that the preceding syllable is a long one.
Rank Word Pronunciation Meaning Notes
← Cf. Part 2 for words 1001-1500
1510 거짓말 거:진말 a lie ⚠️Common mistake for beginners.
1523 결정하다 결쩡하다 to decide Cf. #1290 of Pt. 2.
1529 관계자 관계자/관게자 persons concerned  
1541 갈등 갈뜽 a conflict  
1543 특징 특찡 a characteristic  
1561 총리 총니 prime minister  
1593 업무 엄무 work, business  
1597 연극 연:극 play (theater) ⚠️ Not pronounced [영극 (X)], the ㄴ sound
needs to be pronounced separately from 극.
1605 건강 건:강 health Same as #1597.
1617 종류 종:뉴 kind, sort  
1618 chicken Consequently, 닭고기 is pronounced [닥꼬기].
1624 제공하다 제공하다 to provide ⚠️ Not pronounced [제꽁하다 (X)].
1628 대중 대:중 the public ⚠️ Not pronounced .
1650 손가락 손까락 finger ⚠️ Common mistake by foreign learners.
1661 관련하다 괄련하다 to be related to Cf. #831 of Pt. 1
1685 독립 동닙 independence  
1710 논리 놀리 logic  
1735 신라 실라 One of the Ancient
Kingdoms of Korea
Also the name of a Chaebol
(신라백화점, 신라호텔, etc.)
1742 이튿날 이튼날 the next day ⚠️ "two days" is written 이틀.
1749 밟다 밥:따 to step on  
See the rest of the table