Korean for Dummies (32 page)

Chapter 10: At the Office and Around the House

185

If accidents happen

Sometime the toilets get clogged. Actually, in Korea, this happens quite a bit.

It’s probably best to confess if you’ve clogged the toilet, and ask for some help of your host/hostess.

If you insist on finding a plunger on your own (because you are too embarrassed to ask for help of your host/hostess), go to a
jeonpasa
(
juhn-pa-sa;
electronics/hardware store) and ask
byeongitong ttulleun geo jom salsu
iseulkkayo?
(
byuhn-gee-tong ttulleun-guh jom sal-soo ee-sseul-kka-yo;
May I buy a plunger?) or go to the neighbors and ask
byeongitong ttulleun geo jom
billil su iseulkkayo?
(
byuhn-gee-tong ttulleun-guh jom bil-lil-soo ee-sseul-kkayo;
May I borrow a plunger?).

Korean doesn’t really have a word that means
plunger,
so it’s just called
the
thing that unclogs toilets.
Some people might call it
ttureoppeong
(
ttu-ruh-ppung;
thing that unclogs). You may want to make a plunging motion while you ask.

Talkin’ the Talk

Bill is sleeping over at Christine’s for the evening. He wants to take a shower before he turns in.

Christine:

sopae baegehago ibureul rollyeo nwaseoyo.

so-pa-ae bae-gae-ha-go ee-boo-reul ol-lyuh nwa-

ssuh-yo.

I’ve put a pillow and a blanket on the sofa.

Bill:

gomawoyo Christine ssi. geureonde hoksi sugeon

jom billilsu iseulkkayo?

go-ma-wo-yo Christine sshi. geu-ruhn-dae hok-shi

soo-geon jom bil-lil soo ee-sseul-kka-yo?

Thanks, Christine. But could I borrow a towel?

Christine:

dangyeonhajyo. jamkkanmannyo.

dang-yuhn-ha-jyo. jamkkan-man-nyo.

Of course. One moment.

Bill:

gomawoyo. (Bill takes the towel and walks into the

bathroom.)

go-ma-wo-yo.

Thank you.

15_037188-ch10.qxp 6/24/08 11:12 PM Page 186

Words to Know

begye

be-gae

Pillow

binu

bee-noo

Soap

chitsol

chi-ssol

Toothbrush

chiyak

chi-yak

Toothpaste

damnyo

dam-nyo

Thick blankets

ibul

ee-bool

Blankets

jjl

jel

Gel

mogyok

mo-gyok

Bath

renjeutong

ren-jeu-tong

Contact-lens case

rosyeon

ro-syuhn

Lotion

semyeondae

se-myuhn-dae

Washbasin

sigyeomsu

shi-gyuhm-soo

Lens fluid

siteu

shi-teu

Sheets

sugeon

soo-geon

Towel

syawo

sya-wo

Shower

yo

yo

Quilt

yokjo

yok-jo

Bathtub

Cleaning up

If you’re staying at someone’s house for more than just a night, you may want to help a little around the house. Ask where the vacuum cleaner is and even help do the dishes. Your hosts will be impressed not only by your fluent Korean, but also by your considerate behavior.

15_037188-ch10.qxp 6/24/08 11:12 PM Page 187

Chapter 10: At the Office and Around the House

187

Some useful phrases might be:

Jega cheongsoreul dowadeurilkkeyo.
(
jae-ga chung-so-reul do-wa-deurilkke-yo;
I’ll help with cleaning the house.)

Jega seolgeosireul dowadeurilkkeyo.
(
je-ga sul-guh-jee-reul do-wa-deurilkke-yo;
I’ll help with doing the dishes.)

Jega ppallaereul dowadeurilkkeyo.
(
je-ga ppallae-reul do-wa-deu-ril-kkeyo;
I’ll help with the laundry.)

The words in Table 10-5 may come in handy.

Table 10-5

Cleaning

Korean

Pronunciation

English

cheongso

chung-so

clean

jeongni

jung-nee

organize

seolgeoji

sul-guh-jee

wash dishes

gomujanggap

go-moo-janggap

rubber gloves

haengju

haeng-joo

dishcloth

geollae

guhl-lae

rags for wiping the floor

rakseu

rak-seu

bleach

bitjaru

bit-ja-roo

broom

sseurebaji

sseu-rae-ba-gi

dustpan

daegeollae

dae-guhl-lae

mop

meonji

muhn-jee

dust

ppallae

ppallae

laundry

setakgi

sae-tak-gee

washing machine

geonjogi

geon-jo-gee

dryer

sejae

sae-jae

detergent

15_037188-ch10.qxp 6/24/08 11:12 PM Page 188

Fun & Games

Match corresponding Korean and English phrases and words.

cheongso

Should I order it?

mogyok

kitchen

sikilkkayo?

Can you please help me?

jom dowa jusigetseumnikka?

copier

jeongmal pigonhamnida

I’m exhausted

syawo hasillaeyo?

clean

bueok

bath

boksagi

Do you want to take a shower?

16_037188-pp03.qxp 6/24/08 11:12 PM Page 189

16_037188-pp03.qxp 6/24/08 11:12 PM Page 190

In this part . . .

Okay, you won’t have any fun if you just go to Korea

and sit in your hotel room. Of course, to get out of

your hotel room and around town, you have to know

some specific expressions as well as where to find things

you need, like taxis, a place to eat, and so on. If you’re

traveling, use this part to make your experience more

enriching as well as make your traveling easier. If you

need to exchange currency, book a hotel room, or ask for

directions, the chapters in this part provides you with all

you need to know.

17_037188-ch11.qxp 6/24/08 11:12 PM Page 191

In This Chapter

Getting familiar with Korean won

Exchanging currency

Handling ATM transactions

Paying with cash, plastic, and checks

d
on
(
don;
money), in its multitude of denominations and currencies, shapes and forms, helps us supply and demand products, goods, and

services. If you want to, you can use it to buy a car, caviar, a four star day-dream, or maybe even a football team. But regardless of what you do with your money, it’s hard to imagine going a day without it.

In this chapter, you enter the fray by learning how to get the money from the
eunhaeng
(
eun-hang;
bank), how to exchange it, and how to pay with
hyeongeum
(
hyun-geum;
cash) or
kadeu
(
ka-deu;
credit card).

Knowing Korean Currency

In South Korea, the local currency is the
won
. The
won
is pronounced like the
won
in “The Sox won the Series.”

Korean currency is roughly 1,000 won to the dollar. So every penny is worth about 10 won. Here are the denominations to know:

il won
(
il–won;
1 won): Worth a tenth of a penny. Although you can still use them to buy things, 1-won pieces are hard to come by nowadays.

sip won
(
ship-won;
10 won) and
osip won
(
o-ship-won;
50 won): The pennies and dimes of Korea. Most people find these coins a hassle to deal with. You can likely find
sip won
on the ground just like U.S. pennies.

baek won
(
baek-won;
100 won): It has the same size and color as a quarter. These coins are used about as often as quarters but are actually

worth about as much as a dime.

17_037188-ch11.qxp 6/24/08 11:12 PM Page 192

obaek won
(
o-baek-won;
500 won): This coin has the size and shape of a 50-cent piece, but they are used much more extensively.

cheon won
(
chun-won;
1,000 won): A white and light purple bill, is worth roughly $1.

ocheon won
(
o-chun-won;
5,000 won): A white and brown bill, is worth roughly $5.

man won
(
man-won;
10,000 won): A green bill, roughly worth about $10.

The
man won
bill is the largest denomination printed by the Korean National Bank.

supyo
(
soo-pyo;
special bank check): Koreans do not use checks like we do. However, for denominations larger than
man won
, they have something called
supyo
. These
supyo
comes already printed with the amount.

When you are using
supyo
in Korea, you need to show your identification and sign at the back of the
supyo
, just like endorsing checks. The most commonly used
supyo
is
sipman won
(
ship-man-won;
$100). Other amounts of
supyo
are
osipman won
(
o-ship-man-won;
$500) and
baek-man won
(
baek-man-won;
$1000), but these are not very commonly used. You may need to pay a small fee if you want to go to a bank and take some money out using
supyo
.

It takes a while to get used to seeing so many zeroes behind the numbers, but it might help to know that Koreans usually put a comma after every three digits for easy reading. So you can think of the 1,000-, 5,000-, and 10,000-won bills as $1, $5, and $10 bills, respectively.

Changing Currency

Most banks in Korea exchange foreign currency at competitive rates, almost always better than those of hotels or kiosks, and almost all of them will exchange U.S. dollars for
won
. Even if you forgot to exchange your money before getting to Korea there are several banks at the airport that will exchange your dollars for
won
, so there’s no need to sweat it. However, you may need to pay a small fee when you are exchanging currencies in Korea.

Some banks have their customers wait in line, but many of them require that you take a numbered ticket, take a seat somewhere and wait your turn. Once you see your number light up at one of the counters, walk towards the teller and be ready to take care of your business.

The phrases that I have included below are ones that you might hear the teller use, and ones that you might want to use yourself. I have listed the sentences roughly in the order of what words you may use during a visit to exchange currency. Although you can still use informal polite form of Korean 17_037188-ch11.qxp 6/24/08 11:12 PM Page 193

Chapter 11: Money, Money, Money

193

to answer bank tellers, please note that at a bank setting, the tellers will usually use formal polite form of Korean, and they use Sino-Korean numbers.

(For more information on Sino-Korean numbers, look in Chapter 2.)

[some word] beon sonnim [some word] [some word] beon changguro

osipsiyo.
( [some word] bun son-nim [some word] [some word] bun chang-goo-ro o-ship-shi-yo;
Will customer number [some word] please come to counter number [some word] [some word]?
;
formal polite). Substitute [some word] for the number ticket you are carrying, and [some word]

[some word] for the number of the counter. For example:

sibobeon sonnim, gubeon changguro osipsiyo.
(
ship-o-bun son-nim,
goo-bun chang-goo-ro o-ship-shi-yo;
Will customer number 15 please come to counter number 9?
;
formal polite)

oneul mueoseul dowadeurilkkayo?
(
o-neul moo-uh-seul do-wa-deurilkka-yo;
How may I help you today?
;
formal polite)

oneul museun illo osyeotseumnikka?
(
o-neul moo-seun il-lo o-syuh-sseumni-kka;
What business brings you here today?
;
formal polite) Your answers to above questions might be something like below. However, you can either use formal polite or informal polite form to answer the teller.