Korea · korean
English fades without apology, and pointing is fine.
You do not need a year of classes to move through Seoul. You need Hangul for the signs, five phrases that keep you a guest, and the humility not to turn a cashier into a tutor. Come for the city as it actually speaks: hagwon students, Sunday family restaurants, English that fades. The grammar is not the hard part.
The living culture
The students in uniform on the late subway are heading to hagwon, private evening academies, not to a club. They have sat in language classrooms since before they could choose. You are walking through that life. KakaoTalk is where plans are made; if someone says they will Kakao you, that is a plan. A name used without -ssi or a title can be closeness or a mistake, so don’t guess at a work dinner.
네 is not always yes; it often means “I heard you.” 감사합니다, thank you, is the word you will use most. 주세요 is how you ask for something without turning the sentence into a project. 미안합니다, sorry, is for when you have tracked the street onto someone’s floor. That is enough to begin. The rest is watching the room.
A visitor who resents someone for not wanting to practice their English has already misread the city.
What is there to sit with
Station names, shop notices in Hangul, a menu that is a photograph plus a word you can sound out. A convenience-store rice triangle requires no speech. English on the subway is good in the tourist districts and thinner elsewhere. Point, smile without performing, pay and step aside. Read how meals work and courtesy.
If you stay longer, the next layer is listening: forms of address shifting in an elevator, a junior colleague’s laugh doing its work, a grandmother who has already decided whether or not you are in the way. No phrasebook will give you that. You learn it by being quiet.
What you can learn from it
Hangul is everyday literacy before it is a hobby. The alphabet opens up stations and shops. Mispronounce the names; that is fine. Five sentences keep you a guest, while a speech turns a stall into a classroom. English is not a right, and fluency belongs to a different kind of trip.
Moving to Korea is a matter for the government, so use official sources only. This page is for getting through a week. A language exchange is not a dating service. Write like a person, and meet in public. Stay a guest.
Decide
How much Korean do I need for a week?
Enough to read a sign, and enough grace not to blame anyone for declining to teach you. Hangul, the Korean alphabet, opens up stations and shops long before you can hold a conversation. Pointing is fine; rushing a vendor is not. English works in the tourist districts and then fades without apology. For your first days, read Seoul first days.
Should I learn Hangul on the plane?
Yes, if you can. The alphabet is a system, not a mood. Station names will start to look like names instead of shapes. You will still mispronounce them, and that is fine. Apps and paper both work. We will not invent a course price or class hours.
What if I only speak English?
You will eat, and you will ride the subway. Someone will help you and then disappear politely back into their day. Learn 감사합니다 (thank you) and 주세요 (please) anyway. If someone offers KakaoTalk, that is where conversations continue. Don’t assume a café wants to be your classroom.
Is a language exchange a dating service?
No, and treating it as one is a quick way to lose the room. Write like a person, meet in public, and leave when the answer is no. The forms of address you will hear, such as -ssi or a title, can signal closeness or a mistake, so do not guess in a meeting room. On the firm limits of dating, read relationships.
How to be a guest with just enough language
Learn the alphabet before forming opinions
On the plane, on the train, on paper. Station names will become names. Mispronounce them anyway; that is fine.
Carry five phrases, not a speech
Thank you, please, sorry, I heard you, and this one. Use them, and don’t turn a stall into a classroom.
Use Kakao if they offer it
Write like a person, and meet in public. A language exchange is not a dating service. Stay a guest.
We will not invent a school or a fee
We will not print a class price or a schedule to make the page look complete. Official entry rules stay on visa.go.kr. Then catch the next train.