Korea is an easy country to move through fast, the subway is color coded and mostly bilingual, and most menus have photos. The trouble starts the moment you hit a screen, a sign or a form that only exists in Hangul. The fix isn't a language course. It's a small kit of phrases plus a translator for the rest.
The ten that carry you
Learn these first, in this order:
| Korean | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 안녕하세요 | annyeonghaseyo | hello |
| 감사합니다 | gamsahamnida | thank you |
| 죄송합니다 | joesonghamnida | sorry / excuse me |
| 네 / 아니요 | ne / aniyo | yes / no |
| 이거 | igeo | this (point at it) |
| 얼마예요 | eolmayeyo | how much is it? |
| 괜찮아요 | gwaenchanayo | it's fine / no thanks |
| 모르겠어요 | moreugesseoyo | I don't understand |
| 영어 | yeongeo | English |
| 화장실 | hwajangsil | bathroom |
Annyeonghaseyo opens almost every interaction, a shopkeeper, a taxi driver, someone you're asking for directions. Add -요 (yo) to the end of a word and you're speaking politely by default, which is the safe register for a stranger. For the phrase that usually follows a greeting, see how to say thank you in Korean.
Food and ordering
- 메뉴 (menyu), menu · 이거 주세요 (igeo juseyo), I'll have this, please
- 물 (mul), water · 계산해주세요 (gyesanhaejuseyo), the check, please
- 포장이요 (pojangiyo), to go · 여기서 먹을게요 (yeogiseo meogeulgeyo), eating here
- 매워요 (maewoyo), spicy · 알레르기 (allereugi), allergy
A lot of Seoul chains have switched to touchscreen kiosks (키오스크) instead of counter staff, and the buttons translate the same way a printed menu does, just tap through a little slower than a local would. When the whole board is in Hangul with no photos at all, don't spell it out word by word, point your camera at it. Full method in Korean menu translator.
Directions and the subway
- 역 (yeok), station · 출구 (chulgu), exit · 입구 (ipgu), entrance
- 오른쪽 (oreunjjok), right · 왼쪽 (oenjjok), left · 직진 (jikjin), straight ahead
- 어디예요 (eodiyeyo), where is it? · 가까워요 (gakkawoyo), it's close
Seoul's subway signage runs bilingual almost everywhere, numbered exits included, so this cluster matters more outside the capital. Smaller-city buses, rural train platforms and delay announcements are often Korean only, and that's exactly where a camera translator earns its keep.
If something goes wrong
- 도와주세요 (dowajuseyo), help! · 병원 (byeongwon), hospital
- 경찰 (gyeongchal), police · 아파요 (apayo), it hurts
- 알레르기가 있어요 (allereugiga isseoyo), I have an allergy
For anything urgent or detailed, don't reach for a phrase card. A voice translator beats it every time: say it in English, hear it spoken back in Korean, and hear the reply translated right after.
Polite by default, casual once invited
Korean politeness is baked into the grammar, not optional the way tone of voice is in English. Sticking a -요 on the end of nearly anything keeps you safely polite with staff, strangers and anyone older than you. Dropping it (반말, casual speech) is for close friends only, and a stranger using it with you uninvited would be rude, so don't rush to mirror it back. If a local ever tells you 편하게 말해요 ("speak casually with me"), that's your cue, not before.
The two habits that make a translator actually useful here
- Make it work offline. The moments you need it most, a rural train platform, a basement restaurant, three floors underground on the Seoul subway, are exactly where signal disappears. On-device translation downloads the language once and needs nothing after that.
- Point your camera at real-world text instead of retyping it. Menus, kiosk screens and station signs are faster to read this way than copied into a search box. Save typing for messages you can actually select.
Ten phrases and a bit of politeness get you further in Korea than most guidebooks suggest. Yomi handles the camera, voice and text sides in one app, offline, on your iPhone, so the phrases above cover the talking and everything else is a point away. For the deeper method behind reading Hangul on any sign or menu, see how to translate Korean to English.