Korean for Dummies (37 page)

Yes, we have rooms available. How many people are

there?

Dan:

han myeongiyo. harutbame eolmaeyo?

han myoung-ee-yo. ha-rut-ba-mae ul-ma-ae-yo?

One person. How much is it for one night?

Clerk:

harutbame sibomanwon imnida. eolmana orae gye-

sigetseumnikka?

ha-rut-ba-me ship-o-man-won im-ni-da. ul-ma-na o-

rae gye-shi-gae-sseum-ni-kka?

The rate is 150,000 won per night. How long are you

planning to stay?

Dan:

sambak iseul geoeyo. sinnyoongkadeu badayo?

sam-bak ee-sseul guh-ae-yo. shin-yong-ka-deu ba-

da-yo?

I’m going to stay for three nights. Do you take credit

cards?

Clerk:

ye, batseumnida. yeyak hasigetseumnikka?

ye, ba-sseum-ni-da. yae-yak ha-shi-gae-sseum-ni-kka?

Yes, we do. Would you like to make a reservation?

Dan:

ye, josseumnida.

ye, josseum-ni-da.

Yes, that sounds good.

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Words to Know

binbang

binbang

Empty room/

vacancy

eolmaeyo?

ul-ma-ae-yo

How much is it?

eolmana orae

ul-ma-na o-rae

How long

gagyeok

ga-gyuhk

Price

haeyak

hae-yak

Cancellation

harutbam

ha-rut-ban

One night

hwiteuniseu keulleop

hwi-teu-ni-seu

Fitness club

keul-luhb

iinsil

ee-in-shil

Double room

irinsil

il-in-shil

Single room

suyeongjang

soo-young-jang

Swimming pool

yeyak

yae-yak

Reservation

Asking for details

If you’re planning to stay at a larger hotel with a good reputation, the expressions in the preceding section should be sufficient. But if you plan to stay at a
yeogwan
(
yuh-gwan;
motel),
yeoinsuk
(
yuh-in-sook;
Korean motel), or
minbak
(
min-bak;
bed-and-breakfast) and don’t know what to expect, you may want to ask a couple more questions. The all-purpose question is
[some word]

i/ga iseoyo?
(
[some word] i/ga i-seo-yo;
Do you have [some word]?) Some examples are:

chimdaega iseoyo?
(
chimdae-ga ee-ssuh-yo;
Do you have a bed?)
inteoneti iseoyo?
(
in-tuh-net-ee ee-ssuh-yo;
Do you have an Internet connection?)

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Just in case the transportation to the
yeogwan, yeoinsuk,
or
minbak
is inconvenient, you may also want to ask the following questions:

geogikkaji eotteoke chajagayo?
(
guh-gee-kka-jee uh-ttuh-kae cha-ja-ga-yo;
How do I find your place?)

museun gyotongeul iyonghaeya chatgi swiwoyo?
(
moo-seun gyotongeul ee-yong-hae-ya chat-gee swee-wo-yo;
What transportation is most convenient to get there?)

Checking out the room

Don’t forget to check out the room before you check in, because many

smaller establishments require you to pay up front. These phrases may help:
bangi deobeul/singgeul ieyo?
(
bang-ee duh-beul/singgeul ee-ae-yo;
Is the room a double/single?)

achim siksaneun nawayo
? (
a-chim shik-sa-neun na-wa-yo;
Is breakfast included?)

bang jom bol su iseoyo?
(
bang jom bol soo ee-ssuh-yo;
Can I take a look at the room?)

If you’ve checked out your room and don’t like something about it, you can request a different room:

dareun bang iseoyo?
(
da-reun bang ee-ssuh-yo;
Is there another room?)
bangi jom jijeobun haneyo.
(
bang-ee jom ji-jeo-bun ha-ne-yo;
The room is a little dirty.)

Talkin’ the Talk

Jessica is planning to stay in a small
minbak
(bed-and-breakfast) that Dan recommended. When she walks in, Mr. Park, the owner,

greets her.

Jessica:

annyeonghaseyo. binbang iseoyo?

an-nyoung-ha-sae-yo. binbang ee-suh-yo?

Hello. Do you have any vacancies?

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Mr. Park:

ye itseumnida. harutbame sam manwonimnida.

ye ee-sseum-ni-da. ha-rut-ba-mae sam man-won-im-

ni-da.

Yes, we do. It will be 30,000 won per night.

Jessica:

bange yoksiri iseoyo?

bang-ae yok-shi-ree ee-ssuh-yo?

Does the room have a private bath?

Mr. Park:

aniyo, eopseumnida. daesin gongdong hwajangsiri

saegae itseumnida.

a-ni-yo, uhp-sseum-ni-da. dae-shin gongdong hwa-

jang-shi-ree sae-gae ee-sseum-nida.

No, it does not. Instead, we have three communal

bathrooms.

Jessica:

bang jom bol su iseoyo?

bang jom bol soo ee-ssuh-yo?

Can I take a look at the room?

Mr. Park:

ye. ttara oseyo.

ye. tta-ra o-sae-yo.

Yes. Follow me.

After seeing the room, Jessica is disappointed to find that the room

was smaller and dirtier than she had expected.

Jessica:

bangi jom jijeobunhaneyo. dareun bang iseoyo?

bang-ee jom jee-juh-boon-ha-nae-yo. da-reun bang

ee-ssuh-yo?

The room is a little dirty. Do you have another room?

Mr. Park:

aniyo, eopseumnida.

a-ni-yo, uhp-sseum-ni-da.

No, we don’t have another room.

Jessica:

geureomyeon singyeong sseuji maseyo. annyeonghi

gyeseyo.

geu-ruh-myun shin-gyoung sseu-jee ma-sae-yo. an-

nyoung-hee gye-sae-yo.

Then don’t worry about it. Good bye.

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Words to Know

chimdae

chimdae

Bed

dareunbang

da-reun-bang

Different room

gongdong

gongdong

Communal

hwajangjil

hwajang-shil

Restroom

inteonet

in-tuh-net

Internet

jeonhwa

juhn-hwa

Telephone

syawo

sya-wo

Shower

terebi

tae-rae-bee

TV

ttaraoseyo

tta-ra-o-sae-yo

Follow me

yoksil

yok-shil

Bathroom

Complaining 101

What would you do if you discovered that your toilet was hopelessly

clogged? Or what if you lay down on your
yo
(
yo;
folding mattress) on a cold
gyeoulbam
(
gyuh-ool-bam;
winter night) expecting to doze off, only to find that the floor is ice cold? What if you expected a cool breeze of relief from the brutal August heat, only to be greeted by warm muggy air from your
eeokon
(
ae-uh-kon;
air conditioner)? These situations are only a sample of the problems you may run into during your stay in Korea, and you need to know how to deal with them.

Broken machinery

If some machinery in your unit is broken, and the problem is something relatively obvious and easily identifiable, the most efficient way to complain is to ask this:

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[some word] jom gochyeo juseyo.
( [some word] jom go-chuh joo-sae-yo;
Please fix [some word] for me.)

eeokoon jom gochyeo juseyo.
(
ae-uh-kon jom go-chuh joo-sae-yo;
Please fix the air conditioner for me.)

byeongitong jom gochyeo juseyo.
(
byun-gee-tong jom go-chuh joo-sae-yo;
Please fix the toilet bowl for me.)

semyeondae jom gochyeo juseyo.
(
sae-myun-dae jom go-chuh joo-sae-yo;
Please fix the basin for me.)

Some useful words are
;

hiteo
(
hee-tuh
) heater

naengjanggo
(
naengjang-go
) refrigerator

mun
(
moon
) door

sudokkokji
(
soo-do-kkok-jee
) faucet

You may want to add a short description of the problem before you ask someone to fix it:

eeokoni annawayo. eeokon jom gochyeo juseyo.
(
ae-uh-kon-ee an-na-wa-yo. ae-uh-kon jom go-chuho joo-sae-yo;
The air conditioner is not function-ing. Please fix the air conditioner.)

byeongitong muri annaeryeogayo. byeongitong jom gochyeo juseyo.

(
byun-gee-tong moo-ree an-nae-ryuh-ga-yo. byun-gee-tong jom go-chuho joo-sae-yo;
The water is not flushing. Please fix the toilet.)

If you don’t think you can remember these expressions, just remember how to say
[some word] i/ga gojang naseoyo
(
[some word] i/ga go-jang na-ssuh-yo;
[some word] is broken). The management should come take care of the problem.

Noisy neighbors

If your next-door neighbors are too loud, you can’t say
yeop bangi gojang-naseoyo. yeop bang jom gochyeo juseyo
(
yuhp bang-ee go-jang-na-ssuh-yo.

yuhp-bang jom go-chuh-joo-sae-yo;
The next door [neighbor] is broken. Please fix the next door [neighbor].). Instead, you can say this:

yeop bangi neomu sikkeureowoyo.
(
yuhp bang-ee nuh-moo shi-kkeu-ruh-wo-yo;
The next room is too loud.)

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Other problems

Use the expression
bangi neomu
[some word]. (
bang-ee nuh-moo [some
word];
The room is too [some word] ) to describe what is wrong with your room, and fill in the blank with the appropriate word:
deowoyo
(
duh-wo-yo
) hot

chuwoyo
(
choo-wo-yo
) cold

deoreowoyo
(
duh-ruh-wo-yo
) dirty

jagayo
(
ja-ga-yo
) small

sikkeureowoyo
(
shi-kkeu-ruh-wo-yo
) noisy/loud

If you are staying in a place that has
ondolbang
(
on-dol-bang;
Korean floor heating), you may be uncomfortable because the floor is too hot or too cold.

If you want to be more specific, you can use the following expressions:
badagi neomu tteugeowoyo.
(
ba-da-gee nuh-moo tteu-guh-wo-yo;
The floor is too hot.)

badagi neomu chagawoyo.
(
ba-da-gee nuh-moo cha-ga-wo-yo;
The floor is too cold.)

Checking Out

Even if you fall in love with the place where you’re staying, you can’t stay there forever. After all, you have many other exciting places to visit. In this section, I show you how to find out your check-out time and how to pay the bill at the front desk.

If you’re staying at a
yeoinsuk
(
yuh-in-sook;
Korean motel) or
minbak
(
minbak;
bed-and-breakfast), you probably paid when you checked in. For those places, all you have to do is fold your bedding in the morning (refer to “Traditional hotels,” earlier in this chapter), pack up, and leave.

To be polite, make sure to say goodbye to the owners if you’re staying in a small facility.

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You need some of these expressions when you are checking out:

myeotsie bangeul biwoya doeyo
? (
myuh-shi-ae bangeul bee-wo-ya dwaeyo;
What time do I need to check out?)

gyesan halkkeyo.
(
gye-san halkkae-yo;
I would like to pay the bill.)
gyesanseoga jal mot doengeot gateunndeyo.
(
gye-san-suh-ga jal mot
dwen-geot ga-teun-dae-yo;
I think there is a mistake on the bill.) Talkin’ the Talk Joshua is ready to leave the ABC Hotel after staying three nights.

He walks up to the front desk to pay his bill and leave.

Clerk:

annyeonghasimnikka. pyeonan hasyeotseumnikka?

an-nyoung-ha-shim-ni-kka. pyuhn-an ha-syuht-sseum-

ni-kka?

Hello. Was your stay comfortable?

Joshua:

ye, joaseoyo. gyesanhalkkeyo.

ye, jo-a-ssuh-yo. gye-san-hal-kke-yo.

Yes, it was great. I would like to pay the bill.

Clerk:

ye, chong hapaeseo osimmanwon nawatseumnida.

ye, chong ha-pae-suh o-shim-man-won na-wa-sseum-

ni-da.

Yes. The total is 500,000 won.

Joshua is slightly surprised, because he thought the bill would be

450,000 won. He wants to know where the extra 50,000 won came

from.

Joshua:

ye? gyesanseoga jalmot doengeot gateundeyo.

omanwon deo naongeot gatayo.