안녕하세요!

Hello! So I'm trying to understand this piece of Korean media but some things aren't making sense when I compare them to the given translation.

1. The phrase is

"수없이 도망갔었어 그저 무서웠었어" first of all, what does 그저 mean? second of all, the past tense of 도망가다 is 도망갔어요 & the past tense of 무섭다 is 무서웠어. The translation says this just means "I ran away countless times, just out of fear". why isn't it just 도망갔어 and 무서웠어?

2. the phrase is

너의 눈물 곁으로 but the translation says this line means "by the side of your tears" I know 곁 is side but 으로 means "through, with, via, towards" none of those words are "by" so how does 곁으로 mean "by the side of your tears"?

3. the phrase is

날 기다려 줬던 너 and it supposedly translates to "you who waited for me" wouldn't that be 날 기다렸던 ??? what does 줬던 mean in this context??

LASTLY, 4. The phrase is 몇 번을 반복해도 and it's supposed to translate to "no matter how many times you repeat it" does the ending 해도 mean "no matter"??

Thank you so much in advance!!

Eg 한국에서 살 것 같아요

Or 한국에서 살을 것 같아요

And what about ㄷ ending verbs? Is it 물을 것 같아요 or 물 것 같아요? Or even 묻을 것 같아요?

My gut tells me the first one to both of these examples is correct

a sentence from a podcast: 이렇게 아침 일찍 일어나니까 자연스럽게 10시 넘으면 피곤해지고 12시 전에는 자게 되더라고요.

the podcast translations: since i wake up early in the morning like this, i naturally get tired after 10 and go to bed before 12.

there is no if or when in this sentence???

I read there is a rule saying that verb stems ending with ㄷ would change to ㄹ whenever followed by a vowel.

So I thought that 닫다 would become 달라요 . But it doesn't.

What's up with that?

Thank you.

Is it always water related? This isn't the sort of thing that's easy to look up!

(Random extra text just in case. 샬라 샬라 샬라.)

Mini rant/ backstory

I was first exposed to the language 3 years ago and immediately fell for it. I've always had a thing for learning languages but I'm not good at picking them up, however, Korean was the first I felt serious about. I was on and off with it though up until about 8(ish) months ago. I completed school so I've had more time to spend learning it.

I started with TTMIK and still use their content though I've seen some people say TTMIK alone isn't enough so that's the first thing I'd like y'all to help me out on (with recommendations and stuff, although I feel like they arw pretty gpod too, but having supplements was nevwr a bad thing.)

The other thing though is that I realized the other day that I don't see myself becoming fluent, at least not anymore. I was watching a video where Ateez's Hongjoong and San were out having British food with these two guys from some popular channel, Jolly something, nice guys. Anyway, it kinda just clicked how good their English had gotten. I'd noticed it at their Coachella performance too but it only then clicked, and that in turn made me realise that I never even saw myself becoming fluent, at least not along the way. I don't know when but it begun feeling like a hobby I'd always just keep up without actually getting to the end.

I know you'll probably talk about motivation and setting goals and consistency with studying but maybe I could benefit more if I could hear the stories of those that made it, either to fluency or feel they are confidently on that road. I'll appreciate whatever advice y'all will give (everyone, I mean).

Thank you.

How do you translate 후피집 중에 긴걸 본적이 없어

As far as I know, it has some korean cultural slang or meaning that a regular translator is not able to translate. For context, it was a comment to a novel hiatus announcement by an author

Hi friends!

I will be travelling to South Korea on a college trip for a week in May! I am a beginner in Korean and was wondering if there are any good translator apps for scanning text (such as labels/signs/etc) while in Korea? I would also love any tips for a beginner speaker in the country!

Thank you so much!

So I have always felt that the ending "아니에요?" can serve different purposes, but is never sure.

I came across "제가 말했던 그거 아니에요?" and with the 아니에요 ending I would assume that it translates to "Isn't that what I said?". However, the context seems to point towards this other translation -- "Is that something I have said?".

Am I wrong to assume so? If not, can anyone help me understand the many usages of 아니예요? (Or maybe I have understood the sentence completely wrong in the first place lol)

If this is a very dumb question please bare with me. I'm self-taught and this is also how I learn lol.

As a learner myself, I have been thinking about this a lot because it's like it happens so naturally to me that I keep inventing new words (Konglish or compounded words) whenever I forget or run out of vocabulary for something I want to refer to. Or sometimes it's just because I want it to sound a specific way.

Some of my examples are:

의약약 [의양냑] (<< 의약, it feels wrong to me without adding another -약)

않고않고 (<< 않고)

꽃잎님/나뭇잎님 (예쁜 사람)

하쟎냐고 (<< 하지 않냐고)

레(<< 네)

똠물 or 수돗수 (<< 수돗물)

킬하다 (To kill)

룡 (<< 용 🐉)

락권 (<< 낙원)

류월 (<< 유월)

량심 (<< 양심)

생일촉망 (Instead of 생일축하)

내로/내노인 (Paternal grandparents)

외로/외노인 (Maternal grandparents)

신년 촉망 (Happy New Year)

차로 (<< 차도)

레인 (<< 차로)

답차 (踏車 << 페달 밟는 車 << 자전거)

이륜자동차 (오토바이)

장룡 (긴 모양의 용 같은 동물)(<< 뱀)

Sometimes I may make an ungrammatical alternative compound that produces 길룡 or a could-be-acceptable 긴 용.

공공교통 (<< 대중교통)

버스정 (<< 버스 정류장)

국로 (<< 국도)

하이웨이 (<< 고속도로)

And the pronunciation of 흑역사, I always pronounce it [흥녁사] despite the common and more prefered [흐격사]. However I always pronounce the name of 尹대통령 as [윤서결] instead of [윤성녈].

Or some words that I don't even know what I wanted them to mean.

Examples:

십유월 (Probably 십 + 유월, I came up with this word [심뉴월] while showering and only able to reconstruct it into 십유월 if that's what my personality at the moment wanted to say 🤣🤣)

Disclaimer: All of these are just for fun and I am just sharing that these are basically my habit and obsession with the language.

Well, I've been learning Korean for only 1.5 month. I don't know why but I feel great when I can understand any word by myself. In short, i'm already in love with this language.

if I wants to prepare myself for Topik 4-5 level by self study (with online resources), is it possible? Or it's just a daydream?

What's the best resources available for self-study TOPIK on internet? Youtube Channel, Any Paid or free course or webesite? Please suggest me.

Thank you!

I was taught very early on that in korean you use the expression 수업을 듣다 (listening to a class) instead of 'going to a class'.

So I want to know is this sentence here correct?

'I dont know if i go to class tomorrow or not'

'내일 수업을 들을지 안 들을지 모르겠어.'

This question may not have a clear answer. many people i asked can not explain but perhaps there is someone who studys korean etymology or history. We call cow "소" and cow meat "소고기." Similar thing with pig. Pig is "돼지" and pig meat is "돼지고기." This makes sense, considering "고기" is meat. However, fish are not the same. Fish, the animal, we call "물고기" and fish we eat is "생선." Why is this the case??? At an aquarium, if you see fish, you cannot refer to the fish as "생선." This does not follow the typical pattern. Why are living fish called 물고기, when it is typical to add "-고기" to which we eat. It literally translates as "water meat." also, why is this only fish? I would assume this word is to apply to any animals that live in the water. i know there is a word that encompasses sea animals. But why is this instance an exception to the typical pattern? How did it develop this way? Is there a reason this occurred? It logically does not make sense to me. It would make more sense to me if 생선 meant fish(animal) and 물고기 meant fish(meat). I would like to understand.

나는 반은 한국 사람 이에요. 내 어머니는 한국 사람. 그리거 내 아버지는 미국 사람 이에요. (Not sure if this is correct but hopefully you get the idea)

I’ve grown up hearing a lot of Korean and started taking it this past semester (american university) in preparation to go abroad in the fall (연세대학교!). I feel like I haven’t learned much other than sentence construction… I’ve known most of the words I’ve learnt just from hearing? Like 그리거, 그런데, 그래서, 이거, 저기, are all words I’ve just known. One thing I struggle most with is 이/가, 은/는, 을/를, but most of the time I determine what to use based on what just sounds natural to me.

I think I know ~250 words, but want to get to be within 500 to 100 before I go abroad. How should I go about doing this? Is there anyone half korean that had an “instinctual” understanding (ex: if my mom was yelling at me, I could understand with some context clues, or some words just give me a feeling and I know what it means)

Also, what level do you think I would be at for “comprehensible input? I know that’s a good way to learn languages but don’t know what level to start at.

First time posting, thank you for reading if you do ☺️

So my girlfriend got “아무 일도 없단 듯이” on her arm and she says it means “life goes on” like the bts song. But when you translate it to english it means “like nothing happened”. Which happens to be a lyric from their song “life goes on”. Did she happen to choose the wrong lyrics from the song or does the line get mistranslated? I just want to clear it up so she knows what it actually means.

Hello, I'm just asking if someone has recommendations for good books to learn Korean. I prefer amazon links if possible. :) I would prefer English-to-Korean but if there are any Germans here then German-to-Korean would be nice too! Thank you

I recently contacted them and they send me the information needed. I wanted to see if anyone has ever tried. If you guys have any information, experiences, payment etc with them. Let me know.

​

My level is very beginner so I can only pick out a few words out of this song. Was wondering if someone can help me transcribe the lyrics of the whole song?

Clazziquai feat. Jaeyeon, Lim Sejoo - Baby

I’ve heard DeepL being “great” for languages like French, German, Italian, or Ukrainian, but the same be said for translating Korean or is it still crap? The thing with Korean is that it complies with a grammatical structure akin to Japanese, which can often get misunderstood or lost in translation, which is why I never trusted any online translator for East Asian languages, as natives can still tell it was translated using AI even though it's written in Korean (Japanese & Mandarin).

Two well-known YouTube channels that offer series for learning Korean are Billy's and Vicky's. Which one do you think is better in terms of understanding and being able to use Korean grammar more effectively?

Hi everyone, I'm a interpreter&translator from Korean to Turkish and will be translating about Korean skincare/Korean products at the exhibition next week. I need help with the more accurate meaning of these words.. Thank you all!!

채움세룸, 피부포카리, 리포좀화되다, 즉각적이다, 쫀쫀하다

A little help goes a long way.. ^^

​

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안녕하세요 여러본!
I'm currently in my first-year Korean program through my university, and I am absorbing every lesson like a sponge. I feel like I'm doing quite well, and that I've learned a ton over the course of only a few months. However, Summer is coming up, therefore I won't be in a structured setting, and am afraid I'll slack off, which is the last thing I'd want to do.

Does anyone have good free resources I could use to make sure I don't slide backwards in progress? As well as tips to maintain a language over the summer? I am a broke college student, so I can't afford expensive resources when tuition is already killing me lol.

Thanks so much for your help!

안녕하십니까? 저는 이학년 레라라고 합니다. 일학년 때는 일본어를 공부해서 스피치에 참여한 적이 없고, 한국어로 스피치에 참여한 것은 이번이 처음입니다.

오늘은 제가 한국 여행 중에 일어난 이야기를 나누고 싶습니다. 2019년 3월 저와 엄마, 엄마의 친구, 엄마 친구의 딸과 함께 한국에서 여행했습니다. 러시아에서 해외로 나간 것은 이번이 처음였습니다. 저희 여행은 일주일 동안 계속되었습니다. 서울 혼대에 살았지만 첫날밤은 이천의 호텔에서 보냈습니다. 롯데월드, N 서울타워, 강남구 등 매일 다른 곳으로 갔습니다. 하지만 제가 말하고 싶은 이야기는 저희가 사는 곳 근처에 있는 홍대에서 일어났습니다.

보통 집에서 아침을 먹지만, 이번에는 집 밖에서 산책하며 외식을 먹기로 했습니다. 한 식당에 들어갔을 때 그곳에서 일하는 한국 사람들이 외국인을 무서워하는 것 같습니다. 저희가 무언가를 묻고 싶을 때 그 사람들은 큰 소리로 “없어!없어!”라고 말했기 때문입니다.

그런 다음 계속 갔습니다. 저희는 한 아름다운 커피숍이나 빵집에 들렀습니다. 신선한 페이스트리와 디저트가 많고 식탁 몇 개가 있었습니다. 이른 아침이어서 손님이 별로 없었습니다. 그때는 한국어를 전혀 몰라서 영어로 이야기했습니다. 주문을 하고 빈 식탁에 앉았습니다. 주문을 받았지만, 나는 내가 주문한 케이크를 받지 못했다는 것을 알았습니다.

그래서 저는 웨이터에게 가서 "죄송하지만 제 케이크를 잊어버리신 것 같아요"라고 말했습니다. 웨이터가 기다리라고 말하고는 빨리빨리 케이크를 가지러 갔습니다. 케이크를 가지고 왔을 때, 웨이터는 제게 "어느 나라 사람이에교?"라고 물었습니다. "저는 러시아에서 왔어요."라고 말했습니다. 웨이터가 "러시아어로 '실례합니다'라고 어떻게 말하나요?"라고 물었습니다. "Извините"라고 말했습니다.

그러자 웨이터는 러시아 사람인 것처럼 제 말을 따라 했습니다. 웨이터는 케이크와 마카롱 두 개를 식탁에 올려놓았습니다. 사과로 마카롱 2개?

저는 한국어로 "고맙습니다"라고 말했습니다. 제가 아는 간단한 한국어 단어 중 하나였습니다. 한국어를 잘 배우면 좋을 것 같다는 생각이 들었습니다. 그때 한국어를 더 열심히 공부해야겠다고 생각했어요. 여행하면서 언어의 중요성을 깨달았습니다.

이 경험은 제가 한국어를 공부하는 데 큰 동기부여가 되었습니다 제 스피치었습니다. 들어주셔서 감사합니다.

For example, I (guy) am telling A that a particular man is B (girl)‘s older brother. Google translates it as “이 남자는 B의 오빠야.”

However since I’m a guy, I should be using 형 when I’m directly addressing him.

In this example, should the term be based on B’s gender, or my gender?

Hi everybody!

This month, I started to self-study Korean and I got online the book New Generation Korean 1, but I found there is no answer key for the workbook (the answers for textbook are already on that book). I checked the website and I just only found the audios. Anyone knows how to get the answers for the activities in the workbook.

Thanks :)

I'm korean and I have a question as to translate 'Reserved Occupation' into '병역 면제'. What would be the more accurate translation of 'reserved occupation' in korean than '병역 면제'?

for More details :

I was watching 'Peaky Blinders' on certain platform(start with Net) at the rest time. Thomas shelby describe the new Inspector who was from belfast as "I'm told he didn't serve. Reserved occupation." and I didn't understand what "Reserved occupation" means in english subtitles. So, I swtiched it as Kor-Sub. it said "병역 면제". I searched 'Reserved occupation' on google, and it's explained as "an occupation considered important enough to a country that those serving in such occupations" on wikipedia. I can understand '병역 면제' is simple and clear enough but still think it doesn't explain actual meaning of it. I'm like "is it best?".

So, I wonder How other people think about translation of '병역 면제'. and How would you translate it if you are a translator? <TIA!>

FYI : 병역 면제 = Exemption from military services

How long should I be stuck in learning hangul( thinking I'm practicing each day for Atleast 1-3 hours), at what point should I move forward to learning words instead of fixating on fully and properly learning how it's written and sounds like? Because at the end of the day, once you start learning words and how it's written you will automatically learn it

I've been using google translate, but I feel like there's something way better for Korean. Google translate is probably wrong a lot or missing context I don't really know.

Is there anything that is just unnecessarily difficult or nonsensical that you wish didn't exist in the Korean language but you still need to know in order to pass important exams?

Or is there anything in the language that you wish were different?

Non native Korean speakers please feel free to answer too.