- 01
Who Is Korean for Travel for, and Who Should Skip It?
- 02
What Should You Finish before This Course?
- 03
Module 1: Survival Recap
- 04
Module 2: Arrive at the Airport
- 05
Module 3: Ride the Subway, Bus and Taxi
- 06
Module 4: Check in at Your Hotel
Who Is Korean for Travel for, and Who Should Skip It?
This course is for travellers who have a few weeks before a trip to Korea and want more than ten phrases. It follows the trip in order, so you study the next thing you will actually do. It suits first visits, repeat visits and anyone travelling alone.
Skip it, or choose another path, if:
- You leave in under two weeks. Take Survival Korean first. It is shorter and covers the essentials.
- You want conversation, not trip tasks. The Korean for Beginners course builds sentences from the ground up.
- You want a word list, not a course. The Korean travel vocabulary page is a themed list with audio, and travel in Korean explains the single word.
What Should You Finish before This Course?
Finish Survival Korean, or at least its greetings, numbers and N 주세요 pattern, before starting. Module 1 recaps those, but it does not teach them from nothing. A learner without them will find Module 2 hard.
You also need Hangul at a basic level. Even a few hours with the Hangul course lets you read station names and signs, and Module 7 assumes it. If your trip is soon, read the Hangul for the places you will actually visit: your hotel, your stations, your airport.
Module 1: Survival Recap
Module 1 reviews the phrases that every later module relies on. Take the Survival Korean course if you have not yet, and use this module to check you can say them without notes:
- 안녕하세요 (hello) and 감사합니다 (thank you)
- 죄송합니다 (I'm sorry) and 실례합니다 (excuse me)
- 이거 주세요 (this one, please) and N 주세요 in general
- 얼마예요? (how much is it?), with prices in 천 and 만
Checkpoint: say all seven items in under 30 seconds, then order a drink, ask a price and thank the seller.
Lesson Review
Module 2: Arrive at the Airport
Module 2 covers immigration, luggage and the first transport choice. The airport phrases page has more. Officers use formal speech with set questions, so you learn to recognise the questions, not to hold a conversation.
| Word or phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 공항 | airport |
| 여권 | passport |
| 입국 | entering the country |
| 짐 | luggage |
| 여권 여기 있어요 | Here is my passport |
| 관광이에요 | I'm here for tourism |
Officers typically ask the purpose and length of your visit. Prepare short answers: 관광이에요 for tourism, and a number plus 일 (day), such as 오 일 (five days). Gestures and a printed itinerary help if you miss a question.
Checkpoint: answer "purpose of visit" and "how many days" aloud in one breath each.
Lesson Review
Module 3: Ride the Subway, Bus and Taxi
Module 3 teaches the destination pattern for taxis and the transit-card phrases you need on the subway and bus. The taxi and transport page and the transport vocabulary page, with words like 지하철 and 버스, give more.
The taxi pattern is [place]으로 가 주세요, or [place]로 after a vowel or ㄹ. It means "Please go to [place]". The particle -(으)로 marks direction.
| Say | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 명동으로 가 주세요 | Please go to Myeongdong |
| 호텔로 가 주세요 | Please go to the hotel |
| 공항으로 가 주세요 | Please go to the airport |
| 여기서 내려 주세요 | Please let me off here |
Buses and subways use a rechargeable card. Say 교통카드 충전해 주세요 ("Please top up my transit card") at a convenience store or station machine, and read transit card in Korean for the word in full.
Know your hotel's name in Hangul and keep it on your phone. Taxi drivers can read an address faster than they can parse a foreign accent.
Checkpoint: give three taxi destinations aloud, then show the same on a screenshot.
Lesson Review
Module 4: Check in at Your Hotel
Module 4 covers check-in, check-out and the five questions guests ask most often. The hotel vocabulary lesson lists the words.
| Say | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 예약했어요 | I have a reservation |
| 체크인하고 싶어요 | I'd like to check in |
| 체크아웃은 몇 시예요? | What time is check-out? |
| 짐 맡길 수 있어요? | Can I leave my luggage? |
| 와이파이 비밀번호가 뭐예요? | What is the Wi-Fi password? |
The pattern -고 싶어요 means "I want to...". It turns almost any verb into a polite way to say what you want: 체크인하고 싶어요, 먹고 싶어요 (I want to eat). Practise it with three verbs of your own.
Checkpoint: give your name, say you have a reservation, and ask the check-out time.
Lesson Review
Module 5: Eat Out
Module 5 adds counting people, reading menu words and finishing a meal politely. Module 4 of Survival Korean taught N 주세요, and this module builds on it. See the restaurant phrases and the Korean dishes vocabulary.
| Say | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 두 명이에요 | There are two of us |
| 이거 두 개 주세요 | Two of these, please |
| 포장해 주세요 | Takeaway, please |
| 잘 먹겠습니다 | Thank you for the meal (said before eating) |
| 잘 먹었습니다 | Thank you, that was good (said after eating) |
잘 먹겠습니다 is said to the person who cooked or paid for the meal. At a restaurant, saying it to the host or to the group is polite, and 잘 먹었습니다 on leaving shows thanks.
Checkpoint: seat yourself for two, order two dishes, and ask for takeaway.
Lesson Review
Module 6: Shop at Markets
Module 6 uses numbers to buy and compare. Prices at markets are said quickly, so listening is the main skill. The shopping phrases and prices in Korean lessons give the full set.
| Say | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 이거 얼마예요? | How much is this? |
| 두 개에 만 원이에요? | Is it 10,000 won for two? |
| 깎아 주세요 | Please give me a discount |
| 봉투 주세요 | A bag, please |
| 카드 돼요? | Can I pay by card? |
깎아 주세요 is worth knowing, but use it sparingly. Many shops have fixed prices, and in traditional markets a small discount or an extra (덤) is more likely when you buy several items. Ask once, politely, and accept the answer.
Checkpoint: ask the price of two items, repeat the total aloud and pay by card or cash.
Lesson Review
Module 7: Read Signs and Menus
Module 7 trains your eye for the words that appear on signs, menus and doors. Reading skill matters more than speaking in many travel moments, because signs do not answer questions. The reading signs and menus lessons give practice, and Korean subway signs covers station boards.
| Sign | Meaning | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 출구 | exit | station |
| 환승 | transfer | station |
| 화장실 | toilet | everywhere |
| 당기세요 / 미세요 | pull / push | doors |
| 밥, 국, 면 | rice, soup, noodles | menus |
Station names also appear in English or romanized, but not always. Learn to read the Hangul of your stops so you do not depend on that.
Checkpoint: read ten signs from photos and say what each one means.
Lesson Review
Module 8: Travel Etiquette
Module 8 explains the habits that make you look polite even when your Korean is limited. The Korean etiquette page covers them in full. The ones visitors meet most:
- Greet with a small bow along with 안녕하세요. A slight nod is enough for staff.
- Give and receive with two hands or one hand supported by the other, especially with money, cards and gifts.
- Decline politely with 괜찮아요 and a smile, not a flat no.
- Take off your shoes where a raised floor or shoe rack shows you should, as in homes and some restaurants.
Tipping is not customary in Korea, so you do not need a tipping phrase. These are general habits, and individuals vary.
Checkpoint: describe in English what you do with money, shoes and greetings in a Korean shop.
Lesson Review
How Long before Your Trip Should You Start?
Start about six weeks before your trip if you can. The course typically takes 20-30 hours, so a plan looks like this:
| Weeks before trip | Plan |
|---|---|
| 6 | Hangul (about 6 hours) and Survival Korean (about 10 hours) |
| 3 | Modules 2-4: arrival, transport, hotel |
| 1 | Modules 5-8: food, markets, signs, etiquette; review daily |
These timings are typical estimates for adult self-learners. With two to four weeks, do Survival Korean and Modules 3 and 7 only. With under two weeks, take Survival Korean on its own.
Can You Travel in Korea without Speaking Korean?
Yes. Major cities have English signage, many menus have photos or English, and translation apps work well. You can manage a short trip with none of this course. What changes with Korean is how smooth your trip feels and how much you can do beyond tourist areas.
Where Korean helps most: ordering at local restaurants with Korean-only menus, talking to drivers, markets, smaller towns, and any moment your phone has no signal. It also changes how people respond to you, since an effort to speak Korean is often welcomed. The trade-off is time. For a trip under two weeks, the Survival Korean course gives most of the benefit.
What Comes after This Course?
After Korean for Travel, either keep learning with the Korean for Beginners course or compare other Korean course paths. Anyone preparing Korean for travel will get the most from the audio phrases when they are practised aloud, not only read.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do travel phrases differ between Seoul and Busan?
Mostly not. Staff in both cities understand standard Korean, and every phrase in this course is standard. Busan and other regions have their own dialects, with different intonation and some different endings. You will hear them, but you do not need to speak them. Keep to the standard polite forms.
Is haggling acceptable in Korean markets?
Sometimes, but not everywhere. In traditional markets a small discount or an extra item (덤) may be offered when you buy several things, and 깎아 주세요 ("please give me a discount") is understood. Department stores, chains and fixed-price shops do not negotiate. Ask politely once, and accept a no.
Which apps help with Korean signs?
Translation apps with a camera mode can read signs and menus, and Korean map apps such as Naver Map and KakaoMap show Korean place names and transit routes. They help, but they are no substitute for reading the key words yourself. Apps fail without a connection, so learn the sign words in Module 7.
Do I need formal speech when travelling?
No. Use the polite -요 form for your own sentences, plus set phrases such as 감사합니다 and 죄송합니다, which are already in the formal -ㅂ니다 style. The polite form is correct for hotel staff, shop assistants, officials and strangers. Other formal -ㅂ니다 forms you mainly need to recognise in announcements. Do not use casual speech with staff.