Knowing some common or interesting Korean idioms is a fun way to take your Korean to the next level! Idioms or 관용구 are phrases that people use to express something more than their literal meaning. You’ll hear and see them everywhere; from TV and movies, music, books, and daily conversation.
You probably already know the 4 seasons but seasons in Korean can go more in-depth than that! Following the Chinese lunar calendar Korea’s traditional calendar has a solar system for seasons too, spaced approx. 15 days apart these dates mark specific points in the seasons.
In the west and many English countries Halloween is a fun holiday (though not usually recognized with time off from school or work) for kids and adults to eat candy, dress up, watch spooky movies and more. So in the spirit of Halloween this post is dedicated to Halloween in Korea, Koreas own spooks, and some vocab to go along with the season!
추석 also known as 한가위, is Koreas autumn harvest festival, similar to thanksgiving or other such celebrations. Its celebrated in both North and South Korea and lands on the 15/8 on the lunar calendar so it changes each year, but for 2023 it lands on September 28 – 30th.
Korean Onomatopoeia! A fun thing to add to your repertoire of Korean words to really add emphasis and feeling to your conversations. Onomatopoeias imitate a sound, feeling, or action; like “The dog barked at me as I clanked my keys”.
Korean Liberation Day on August 15th marks the anniversary of South Korea’s independence from Japanese rule on August 15, 1945. This is also a key date because it’s one of the few holidays that both the North and South share in common.
Here’s some vocab that could be useful and fun for a lot of K-pop and even K-drama fans; Kpop Slang! One great way to learn the language is to integrate and use it more on a daily basis; so if you are an active fan of kpop you can use these slang to talk with and understand Korean fans of your favs!
As of just this week South Koreans are now a year or two younger! Now this isn’t literal, if you and your Korean friend were both born in 2000 they are not suddenly younger than you. For the longest time Koreans had a separate age system that added a year to a persons age. Well not anymore!
Happy pride month! A while ago I mentioned briefly how gay Koreans would use certain terms to refer to a partner/romantic interest and I want to delve deeper into the culture! Both with some points on Korean LGBTQIA+ culture and life, and some great vocab!
Koreans like using 우리 to show a sense of community, but not always between them and the speaker. In English when you say ‘I went to our house’ it typically means 1 of 2 things; you and the listener live together or the person you live with is with you. Korean includes another option where nobody living with you is there; nobody even needs to live with you!