The essentials
| Korean | Meaning | Why it helps |
|---|---|---|
| 안녕하세요 (annyeonghaseyo) | Hello | Standard polite greeting, works in almost any situation |
| 감사합니다 (gamsahamnida) | Thank you | Polite, safe in any setting |
| 얼마예요? (eolmayeyo?) | How much is it? | Genuinely useful at markets and small shops |
| 이거 주세요 (igeo juseyo) | This one, please | Pair with pointing — solves most ordering situations |
| 화장실 어디예요? (hwajangsil eodiyeyo?) | Where's the bathroom? | One of the most practically useful phrases on this list |
| 맵지 않게 해주세요 (maepji anke haejuseyo) | Please make it not spicy | Worth learning if you're spice-sensitive; see our street food guide |
Reading, not speaking, is the higher-value skill
Hangul, the Korean writing system, is genuinely learnable in an afternoon — it's phonetic and logically structured, not character-based like Chinese. Being able to sound out station names, menu items, and signage, even without understanding every word, solves a surprising amount of daily friction.
What you don't need to worry about
Seoul's tourism infrastructure — subway signage, many restaurant menus, most hotel staff — has enough English support that you can absolutely visit without any Korean at all. Learning a handful of phrases is about smoothing the experience and showing basic effort, not a requirement to get by.
Tip: A translation app with camera-based menu scanning solves most real-time reading problems on the ground — genuinely worth downloading before you land.