Korean School Words: 50 Words with Romanization and Audio

Korean School Words at a Glance

The list has 50 words in five groups of ten, and it works as a map of the whole school topic. It belongs to School and Work. Each group here gives you the first ten words of a theme, and four deeper lists below it take the theme further. For the single word on its own, see school in Korean, and for the names of lessons, see school subjects. A good number of the words are built from the Sino-Korean piece 학 (study) or 교 (school or teach), so each word you learn makes the next one easier.

The five groups on this page are School levels and years, Places and classroom items, People at school, The school day, and Exams, vacations and events. Many of these words end in 교 (school), 생 (student) or 식 (ceremony), so you can guess new words from the ending.

Which School Words Should You Learn First?

Learn 학교 (school), 학년 (school year), 선생님 (teacher), 학생 (student) and 방학 (vacation) first. With them you can already say where you study, which year you are in and when you are free. 저는 대학생이에요 (I am a university student) is the sentence most learners need on day one.

• Words to say. 학교, 학년, 선생님, 학생, 시험, 방학. They fill small talk about study.
• Words to recognise. 신입생, 졸업생, 입학식, 급식. You see them on signs, forms and in the news.
• Words for events. 소풍, 운동회, 수학여행. They name the school events that Koreans remember from childhood.

The scene below shows a school with ten numbered places and objects, so that you can tie each word to a picture.

Word · 10

1. 1

   학교

   Play

   hakgyo

   school

2. 2

   교실

   Play

   gyosil

   classroom

3. 3

   칠판

   Play

   chilpan

   blackboard

4. 4

   책상

   Play

   chaeksang

   desk

5. 5

   도서관

   Play

   doseogwan

   library

6. 6

   운동장

   Play

   undongjang

   sports field; playground

7. 7

   체육관

   Play

   cheyukgwan

   gym; sports hall

8. 8

   식당

   Play

   sikdang

   canteen; restaurant

9. 9

   교복

   Play

   gyobok

   school uniform

10. 10

    가방

    Play

    gabang

    bag

School Levels and the School Year

A Korean student moves through a ladder of schools, and each rung has a name that ends in 학교 or 원. The path most learners hear about runs from kindergarten to elementary school, middle school, high school and university. Years inside a school are counted with 학년, using Sino-Korean numbers, so 일 학년 is first year and 삼 학년 is third year.

Example Sentences

The frame 학교 + 에 + a verb is the first one to learn. The particle 에 marks where you go or attend, as in 학교에 가요 and 유치원에 다녀요. For a place where you do something, use 에서, as in 대학교에서 공부해요. Say each sentence aloud after the audio.

학년 is a counter, so it follows a number: 일 학년, 이 학년, 삼 학년. It is one of the counters on counters for things. The same Sino-Korean numbers count the school levels inside the name, as in 중학교 일 학년 (first year of middle school). 대학교 is the full word for a university, and 대학 is the short everyday form, as in 대학에 가요 (I go to college).

Places and Classroom Items

Next come the places in a school and the things in a classroom. Most are Sino-Korean compounds that end in 실 (room) or 관 (hall), so the ending tells you what kind of place it is. The longer lists on classroom items are on the classroom vocabulary page.

Notice how the endings sort the places. 실 means a room, as in 교실 and 교무실. 관 means a hall or large building, as in 도서관 and 체육관. 장 means a place or field, as in 운동장. Once you know these three, many other place words become easy to read. The particle 에서 follows a place where an action happens, so 도서관에서 책을 읽어요 means I read books in the library.

Who Is Who at School?

Korean has a word for each stage of a student's life, and most of them end in 생, which means student. This group gives you the common ones, from elementary school to university, and the names of a few special groups such as new students, graduates and transfer students.

The ending 생 turns a school name into a student of that school: 초등학교 becomes 초등학생, and 대학교 becomes 대학생. The ㅅ of 생 is said tense after the final ㄱ, so 학생 sounds like hak-ssaeng. 선생님 means teacher but literally means one born earlier, and the respect marker 님 is built in, so you never add another. A principal is 교장 선생님 in speech. At university the teachers are professors, addressed as 교수님 (gyosunim), not 선생님.

The School Day

A school day has a clear shape: you go to school in the morning, sit through lessons, eat lunch, and go home. The words below name the parts of that day and the things you carry. They are everyday words, and many appear in dramas about school life.

등교 and 하교 are a pair, and the first letters 등 and 하 tell them apart: 등 is going up to school, and 하 is coming down from it. Work has its own pair built the same way, 출근 and 퇴근 (going to work and leaving work), with different first syllables. 지각 and 결석 are the two school sins, being late and being absent. Both take 하다, so 지각했어요 means I was late.

Exams, Vacations and Events

The last group is the school calendar: the exam, the grade, the vacations and the events that mark the year. Korean schools have two long vacations, one in summer and one in winter, and both end in 방학. The exam words are only introduced here, because the full list is on the exams and grades page.

식 means ceremony, and it joins any event word: 입학식, 졸업식 and many more. 수학여행 is a trap for new learners, because 수학 on its own means math, but in this word the 수학 is a different one, written with other Chinese characters, and means study. Schools set their own event dates, so check the calendar at your school.

How Do Korean School Levels Work?

The usual path is kindergarten, elementary school, middle school, high school and then university. Each school is named with 학교 and a level word: 초등 (first level), 중 (middle) and 고등 (higher). University is 대학교, and the school after it is 대학원 (graduate school). The usual pattern is 6-3-3-4: six years of elementary school, three of middle school, three of high school and usually four of university. Children normally start elementary school in March of the year after the calendar year in which they turn six. Within a school you count the years with 학년: 고등학교 삼 학년 is the last year of high school, and each year is split into classes called 반, as in 일 반 or 이 반. The school year in Korea usually begins in the spring, in March, and a year is split into two 학기 (semesters). The exact dates are set by each school each year, so check with the school.

Students in each level have their own name: 초등학생, 중학생, 고등학생 and 대학생. The group of all pupils in a school is 학생들, with the plural marker 들 added. A short way to say your level is the noun plus 이에요 or 예요, as in 저는 고등학생이에요 (I am a high school student). Three more words come up in any talk about school life: 숙제 (sukje, homework), 동아리 (dongari, school club) and 학원 (hagwon, a private after-school academy that many Korean students attend).

How Do You Pronounce School Words?

School words are almost all Sino-Korean, and they share a small set of sound changes. The standard pronunciation rules of the National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원) describe each one. The Revised Romanization of Korean does not show tensing caused by a neighbouring sound, and it writes ㅎ in nouns such as iphak, so rely on the Hangul and the audio.

Three habits cover most of the list. After a final ㄱ or ㅂ, the next consonant is said tense, as in 학교, 급식 and 체육관. Before ㄴ, a final ㄱ is said as ㅇ, as in 학년. And a final consonant moves forward when the next syllable starts with ㅇ, as in 졸업. Learn the spoken form with the spelling, and do not pause between syllables.

Audio and Slow Playback

Each word and sentence has its own clip. Five clips replay the hardest words slowly: school, school year, entering school, graduation and school meal. Play one, repeat it aloud, then play it again and compare.

What Mistakes Do Learners Make with School Words?

Five confusions come up again and again.

1. Saying 대학 and 대학교 as different things. In everyday talk they mean the same thing. 대학교 is the full name, and 대학 is the short form. In an address or on a form, use 대학교. A 대학 can also mean a faculty inside a university.
2. Using 학년 as the name of a class. 학년 is a school year or grade. A class is 반. So 이 학년 삼 반 means second year, class three. Do not use 학년 for a single lesson, which is 수업.
3. Reading 수학여행 as a maths trip. 수학여행 is a school trip. The 수학 in it means study, and the 수학 meaning math is a different word that happens to sound the same.
4. Adding 님 twice to 선생님. 선생님 already has 님. Writing 선생님님 is a doubled suffix. Address your teacher as 선생님.
5. Mixing 방학 and 휴가. 방학 is a school vacation. 휴가 is time off from work. A student has 방학, and a worker has 휴가.

In each case a similar word covers a nearby idea. Keep the pairs together, such as 대학 and 대학교, 학년 and 반, and 방학 and 휴가, and the rest of the 50 words stay in place.

Practice: Flashcards and Worksheet

Study in three steps. First, run the deck in recognition mode and take one group of ten words at a time. Second, switch to listening mode and play the clip before you flip each card. Third, take the five-question quiz. Progress stays in your browser, and the vocabulary flashcard decks page lists the other decks.

A printable worksheet for these words (word list, matching, writing practice, fill-in-the-blank exercises and answer key) is available in A4 and US Letter from the download card on this page. For additional practice, write five sentences about your own school week, using 학년, 수업, 점심시간, 숙제 and 방학.

Where to Go Next

After this page, continue with Korean Classroom Vocabulary or school subjects. To go further into study life, open Korean Exams and Grades Vocabulary. When you are ready for work, see Office and Business, and to move up a level, return to School and Work.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do You Say School in Korean?

School is 학교 (hakgyo), said [학꾜]. The word is built from 학 (study) and 교 (school). Add a level before it to name a kind of school, as in 초등학교 (elementary school) and 고등학교 (high school). The single-word page on school in Korean gives more detail.

How Do You Pronounce 학년 (hangnyeon)?

Say hang-nyeon in two beats. The final ㄱ of 학 is said as ㅇ because the next sound is ㄴ, so the word sounds like [항년]. Do not say hak-nyeon. The vowel ㅕ is a short y plus eo. Press the audio button on this page to hear the word and the slow clip.

How Many School Words Should I Learn First?

Start with five: 학교, 학년, 선생님, 학생 and 방학. They let you say where you study, which year you are in and when you are free. The whole list of 50 takes about ten days at five new words a day, with a short review of earlier words each day.

What Are the School Levels in Korean?

The usual path is 유치원 (kindergarten), 초등학교 (elementary school), 중학교 (middle school), 고등학교 (high school) and 대학교 (university). Years inside a school are counted with 학년, as in 삼 학년 for third year.

Where Can I Practise School Words with Flashcards?

Use the deck on this page, which holds all 50 words with Hangul, romanization and audio, in recognition and listening modes. The vocabulary flashcard decks page lists the decks for other topics. Progress is saved only in your browser.

Is the Romanization on This Page Official?

It follows the Revised Romanization of Korean, which South Korea adopted in 2000 and whose rules the National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원) publishes. It is a learning aid, and it does not show tensing caused by a neighbouring sound, so rely on the Hangul and the audio.