Korean Small Talk Flashcards: 24 Cards with Audio and Notes

Korean Small Talk Flashcards: Study the 24 Cards

The deck above holds the same 24 cards as the table further down the page. Each card is a whole phrase or a key word, so you practise saying and recognising it, not just spelling it. Nothing plays until you press an audio button.

How Do I Use These Flashcards?

Use the deck in four steps. It works with tap, click or keyboard.

1. Choose a mode. Start with recognition (Hangul to meaning). Switch to recall (meaning to Hangul) or listening (audio to meaning) when recognition feels easy.
2. Show the answer. Think of the answer first, then press Show answer (or Space). Turn on the romanization toggle only if you need it; the card table below always shows it.
3. Grade yourself. Press Got it if you answered correctly without help, or Not yet if you hesitated or guessed.
4. Finish the session. A session holds up to 20 cards (you can set 10, 20 or 40). With 24 cards, one session reviews the whole deck once, and a second pass picks up the cards you missed.

What Do the Three Modes Do?

Recognition shows the Hangul and asks for the meaning, which trains reading. Recall shows the meaning and asks for the Hangul, which trains remembering; you may type the phrase with your Hangul keyboard or recall it in your head. Listening plays a clip and hides the letters, which trains the ear. Listening mode only uses a card once its audio is approved, and cards without approved audio are skipped in that mode with a note.

What Do Got It and Not yet Do?

Got it moves the card up one Leitner box, so it returns later. Not yet sends the card back to box 1, so it returns in the same session or within 10 minutes. The grades are your own judgement; the deck does not score you or claim fluency.

Deck Scope: What Is and Is Not Covered

The deck covers everyday questions, three speech-level versions of four core questions, plans and weather talk. It does not cover first-meeting introductions and one-word reactions. Each card uses the same Korean as the matching phrase guide, and the phrase flashcards list has the other decks.

What Is Left out of This Deck?

Left out: first-meeting introductions and one-word reactions. For related topics, see the Korean phone phrases flashcards and Korean shopping phrases flashcards decks. The full lesson is the korean small talk guide, and the Korean flashcards hub lists every deck, including Hangul, vocabulary, grammar and TOPIK decks.

All 24 Cards in One Table

All 24 cards are listed below. The table is plain HTML and works without the deck.

How Do I Read the Table?

Hangul is the phrase or word. Revised Romanization (RR) is a learning aid from the South Korean government system of 2000, and it does not show every sound change, so learn the Hangul first. The Meaning column gives the English sense, and the Note column gives a sound or usage tip. The last column lists the audio assetId for the normal-speed clip, with a second ID where a slow clip (0.8x) exists for a sound-focus card.

Usage Notes for These Cards

Four questions come in three speech levels: 뭐 해요?, 어디 가요?, 시간 있어요? and 밥 먹었어요?. The honorific version (뭐 하세요?) is for elders and people you respect. The polite 요 version is the safe default. The casual version (뭐 해?) is for friends. Pick the level before you pick the question.

Koreans use some questions as greetings. 어디 가요? and 밥 먹었어요? are warm openers, not interrogations, so a vague answer such as 네, 먹었어요 is enough. Weather is the classic safe topic with a stranger.

To make a plan, use -(으)ㄹ까요? ("shall we?"). 뭐 먹을까요? and 언제 만날까요? both propose a choice together. Add 같이 먹어요 ("let's eat together") to invite.

To check understanding, ask 무슨 뜻이에요? ("what does that mean?"). To ask about a hobby, say 취미가 뭐예요?. A friendly 괜찮아요? checks on someone who looks tired, hurt or upset.

Which Sounds Do Not Match the Spelling?

Spelling and sound differ in Korean. Brackets show the sound. The standard pronunciation rules of the National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원) describe these changes, and the audio shows them.

• 몇 시예요 is spoken [멷씨예요]. The ㅊ of 몇 is a [ㄷ] sound before 시, and the ㅅ is tensified.
• 같이 is spoken [가치]. The ㅌ before 이 becomes ㅊ (palatalization).
• 오늘 며칠이에요 is spoken [오늘 며치리에요]. The ㄹ of 칠 links to the vowel in 이.
• 밥 먹었어요 is spoken [밤 머거써요]. The ㅂ of 밥 becomes [ㅁ] before ㅁ (nasalization), and the ㄱ of 먹 links to the vowel.

What Mistakes Do Learners Make with Small Talk?

• Using 있다 for hobbies, such as 취미가 있어요? when you want the hobby itself. 취미가 뭐예요? is more natural.
• Using casual 뭐 해? or 어디 가? with a colleague or an elder. Keep the 요 or the honorific.
• Using 너 for "you" with a colleague. Use their name or title plus 씨, or drop the subject.
• Answering 밥 먹었어요? with a long story. A short 네 or 아직요 is enough.

How Does the Review Schedule Work?

The deck uses a simplified Leitner system with five boxes. A new card starts in box 1. Each Got it moves it up one box, and each Not yet returns it to box 1. The box sets how long the card waits before it is due again.

Each session shows due cards first, oldest due first, and then up to 10 new cards a day by default. A deck of 24 cards fits in two or three short sessions. Progress is saved only in this browser, so clearing site data deletes it. Use the export button to save a small JSON file with card IDs, boxes and due dates, and import it on another device. No account is needed.

Cultural and Practical Context

Korean small talk often starts with food, weather and tiredness. Asking 밥 먹었어요? or noting that someone looks tired is caring, not rude. Modest replies to compliments are the expected style, and a direct answer about your plans is less important than showing interest in the other person.

Limits of This Deck

The deck teaches 24 cards, not every phrase on the topic. Revised Romanization is a reading aid and does not show every sound change. All Korean text on the page is generated and was reviewed and signed off by Min-ji Park on 15 October 2026.

Next Steps after the Korean Small Talk Flashcards

When these cards feel easy, move on to the korean phone phrases flashcards or the korean shopping phrases flashcards. Browse more topics in the korean phrases flashcards list, or open the Korean flashcards hub for every deck.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Are Good Ice-Breaker Questions in Korean?

Start with 오늘 날씨 어때요? ("how's the weather today?"), 취미가 뭐예요? ("what's your hobby?") or 밥 먹었어요? ("did you eat?"). They are polite, short and safe with strangers.

How Do I Ask the Same Question to a Friend and to an Elder?

Change the ending. 뭐 해요? is polite, 뭐 하세요? is for an elder or someone you respect, and 뭐 해? is for a friend. The same three-way change works for 어디 가요? and 시간 있어요?. For 밥 먹었어요? the honorific also swaps the words and becomes 진지 드셨어요?.

How Do I Suggest a Plan?

Use -(으)ㄹ까요? as in 뭐 먹을까요? ("what shall we eat?") or 언제 만날까요? ("when shall we meet?"). It proposes a choice together instead of giving an order.

What Do I Say If I Do Not Understand a Word?

Ask 무슨 뜻이에요? ("what does that mean?"). It keeps the conversation moving and shows that you care about the word.

Is My Progress Saved If I Close the Page?

Yes, in the same browser on the same device. Card boxes and due dates are stored locally and no account is needed. Clearing site data, using a private window or switching browsers removes them, so use the export button if you want a backup file to import later.