우리 공부합시다
Let's study!

‘What’ is always a keyword in a language, and important to growing your vocab and skills but there are actually multiple ways to say ‘What’ in Korean! Which one you use depends on the information and the words’ location in a sentence. Don’t worry though, I’ll run through all this simply and give examples to help you master what you need to know.

1. 무엇/뭐

뭐 and 무엇 are probably the ‘What’ you’ll hear the most when starting to learn Korean. But 뭐 is a shortened version and casual form of 무엇. 무엇/뭐 can be used when the subject is unidentified, and should not be used in front of nouns. So for example you cant say “뭐 노래”.

Examples of 무엇/뭐:

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Korean karaoke, or noraebang (노래방) is a huge part of Korean culture and has expanded out to other countries around the world! You’ll find 노래방 in all kinds of situations in Korea. People go to it with friends or classmates, during work events with their teams, and there has even been an increase in people going alone as well.

Here I’ll cover it all, from what makes Korean karaoke different to what to sing there, so let’s get into it~

What is the Difference between Korean Karaoke and American Karaoke?

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I’m back with more webtoon onomatopoeia again by request! Onomatopoeia is found not only in webtoons but also used a lot in Korean reality TV shows like Running Man, I Live Alone, Knowing Bros, etc. You can also find them in Kakao emoticons/stickers or other texting platforms. But today I’ll be delving deeper into different sounds and Korean sfx, with a focus on genre.

Note that a lot can overlap, but to avoid repeating myself I just kept certain ones to certain genres. So just because something isn’t in the action section doesn’t mean it won’t come up in an action webtoon! Anyway, let’s get into it~

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You may have noticed 문 come up often when learning about writing or culture in Korean. From 문화 meaning to 문학 they are tied to a hanja of course! The hanja 文 means culture and literature/writing so you will see it in a lot of literature vocab in Korean.

Literature/Writing terms using 文 Hanja:

The majority of the words I could find using the Hanja are more related to literature; writing terms and styles than cultural words, which I found interesting! From types or genres like poems, thesis’, prose, and documents in literature down to sentences and characters.

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Habit pairing or habit stacking is when you take one thing you do regularly and pair it with another activity. So you could exercise when you watch TV, stretch while brushing your teeth, study on the train or bus, listen to podcasts in the car, review flashcards before bed, etc.

Using habit pairing to learn Korean is a good way to integrate study in with your daily life and keep it up! I know some days you can’t sit down for a full study session and that’s okay. Even small, quick habits can make sure you maintain your Korean and still learn. I’ll get into some habits I have and some ideas to get you inspired!

Memorize Korean Numbers with Habit Pairing

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Superstitions are a really unique part of a culture. They can be tied to history, folklore, mythology, or just wordplay! If you’re going to/living in Korea or just meeting Korean friends learning about Korean superstitions can help you avoid making awkward mistakes or offending people. Also, it helps you connect with people more and integrate yourself into the community. So here are some popular Korean superstitions from the lucky, unlucky and strange/funny!

1. Lucky and Unlucky Numbers

To start off let’s get into the numbers really quick! Korea’s favorite and least favorite numbers follow along with other Asian countries so you might recognize seeing 4 and 8 on this list.

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