Korean Job Discussion Forums

PsykLaw · Joined: 28 Jan 2007 Location: earth

I have, as I am sure everyone has, seen various programs tapes and books that suggest that a considerable amount of communication can take place with just a mere 200-500 words in ENGLISH. It got me thinking. After studying quite a bit of Korean and knowing that there is so much that seems unecessary for the time being. Plus, given the difficulty that I have with acquiring this language, I am wondering what others think are the most useful additions to their own vocabulary has been.

With that in mind, what has proven to be the most beneficial words for you? Please list as many as you'd like and I understand that 200 words for a single post is unreasonable. I am merely looking to see what the collective amounts to. Additionally, please write in hanguel whenever possible as I think the official romanization leaves much to be desired. Equally, one could merely write the category such as, "months, numbers, colors" and the like.

Any serious input would be appreciated.

whatever · Joined: 11 Jun 2006 Location: Korea: More fun than jail.

The most beneficial word is:

shibbal

...hear it more than any other word...

evilive · Joined: 01 Sep 2007 Location: England

I'm pretty interested in this too, i'm just starting learning korean..a little head start, still a year and half of my degree left before i can go/come over..

Maybe non offensive/swear words would be more helpful:p

ESL Milk "Everyday · Joined: 12 Sep 2007

Probably the question words, 'this', 'that' and 'that over there', the pronouns, some basic verbs and a few nouns from everyday life would be enough for a really basic exchange. But pronunciation is tough.

ABC KID · Joined: 14 Sep 2007

Op - Before a recent Korean Proficiency Test, a list of useful words was issued as guidance. This may or may not be of some assistance to you and others. You should just concentrate on the words in the column headed 일상 생활. They are all fairly common words.

You can find them at:

http://www.topik.or.kr/bbs_inc/files/data1/data1_200708011300501.pdf

PsykLaw · Joined: 28 Jan 2007 Location: earth

Thanks to ESL MILK and ABC KID. These are good starting points. I especially like the pdf, KID. Thanks for the responses. I suspect that quite a few people will find this useful.

kingplaya4 · Joined: 14 May 2006

I think I've posted on this before, but Korean is a much more specific language than English. We let things be a little vague sometimes in English, and if you are confused you ask for clarification. In Korean, there tends to be a word for everything.

Some examples are: Do you mean move your body or moving your belongings? : oomjegeedah vs esahada.

Do you mean your maternal or paternal aunt? emo vs gomo.

Do you mean your right hand or turn right? orentjohg vs oowheyjune.

Just a sampling, and I know I'm not really helping, but my point is I think you will understand little of Korean conversation with only a few hundred words. I quite honestly doubt you'd understand much english with a few hundred even "specially chosen" words either. I'm thinking more like one or two thousand, in Korean I'd suspect around 5,000, but I'm just completely guessing now.

Of course it all depends on what your goals are, if you are thrilled that you understand the sales attendants directions of knowing how to find a product, or that you can use a combination of hand gestures, Korean, and English to have a conversation with your average Korean you could do with far less.