Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Freakstar]

The taxi driver thread inspired me to help some of the newbies here at Dave's...

The following won't cover everything (feel free to add anything), but some helpful words/ phrases to learn that may help you get from Point A to Point B:

안녕하세요 or "ahn young ha seh yo" - hello (never hurts to greet your taxi driver with a friendly hello)

직진 or "jeek jeen"- straight ahead

오른쪽 or "oh deun jjok" - right

우회전 or "ooh heh jun" - right turn

왼쪽 or "when jjok" - left

좌회전 or "jwah heh jun" - left turn

유턴 or "yoo tun"- u-turn

방향 or "bahng hyang" - direction (towards the direction of)

길 or "geer" - street

골목 or "gol mok" - side street, alley

사거리 or "sah guh dee" - four-cornered intersection, crossroads (always find out which 사거리 you live closest to)

역 or "yuk" - subway station (gangnam yuk, itaewon yuk)

신호등 - "sheen ho deung" - traffic light


직진하세요 or "jeek jeen ha seh yo" - Straight ahead, please.

다음 골목에서 우회전 해주세요 or "dah eum gol mok eh suh ooh heh jun heh joo seh yo" - Please turn right at the next side street.

다음 사거리에서 좌회전 해주세요 or "dah eum sah guh dee eh suh jwah heh jun heh joo seh yo" - Please turn left at the next four-cornered intersection.

오른쪽에 세워주세요 or "oh deun jjok eh seh wuh joo seh yo" - Please let me off on the right.

신호등에서 세워주세요 or "sheen ho deung eh suh seh wuh joo seh yo" - Please let me off at the traffic light.

여기 세워주세요 or "yuh gee seh wuh joo seh yo" - Please let me off here.

이태원역 방향으로 가주세요 or "itaewon yuk bahng hyang eu roh gah joo seh yo" - Please take me towards the direction of Itaewon subway station.

[maeil]

This post deserves a bump. Valuable information for new folks - thanks for putting it up. I think it's worth noting, however, that the lieul (ㄹ) isn't pronounced like a hard 'd'.. it's more of a flapped r, that sound that's somewhat of a mix of an r, an l, and a soft d. Saying "sah-go-dee" with a hard American accent is likely to make the driver scratch his head a bit.

[Whistleblower]

What a good thread. Would it not be a good idea to have Korean language threads based upon different themes (for example; at the bank, in a taxi, ordering food at a restaurant). It would be great to combine them together under one thread as a sticky and then users would be able navigate between them if they have questions about saying something in Korean.

Well done for the thread and keep it up. I feel like creating situational Korean language thread now about ordering food over the phone.

[semphoon]

That is really helpful. We should do this more often.

Many thanks

[icicle]

I have also found that the single most useful thing to have when getting a taxi is to have the address of where you are going written down in hangul. If the driver or you are not familiar with where you are going OR if they can't understand your Korean ... With that address if they need to they can put it into their GPS and let it help them find it. I have found over time that with Korean place names unless you can pronounce them perfectly people often do not understand ... I have experienced it both from taxi drivers and the subway (and with people in general at times)

[victorology]

When I lived in Sinchon, I found it useful to tell the taxi driver which route to take when going to either Gangnam station or Apgujeong. The fastest way is to take Namsan tunnel and cross at Hannam bridge.

To say that, you would say, "남산터널 타서 한남대교로 가주세요."

Namsan tunnel tah-seo Hannam Dae-gyo ro gajuseyo.

Please take Namsan tunnel and Hannam bridge.

From Gangnam station/Apgujeong towards Sinchon, you can simply say "남산터널로 가주세요."

Namsan tunnel ro gajuseyo.

Please take Namsan tunnel.

To Hongdae, it might make more sense just to take the highway that goes along the Han river since it's located closer than Sinchon.

[Dev]

The solution to your problem is to simply have a cell phone with a Korean friend at the other end to tell the driver exactly how to get to the location.

This has saved me and the taxi driver a lot of stress.

[Freakstar]

[Freakstar]

[sojourner1]

Many thanks. I'm going to take this and any others and shrink them down on a copier and laminate so I can use when needed. I still didn't know how to steer a taxi. LOL

This is very helpful as simply showing them your address in Korean is not good enough as they will almost always be confused due to not knowing their way around. Even in a small town, they won't know even if they try to call for help with directions. I found it was like this any where in Asia you go. If they do take you without knowing where to go, you may be in for a long ride and have to be using your map.

After taking the long way, "oh yes, stop, we just passed my hotel, u turn please."

[Gwangjuboy]

Good thread for those who don't speak Korean but some of the transliteration is a bit dodgy - not that I think we should encourage people to rely on it.

[icicle]

[maeil]

[Freakstar]

[tefain]