🗣️ Language — communicate & read

Phrases that unlock real interactions + tools that actually work + just enough Hangul to read menus and signs.

TL;DR

Install Papago (best Korean ↔ everything). Learn 5 phrases. Point at stuff. You'll be fine.

📱 Translation tools (install before anything else)

Tool	Why	Download
Naver Papago	Best Korean translator by far. Text, voice, camera (menu OCR), conversation mode. Made in Korea for Korean.	iOS · Android
Google Lens	Real-time camera overlay — point at a sign, see English on-screen. Baked into Google app + Android.	built-in (iOS: Google app)
Google Translate	Second opinion. Offline Korean pack is good to download before you travel.	iOS · Android
Naver Dictionary (사전)	Looking up a specific word/menu item; better than Papago for a single noun.	iOS · Android

How we'll actually use them

• At a restaurant → Papago camera → point at the menu → tap any word for the meaning
• Asking for something → type English into Papago → hit 🔊 play button → show the phone
• Reading a sign → Google Lens camera, instant overlay
• One weird word in a YouTube subtitle / text → Naver Dictionary (best definitions)

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🔑 The 10 phrases that do 80% of the work

Say these out loud before landing. Even badly pronounced, Koreans will appreciate the effort.

#	Korean	Romanization	English	When
1	안녕하세요	an-nyeong-ha-se-yo	Hello / Hi	Entering a shop, greeting anyone
2	감사합니다	kam-sa-ham-ni-da	Thank you	After getting anything
3	죄송합니다	choe-song-ham-ni-da	Sorry / Excuse me	Bumping, asking attention
4	네 / 아니요	ne / a-ni-yo	Yes / No
5	이거 주세요	i-geo ju-se-yo	This one, please	Pointing at a menu/item
6	얼마예요?	eol-ma-ye-yo?	How much?	Markets, street food
7	화장실 어디예요?	hwa-jang-shil eo-di-ye-yo?	Where's the bathroom?	Self-explanatory
8	영어 메뉴 있어요?	yeong-eo me-nyu iss-eo-yo?	English menu?	Restaurants
9	계산해주세요	kye-san-hae-ju-se-yo	Check please	End of meal
10	맛있어요!	ma-shi-sseo-yo!	Delicious!	Genuine compliment, locals love it

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🔢 Numbers (you'll need these for prices)

Korean has two number systems. For money, prices, counting things like drinks → use Sino-Korean (left column). For hours / a few specific counters → Native Korean (right). Stick with Sino-Korean to survive.

#	Sino (money, prices)	Native (hours, small counts)
1	일 il	하나 hana
2	이 i	둘 dul
3	삼 sam	셋 set
4	사 sa	넷 net
5	오 o	다섯 da-seot
6	육 yuk	여섯 yeo-seot
7	칠 chil	일곱 il-gop
8	팔 pal	여덟 yeo-deol
9	구 gu	아홉 a-hop
10	십 ship	열 yeol

Big numbers (for ₩):

Korean	Number
백 baek	100
천 cheon	1,000
만 man	10,000
십만 shim-man	100,000

So ₩15,000 = man-o-cheon (만 오천). Honestly just look at the number on the screen.

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🍲 Menu & food words (the ones you'll actually see)

Recognize these 15 and you can navigate most menus.

Hangul	Romanization	Meaning
밥	bap	rice / meal
국 / 탕	guk / tang	soup / stew
찌개	jji-gae	stew (heartier)
고기	gogi	meat
소 / 돼지 / 닭	so / dwaeji / dak	beef / pork / chicken
생선	saeng-seon	fish
면	myeon	noodles
김치	kimchi	kimchi
비빔	bibim	mixed (as in bibimbap)
볶음	bokk-eum	stir-fried
구이	gui	grilled
튀김	twigim	fried / tempura
매운	mae-un	spicy
안 매운	an mae-un	not spicy
물	mul	water
맥주	maek-ju	beer
소주	soju	soju

Useful sentence: 안 매운 거 있어요? (an mae-un geo iss-eo-yo?) — "Is there a not-spicy one?"

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🚶 Directions / getting around

Korean	Romanization	English
여기 / 거기 / 저기	yeo-gi / geo-gi / jeo-gi	here / there / over there
왼쪽 / 오른쪽	wen-jjok / o-reun-jjok	left / right
직진	jik-jin	straight ahead
가까워요?	ga-kka-wo-yo?	Is it near?
역 어디예요?	yeok eo-di-ye-yo?	Where's the station?
지하철	ji-ha-cheol	subway
버스	beo-seu	bus
택시	taek-shi	taxi

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🆘 Emergencies

Korean	Romanization	English
도와주세요!	do-wa-ju-se-yo!	Help, please!
경찰	gyeong-chal	police
병원	byeong-won	hospital
구급차	gu-geup-cha	ambulance
아파요	a-pa-yo	I'm in pain / sick
알레르기 있어요	al-le-reu-gi iss-eo-yo	I have an allergy

Emergency number: 119 (ambulance/fire) · 112 (police). Operators speak English.

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📖 Basic Hangul — enough to read signs

Hangul looks like symbols but it's a phonetic alphabet — you can realistically learn to sound out words in ~1 hour. Worth it because shop names, subway stops, food labels become decodable.

Vowels (10 main)

Letter	Sound	Example
ㅏ	a (father)	바 = ba
ㅓ	eo (up)	버 = beo
ㅗ	o (go)	보 = bo
ㅜ	u (food)	부 = bu
ㅡ	eu (uh, shorter)	브 = beu
ㅣ	i (ski)	비 = bi
ㅐ	ae (cat)	배 = bae
ㅔ	e (bed)	베 = be
ㅑ	ya	뱌 = bya
ㅛ	yo	뵤 = byo

Consonants (the 10 to recognize first)

Letter	Sound
ㄱ	g / k
ㄴ	n
ㄷ	d / t
ㄹ	r / l
ㅁ	m
ㅂ	b / p
ㅅ	s
ㅇ	silent at start, ng at end
ㅈ	j
ㅎ	h

How blocks work

Hangul stacks into syllable blocks: consonant + vowel (+ optional ending consonant).

• 한 = ㅎ (h) + ㅏ (a) + ㄴ (n) = han
• 국 = ㄱ (g) + ㅜ (u) + ㄱ (k) = guk
• 한국 = Hanguk = Korea 🇰🇷
• 서울 = Seoul
• 부산 = Busan
• 김치 = kimchi
• 비빔밥 = bibimbap

Once you can sound out blocks, you can read most menu items phonetically — and from there Papago or your food-word list will tell you what it is.

Practice on real signs today

Things you'll see around Myeongdong/Jongno. Sound them out:

• 명동 → myeong-dong (our neighborhood)
• 종로 → jong-ro (the avenue)
• 식당 → shik-dang (restaurant)
• 카페 → ka-pe (café)
• 편의점 → pyeon-ui-jeom (convenience store)
• 약국 → yak-guk (pharmacy)
• 은행 → eun-haeng (bank)

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🎯 In the moment — cheat sheet

Pull this up on your phone when you need it.

1. Ordering at a food stall → point + "igeo juseyo" (this please) + "eolmayeyo?" (how much?)
2. Paying → "kyesanhaejuseyo" (check please). They'll point to the card reader.
3. Lost / confused → "joesong-hamnida, yeongeo halsu isseo-yo?" (Sorry, do you speak English?). Then switch to Papago voice mode.
4. Thank-you exit → "kamsahamnida" + slight head-nod.
5. Taxi destination → pre-type the address into Papago and Kakao T; show both screens to the driver.

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🔗 Also

• Papago also does sign translation mode (whole-image camera OCR, not real-time overlay) — better for dense menus than Google Lens.
• Naver Dictionary pro tip: long-press any Hangul word to jump to its dictionary entry; shows synonyms + example sentences.
• Offline pack: in Google Translate, download the Korean language pack before you head out of wifi.
• Korea uses Korean won ₩ but you'll often see ₩ omitted — prices like "5,000" mean 5,000 won (~$3.70, €3.40, CHF 3).

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For more etiquette (shoes off, chopsticks rules, etc.) see Essentials → Phrases & etiquette.