우리 공부합시다
Let's study!

Whether you’re worried you will offend or want to impress people, learning Korean etiquette and the dos and don’ts is important! Because of Korea’s unique culture, they have their own etiquette rules and guidelines. Though typically, if they can tell you are a foreigner, Koreans will go easier on you and not expect you to know everything while visiting, so don’t worry about remembering all of these right away!

I have covered a bit of these in the Korean superstitions post a while ago, such as the superstition around putting chopsticks in rice and how it’s become very rude to do. But today I’m going to dive deeper; from food and drinking culture, to daily life, hierarchy, and more.

Korean Etiquette Related to Hierarchy

Starting off strong is etiquette related to hierarchy! South Korea has a big focus on hierarchy; who’s older, more experienced, higher position, etc., and so a lot of cultural rules stem from that.

(more…)

Tea is a classic drink with a long history, and Korea is no exception. Today I’ll dive a bit into the drink with vocab for the different kinds of tea in Korean, Korea’s culture and history with tea, some Sino-Korean, and more.

Korea has a rich tea history and culture that goes back over 2000 years! So I won’t be going fully in-depth on it all, but it will be just a nice overview to introduce the culture a bit.

(more…)

The 만 grammar particle is a great piece to add to your vocabulary! Emphasize and clarify by adding ‘just’ or ‘only’ to your sentences with this simple particle. I’ll go through some quick examples as well!

Placing 만 Grammar Particle

As in English, Koreans can also change where ‘only’ is placed to change the specific meaning of a sentence. ~만 can be placed attached to the subject or object of a sentence and replaces the usual particle that would sit there (so for a subject: ~은/는, or for an object: ~을/를). To quickly explain:

1. I only ate an apple (I ate an apple, and did nothing else)
   저는 사과를 먹기만 했어요
2. Only I ate an apple (I ate an apple, nobody else did)
   저만 사과를 먹었어요
3. I ate only an apple (I ate an apple, and ate nothing else)
   저는 사과만 먹었어요

(more…)

I’m here with a very interesting cultural post by request! Jeju’s Haenyeo (해녀; lit. sea women (海女)) are specialized female divers who earn their livelihood by diving without breathing equipment for abalone, conch, oysters, sea urchins, and more. And have been mastering the practice for multiple generations!

(more…)

Pluralizing a word/item isn’t as tricky as you might expect! Using 들 Korean plural particle can help you express multiples and emphasize the amount as much as you want.

Making Korean Plural Words

There are 2 main ways to make plural words in Korean. First is by simply adding a number; for example “가방 두개” (lit. bag 2) simply translates as “2 bags” without the need to add anything else to pluralize it.

(more…)

It’s time for another focused vocab list. This time focusing on animals. From pets to farms, zoos, forests, and skies I have got you covered for animals in Korean!

So let’s get into it~

Pets in Korean

고양이: cat
새끼고양이: kitten
개: dog
강아지: puppy
(more…)