Easy Korean Vocabulary – 60 Korean Words That Sound Like English Words

One that thing that makes learning Korean incredibly easy is association. Meaning, when you come across something that you can instantly relate/connect with something you already know. I mention this in “Learn Hangul in under one hour” article.

Because if you know X, and if Y [which you’re learning] can be related to X, understanding Y will be a ton easier.

Kind of like… your name is Bob… and you meet someone named Bob. Guarantee you, you won’t forget their name.

So, on the topic of learning Korean vocabulary, there are Korean words that sound like English words; you can call them Konglish, you can call them loan words OR perhaps their meanings may be different from what they sound like. However, the fact is… learning Korean words that sound like English is easy, painless and quick way to boost your vocabulary

What are they? Here’s a quick list I’ve come across. If you know any, please leave a comment and add some more – I’ll add it to this article.

Korean words that sound like English words… but don’t mean the same thing.

1. 가스 – gaseu – (sounds like gas) means stove
   
2. 눈- nun – (sounds like noon) means eyes
3. 소리 – soli – (similar to sorry) means sound
4. 아이- ai – (sounds like eye) means child
5. 씻 – ssis – (sounds like sheet) means to rinse
6. 비 – bi- (sounds like bee) means rain
7. 그림 – geulim – (similar to cream) means picture
8. 문 – mun – (sounds like moon) means door
9. 많이 – manh-i – (sounds like many) means a lot of
10. 트림 – teulim – (sounds like trim) means belch

Now.. for the Konglish. Korean words that sound like English words and mean the same thing.

1. 아이스크림 – ah-i-seu-k’eu-rim is.. can you guess? Ice Cream
2. 키스 – ki-seu – means kiss
3. 오렌지 – o-ren-ji – means orange
4. 피치 – pee-chee – means peach
5. 팬 – paen- means fan… “f” does not exist in Korean so they use “p”
6. 왜 – wae – sounds like and means why. Why? I don’t know…
7. 라디오 – ladio – means radio
8. 게임 – ge-im – means game
9. 넥타이 – nek-ta-i means necktie
10. 노트 – no-teu – means note
11. 뉴스 – nyu-seu – means news
12. 달러 – dal-leo – means dollar
13. 러시아 – reo-si-a – means Russia
14. 메뉴 – me-nyu – means menu
15. 아파트 – apateu – means apartment
16. 크레디트 카드 – keulediteu kadeu – means credit card
17. 카드 – kadeu – sounds familiar right? it means card
18. 쇼핑백 – syopingbaeg – means shopping bag
19. 쇼핑 – syoping – means… can you guess? Look above. Shopping.
20. 예 – ye – means YES
21. 엠피쓰리 – empi sseuli – means mp3 player. Do those still exist?
22. 헬스센타 – helseu senta – Health Center… Not like in Pokemon. Actually, it means GYM.
23. 바나나 – ba-na-na – Oh. Oh, no. This is a tough one. I’ll just leave this undefined.
24. 버스 – beo-seu – means bus
25. 샤워 – sya-wo – means shower
26. 센티미터 – sentimiteo – No, not sentimental. It’s centimeter
27. 미터 – miteo – means meter
28. 비디오 – bi-di-o – means video
29. 슈퍼마켓 – syu-peo-ma-ket – means supermarket
30. 스트레스 – seu-teu-re-seu – is something you’ll get from learning Korean. Stress
31. 스포츠 – seu-po-cheu – means sports
32. 에어컨 – e-eo-keon – sounds like aircon and means air conditioner
33. 주스 – ju-seu – means juice
34. 초콜릿 – cho-ko-lit – means chocolate
35. 캐나다 – kae-na-da – means Canada. Oh Canada~
36. 커피 – keo-pi – Not copy. It’s coffee, i tells ya.
37. 컴퓨터 – keom-pyu-teo – means computer
38. 콜라 – col-la – means Cola or Coke.
39. 컵 – keop – means cup … just in case you ever want to order some 콜라
40. 크리스마스 – keu-ri-seu-ma-seu – Christmas
41. 택시 – taek-si – means taxi
42. 테니스 – te-ni-seu – means tennis
43. 테이블 – te-i-beul – means table
44. 햄버거 – haem-beo-geo – hamburger
45. 피자 – pi-ja – means pizza
46. 티브이 – ti-beu-i – means TV
47. 텔레비전 – tel-le-bi-jeon – means television
48. 퍼센트 – peo-sen-teu – means percent
49. 프랑스 – peu-rang-seu – means France
50. 선글라스 – seongeullaseu – means sunglasses

Know any words of your own? Leave a comment and I’ll add them to the list.

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