Book Review: A Frequency Dictionary of Korean

Cover of A Frequency of Korean: Core Vocabulary for Learners

An invaluable resource for Korean learners, Routledge's A Frequency Dictionary of Korean: Core Vocabulary for Learners catalogs the 5,000 most frequent Korean words with their pronunciation and an example sentence for each. This book is very useful for several reasons:

– Thematic vocabulary lists: 24 inserts throughout the book are dedicated to the most frequent words about a single topic. Useful to quickly memorize conversational words. See the sample page below for an example.
– An alphabetical index at the end of the book helps quickly find any Korean word present in the book.
– Each word is accompanied by a sample sentence. Really useful to understand how the word fits within a sentence and the grammatical patterns associated with them.

장어 - Eel

Eel is a popular fish in East Asian countries. Korea has a lot of dishes featuring eel, some of the most popular being 장어구이, or grilled eel; 장어강정, or eel with a sweet soy sauce glaze, and 장어덮밥, or eel over rice.

Grilled eel on a barbecue grill

장어구이, or grilled eel.

 

The popular saying in Korea is that men should eat eel to improve their performance behind closed doors...

Hanging Out with Friends

If you have Korean friends, or want to make some, use this vocabulary to get together, eat out, and plan activities! Download this vocabulary and take it to go!

Adjectives and Verbs

바쁘다 to be busy
다른 약속이 없다 to be free
전화하다 to telephone
☯(으)러 가다 to go do ☯
배(가) 부르다 to be full
배(가) 고프다 to be hungry
시키다/주문하다 to order (e.g., food)
멋있다 be cool (person)
재미있다 be fun, interesting
심심하다 to be bored

Snacks

안주 food to go with alcohol
소맥 cocktail (soju + beer)
치맥 chicken + beer
피자 pizza
생맥주 draft beer
냉커피 ice coffee
빙수 shaved ice with syrup

Free Time (여가 시간)

취미 hobby, interest
노래 song/singing
영화 movie
음악 music
여행 travel
게임 game
독서 reading
낚시 fishing
바둑 baduk
당구 billiards
축구 soccer
야구 baseball
농구 basketball
수영 swimming
탁구 table tennis
피아노 piano

Plans

휴대폰 mobile phone
전화번호 phone number
연락처 [열락-] contact information
음식 배달 food delivery
장소 place, spot
예약 reservation
택시 taxi
지하철 출구 subway exit
약속 plan, promise
콘서트 concert
연극 a play

People

older brother/ male friend for men
누나 older sister/ female friend for men
오빠 older brother/ male friend for women
언니 older sister/ female friend for women
친구 friend of same age
나이 age
여자친구 girlfriend
남자친구 boyfriend

Places

영화관 cinema
백화점 department store
미술관 art museum
노래방 karaoke
술집 bar
맛집 delicious restaurant
극장 theater
다방/찻집 tea house
카페 café
볼링장 bowling alley
놀이공원 amusement park

Plans with Friends (반말)

아, 너무 배고파! Ah, I’m really hungry!
점심 먹으러 우리 집에 가자! Let’s go to my house to eat lunch!
나가서 먹을래 아니면 배달 시킬까? Do you want to eat out or order in?
몇 시에 어디서 만날까? What time and where should we meet?
강남역 4번 [사번] 출구 앞에 만나자. Let’s meet in front of exit 4 of Gangnam station.
늦어서 미안해. I’m sorry I’m late.
약속 장소가 어디야? Where is the meeting place?
집에 도착하면 문자 [문짜] 해! Text me when you arrive home!
노래방에나 갈까? Should we go to norebang or something?
무슨 노래 먼저 할까? What song should we sing first?
노래 되게 잘 해! You sing really well!
한 잔 더 할까 말까? Should we have one more glass or not?

Personal Information (존댓말)

남자친구 있어요? Do you have a boyfriend?
연락처 좀 알 수 있을까요? Could I get your contact information?
취미는 뭐예요? What are your hobbies?
제 취미는 피아노 치는 거예요. My hobby is playing the piano.
저는 별다른 취미가 없어요. I have no special hobbies.
몇 살이세요? How old are you?
서른이 넘었어요. I’m over 30.

Food Survival

Learn some essential food vocabulary to eat out with friends! Learn new adjectives, the name of famous drinks, some food words, and several sentences to order food and show appreciation. Download the study sheet and take it to go!

Topics

Adjectives and Verbs

맛있다 [마싣따] delicious
맛없다 [마덥따] not tasty
맵다 spicy
달다 sweet
짜다 salty
고소하다 flavorsome
쓰다 bitter
시다 sour
느끼하다 greasy
요리하다 to cook

Beverages

tea
녹차 green tea
홍차 black tea
커피 coffee
주스 juice
우유 milk
맥주 beer
양주 liquor
막걸리 [막껄리] makkeolli

Ingredients

crab
돼지고기 pork
새우 shrimp
연어 salmon
닭고기 [닦고기] chicken
소고기 beef
마늘 garlic
radish
감자 potato
복숭아 peach
딸기 strawberry
pear
사과 apple
야채 vegetable

Korean, Chinese, and Japanese Food

된장찌개 bean paste stew
김치찌개 kimchi stew
떡볶이 tteokbokki
떡국 [떡꾹] rice cake soup
볶음밥 fried rice
미역국 seaweed soup
삼겹살 pork belly
불고기 bulgogi
차돌박이 beef brisket
장어구이 grilled eel
파전 green onion pancake
냉면 cold noodle
만두 dumpling
튀김 fried 
초밥 sushi (Japanese style)
생선회 [-훼] raw fish

With Friends or Family

제일 좋아하는 음식이 뭐예요? What is your favorite food?
갈비를 좋아해요? Do you like galbi?
저는 을/를 제일 좋아해요. My favorite food is .
 먹으러 갈까요? Should we go eat ?
이 가 너무 짜요! This  is too salty!
맛있게 드세요! Enjoy your meal! (polite)
잘 먹겠습니다! I will eat well!
잘 먹었습니다. I ate well, thanks for the food.
삼겹살 먹어 본 적이 있어요? Have you ever eaten pork belly?
잘 먹겠습니다! I will eat well!

At the Restaurant

무한 리필 뷔페예요? Is this an all you can eat buffet?
 두 개 주세요. Please give me two .
주문하고 싶은데요. I would like to order.
장어구이 세 마리 주세요! Please give me three grilled eels!
소주 두 병 주세요! Please give me two bottles of soju!
맵지 않게 해주세요. Please make it not spicy.
커피를 더 주시겠어요? Could I have some more coffee?
먼저 음료를 주문하고 싶습니다. We’d like to order drinks first.
계산서 갖다 주세요. Please bring the check.
선불입니다. You have to pay in advance.

Other Words

식사 meal
과자 snack
식당 [식땅] restaurant
한식 Korean food
간장 soy sauce
고추 red pepper
Korean pot
접시 dish/plate
냉장고 fridge
포크 fork
숟가락 [숟까락] spoon
젓가락 [저까락] chopstick
전자레인지 microwave
부엌 kitchen (in house)
정식 set menu
예약 reservation
무료 free of charge
맛집 delicious restaurant
Study Sheets

Review this lesson

Review the flashcards for this lesson! Click on the buttons or use the keyboard to review the cards. Once you get a card right five times, the card is moved to the known cards stack, and a new card will be added to your working cards stack. Try to learn them all!

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Native Korean and Sino-Korean Counters

Counting things and people in Korean is slightly different with most western languages in that a "counter" word needs to be added after the number; the counter to use depends on the nature of the object or person talked about. The list below lists all the counters encountered in most situations.

There are two types of counters in Korean: counters that are used with native Korean numbers (하나, 둘, 셋...) and counters that are used with Sino-Korean numbers (일, 이, 삼...); the associations between each counter and the corresponding numeral system need to be memorized (counters used with native Korean numbers can have a Chinese origin, and counters used with Sino-Korean numbers can have a Korean origin).

Difference between V-려고 하다 and V-기로 하다, to plan something

Wondered about the difference between V-려고 하다 and V-기로 하다 when they mean "to plan something"? Look no further!

This post focuses on the two constructs when they mean "to plan something."

  • Simply put, V-(으)려고 했다 (했어요) means "to have planned something (but the plan did not go through)." The idea of "intention" is communicated with this pattern. 
  • Simply put, V-기로 했다 (했어요) also means "to have planned something." The idea of "decision" is communicated with this pattern.

Both expressions are most often used with 하다 conjugated in the past tense, so V-(으)려고 했다 and V-기로 했다. However, V-(으)려고 했다 means the plan has not been completed, were canceled, abandoned, etc.; because of that it is often followed by -ㄴ/는데 or -지만 (V-(으)려고 했는데 / V-(으)려고 했지만).

Book Review - Elementary Korean

Elementary Korean by Ross King and Jaehoon Yeon, and Insun Lee is a great textbook for people starting Korean up to upper-beginners. The book is composed of 13 lessons and two review chapters. The first four lessons focus on reading and writing individual characters, and learning how to pronounce Korean words. The remaining lessons consist of one to four dialogues and reading passages on conversational and practical topics, such as introducing oneself, booking a train ticket, or deciding what to eat and ordering at restaurants. Each lesson also introduces vocabulary relevant to the theme of the readings, and corresponding grammar points.