Korean Language

Korean is the official language of North Korea and South Korea. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers. It was formerly written using Hanja, borrowed Chinese characters pronounced in the Korean way. In the 15th century a national writing system was developed by Sejong the Great, currently called Hangul.
The genealogical classification of the Korean language is debated. Some linguists place it in the Altaic language family, while others consider it to be a language isolate. It is agglutinative in its morphology and SOV in its syntax.

Learning the basic useful Korean Phrases…

Greetings and Common Courtesy
Good Morning, Good Afternoon & Good Evening
– Annyeong-haseyo

How do you do?
– Cheo-eum boepgetseoyo

Nice to meet you
– Mannaseo bangawoyo

You’re Welcome.
– Cheonmaneyo

Excuse me
– Sillye-hamnida

Goodbye
– Annyeonghi – gaseyo.

Thany you
– Gamsa-hamnida.

I’m sorry
- Mian – hamnida

Please help me
– Dowa –juseyo

Transportation

How do I get to (Deoksugung Palace?)
– (Deoksugung) ganeun gireul gareuchyeo juseyo.

How far is it to….?
- ….. kkaji eolmana meomnikka?

Where can I get a taxi?
– Eodiseo taeksireul talsu isseulkkayo?

Shopping

I’d like to take a closer look at this.
– Igeoseul boyeo juseyo.

How much is it?
– Geugeoseun eolma-imnikka?

I’ll take this.
– lgeoseul jusipsiyo.

Do you take credit cards?
– Sinyong kadeu batseumnikka?

Can I try it on?
– Ibeobol su innayo?