If you are preparing for a school trip or educational tour to Korea, it can feel a little overwhelming – after all, you’ll have a different culture, cuisine, language and educational system to navigate, and you may not know where to start. But there’s no need to be worried! Within this post, I’ll highlight some basic information that you should know, and teach you how to prepare for a school trip to Korea!
Basic Korean words & phrases for travel
Especially in large cities, many Korean people that you are likely to encounter – such as fellow teachers, tour guides, activity directors or health professionals – will speak some English. There is also a translation app named Papago which can help you easily communicate, and I highly recommend downloading it for your trip (it’s much more accurate at translating Korean than Google Translate).
However, it is always good to know some basic Korean phrases for travel to help you get by, and it will be greatly appreciated by locals if you’re able to communicate with them in their native language. Below are a few words and phrases you will probably want to know during your trip.
| 안녕하세요 (ahn-yeong-ha-se-yo) | A polite and basic way to say ‘hello’. |
| 안녕히 가세요 (ahn-yeong-hi ka-se-yo) / 안녕히 계세요 (ahn-yeong-hi gye-se-yo) | Both mean ‘goodbye’ but in a different context. The ‘ka’ in ahnyeonghi kaseyo means ‘go’ and the ‘gye’ in ahnyeonghi gyeseyo means ‘stay’. So, when somebody leaves you, you can tell them ‘ahnyeonghi kaseyo’, which basically translates to ‘go well’, while if you’re the person leaving you can say ‘ahnyeonghi gyeseyo’, meaning ‘stay well’. |
| 만나서 반갑습니다 (mahn-na-seo ban-kab-sum-ni-da) | ‘Nice to meet you.’ While ‘hello’ will go a long way, if you greet somebody for the first time this way, they will be very impressed! This is a great phrase to make a good impression on somebody of an important rank such as a school principal, but it can be used for anybody you’re meeting for the first time. |
| XXXX 주세요 (OOO ju-se-yo) | ‘Please give me XXXX’. This is a polite way to ask for something and is often used for ordering food. You can say ‘keo-pi juseyo’ to order coffee, or ‘ticket juseyo’ for admission to an attraction. If you don’t know how to say the name of what you want, you can point to it and say ‘i-geo juseyo’, meaning ‘Give me this please’. |
| 저기요 (jeo-gi-yo) | ‘Excuse me!’ This is only used for calling for somebody’s attention, such as a waiter in a restaurant or calling after somebody in the street to ask for directions. |
| 화장실 어디예요? (hwa-jang-shil o-di-ye-yo?) | ‘Where is the bathroom?’ ‘Hwajangshil’ means bathroom, so even just saying this word, somebody will know what you are looking for. This is also a great word to memorise in hangul, so that you can recognise the word on signs while out and about. |
Basics of the Korean alphabet
The Korean language consists of 24 letters – 14 consonants and 10 vowels. The symbols of the alphabet (known as hangul) are simple and easy to recognise, and can be learnt quite quickly. Each ‘block’ of hangul can consist of three to four letters and are read from left to right, top to bottom. For example, the word bread is 빵 (bbang) which would be read as ㅃ (bb), ㅏ(ah), and ㅇ(ng). There are many great apps and websites that can help you learn the basics of the Korean alphabet in as little as a day – I recommend Duolingo or TTMIK (Talk to Me in Korean) as fantastic resources for learning basic Korean, including hangul.
Learning the basics will make your school trip or educational tour to Korea run much more smoothly – Korean uses a lot of loan words from English, so you’ll be surprised at how much you can already read and understand just by learning the alphabet!
Basic Korean numbers & counting
Korean uses two number systems, which might seem very daunting to people experiencing the language for the first time. However, as a beginner, there’s no need to worry about which system to use in each context. Choose whichever you find easiest – even if you use the wrong word, Korean people will understand what you are trying to say and will appreciate the effort. However, if you want a more in-depth look into using Korean numbers, I would again recommend Duolingo or TTMIK.
Firstly, there are Sino-Korean numbers, which are used the most often – these were developed a long time ago from the Chinese number system. These numbers are used for general counting, counting money, counting days and months of the year, and many other situations. The most important basic Korean numbers to know are:
- 1 = il
- 2 = i
- 3 = sam
- 4 = sa
- 5 = oh
- 6 = yuk
- 7 = chil
- 8 = pal
- 9 = ku
- 10 = ship
- 100 = baek
- 1000 = cheon
- 10,000 = man
To make larger Korean numbers using this system, you can just multiply by ten to make the number you need. For example, 20 would be i-ship (two-ten), and 35 would be sam-ship-o (three-ten-five).
The other number system is the Native Korean number system, which was developed later. The numbers can be a little harder to remember, as many of them have more than one syllable. While it’s useful to know this system, for beginners it’s mostly used to express your age, or to count items (for example, ordering two coffees or asking for a table for five people). The most important numbers to know are:
- 1 = hana
- 2 = dul
- 3 = set
- 4 = net
- 5 = daseot
- 6 = yeoseot
- 7 = ilgop
- 8 = yeodol
- 9 = ahop
- 10 = yeol
- 20 = seumul
- 30 = seorun
- 40 = maheun
- 50 = swin
- 60 = yesun
- 70 = ilheun
- 80 = yeodeun
- 90 = aheun
For your first school trip or educational tour to Korea, I recommend learning numbers 1-10 and any numbers relating to your age. To make numbers using this system, just add the tens number and the single digit number; for example, fifteen would be yeol-daseot (ten-five).
When it comes to numbers, don’t worry too much about when to use which system and just use the numbers you remember! An attempt at Korean is always much more appreciated than using English – although most Korean people know English numbers so you can use them if you really need to express yourself.
The basics of schooling in Korea
If you will be spending some time in Korean schools during your trip, it’s important to know a few things about Korean education and how it works. Korean public schools follow the elementary, middle and high school structure, with students starting school at 5 years old and leaving school at 18. Students at elementary school finish the school day between 1pm-2:30pm (depending on age), while middle school students tend to leave school at 3:30 and high school students can leave school as late as 10pm, with classes finishing around 4:30 and time after that used for after school classes and self-study.
If you will be spending time in a Korean school, it’s important to know a few things that may differ from schools in your area. Firstly, upon entering the building, students and teachers will be required to take off their shoes and wear indoor slippers (guest slippers should be provided).
At lunch time, traditional Korean food will be served – which usually includes soup, kimchi, rice, vegetables, meat, and fruit. Knives and forks are not provided, as food is eaten with flat metal chopsticks and a spoon. Schools don’t cater to dietary requirements such as providing vegetarian/vegan as standard, so you may have to discuss this with the school beforehand. It’s also customary to brush your teeth after eating lunch, so students may want to bring a travel toothbrush and toothpaste with them to school.
There can be between four and seven classes a day, and students tend to stay in their homeroom classrooms for most subjects. Depending on your length of stay, students may be provided a small locker in their classroom. Elementary students also receive one small carton of milk a day to drink at breaktime. Teachers often give candy rewards during class – due to the population of Korea having a very low percentage of nut allergies compared to many other countries, teachers and cafeteria staff often provide students with food containing nuts, including foods cooked in peanut and sesame oil. If your students have any food allergies, it is best to let the Korean school know, and to be clear about the severity of the allergy.
The best foods to try in Korea
One of the best ways to experience a new culture is to try the local food, and Korea has some really delicious traditional foods. Served with almost every Korean meal, kimchi is a spicy fermented vegetable dish and the country’s most famous food. Kimchi can come in a huge variety of types, spice levels and level of fermentation (with fresh kimchi being much more crunchy and less flavourful, while fermented kimchi tends to be softer with a much stronger taste). Most kimchi is made from white cabbage, but you can find kimchi made from white radish, cucumber, spinach, perilla leaves, chives and many other vegetables and roots. Kimchi usually comes as a free side dish for your meal, so it’s a must try!
Some Korean meals I highly recommend are:
- Bibimbap (rice topped with seasoned vegetables and usually meat or egg)
- Gochujang (spicy Korean red pepper sauce)
- Kimbap (a rice roll wrapped in seaweed filled with a variety of fillings).
For a warm, homey meal, I recommend eating jjigae (stew) which you can mostly commonly find made from kimchi, soybeans or tofu. And for a refreshing meal in the summertime, I recommend naengmyeon (buckwheat noodles in a cold, icey broth).
Korea also truly prides itself on its great variety of street food; some must-try dishes include tteokbokki, which are rice cakes in a spicy sauce, omuk which are fishcakes on a stick eaten with broth, and hoddeok, a pancake usually filled with honey and seeds.
Korea also has lots of seasonal foods, so depending on when you go, there are certain foods you should try. In the winter, street stalls sell bunggeobang, a fish shaped bread filled with sweet red bean paste. And in the summer, you have to try bingsoo, which is a bowl of shaved ice topped with condensed milk and a variety of toppings.
Korea has too many traditional dishes to list here, but I highly recommend trying authentic Korean food when you can. Be aware that most foods are eaten with chopsticks, so you may want to brush up on your chopstick skills before you go!
Basic Korean culture & customs
Some basic culture and customs are important to know when visiting any country. In Korea:
- People bow when greeting each other, but there is no need to bow at a ninety-degree angle unless you are meeting somebody incredibly important, such as the President. A small bow at a forty-five degree angle, or even just a small nod of the head, will do.
- It’s a hierarchical society, in which people should show respect to those who are older or in a higher position than them. For you, this could include bowing and greeting fellow teachers or guides, not eating or leaving the table until the oldest/most powerful person does so, and offering small acts of help to them such as pouring water during a meal. Generally, just being polite to those who are there to help you such as guides or teachers can go a long way – this may be common sense, but it’s important to remember!
- Silence on public transport is also an unspoken social rule, so don’t be surprised if a coach, bus, or taxi driver reprimands you or your students for talking too loudly.
- It’s recommended to wear more modest clothing (that cover the chest and shoulders) when visiting religious places, such as Buddhist temples. There are also quite specific rules about clothing when visiting the DMZ, so if this is on your itinerary be sure to check to ensure you dress appropriately on the day.
What to bring for a Korea school trip
There are some certain things you should always carry with you when travelling in Korea. Korea is typically a very safe country, but regardless, when travelling you should always keep your money and valuables secure. While it’s true that you will see locals leaving phones and laptops on café tables without a care in the world, it’s a good rule of thumb to always keep valuable items with you.
Korea is a very mountainous country (even cities like Seoul are built on uneven ground, and you will encounter many steep hills and stairs), so I’d recommend avoiding high heels and wearing comfortable shoes that you can easily walk in. It is also compulsory in some places to remove your shoes when you enter, so wearing shoes that you can easily slip on and off (avoiding shoes that have to be unlaced to remove) will save you so much time – and some awkward fumbling in doorways!
Korea can get hot and humid in the summer, so I’d recommend that you carry a fan and some water at all times. You can also buy cooling patches to stick on your skin if you are going to be outside a lot on a very hot day. There will be mosquitoes around in the summer months, so bug spray and cream is recommended. On the other hand, in the winter you will see most locals wearing large padded coats, as the temperature can get very cold. You can also buy heat packs or hand warmers from most convenience stores during this time.
This is just some basic information to get started when planning your school trip to Korea – although it may seem like a lot, don’t feel overwhelmed! Korean communities are very forgiving to visitors who make mistakes, and even an attempt at engaging in cultural norms or using the language will be highly appreciated. But if you can keep some of these ideas in mind, it will make for an even smoother and more comfortable trip, meaning you’re free to explore everything that Korea has to offer.
Bethan is a teacher in Jecheon, a small city that’s a couple of hours outside Seoul. Originally from England, she’s now an English teacher in a local elementary (primary) school.
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