English Is Not Everywhere

Most phrasebooks open with "Where is the library?" Nobody on a Seoul trip needs that line.

What you need is smaller and sharper. The words that stop a taxi at the right corner. The sentence that keeps shrimp out of your soup. The way to tell a pharmacist where it hurts and since when. That is what this page is for.

This guide is a language aid, not medical advice. For anything about your health, follow a doctor or pharmacist.

Do people speak English in Korea?

In central Seoul, enough to get by, but not everywhere. Hotel desks, airport counters and big tourist areas usually manage English. Taxi drivers, small family restaurants and neighborhood pharmacies often do not. (Peep observation)

The language barrier is real, but it is narrow. Most people read English better than they speak it, so a short typed sentence on your phone often lands when spoken words do not. (Peep observation)

Three habits remove most of the friction:

Q. Is it rude to just speak English? No. Start with 안녕하세요 (annyeonghaseyo, hello), then ask in simple English. The greeting buys a lot of goodwill.

How do you read the romanization in this guide?

Every phrase here uses Revised Romanization, the official system from the National Institute of Korean Language.¹ It follows how a word sounds, not how it is spelled, so treat it as a rough guide to the sound. It is approximate, and a native speaker will always sound different.

A few letters trip up English speakers:

Native speakers soften and link sounds at speed. That is one more reason to show the Hangul.

Which Korean words work in almost any situation?

These ten cover greetings, apologies, prices and the moment you are lost. Each one is polite enough for a shop clerk, a driver or a nurse.

The last two lines are underrated. If you hand someone your phone with a notes app open, many people will type the answer for you in Korean, and your translation app can read it back.

Q. Should I say 감사합니다 or 고마워요? Both are polite. 감사합니다 (gamsahamnida) is the safe default with strangers. 고마워요 (gomawoyo) is warmer and more casual.

How do you count and say prices in Korean?

Korean uses two number systems. Prices, minutes and phone numbers use one set. People, items and hours on the clock use another. Beginners mix them up all the time, and people will still understand you.

The trick with prices: Koreans count large sums in units of 10,000, called 만 (man). So 35,000 won is 삼만 오천 원 (samman ocheon won), literally "three ten-thousands, five thousand won."

At 3 o'clock is 세 시 (se si), using the second column. Thirty minutes is 삼십 분 (samsip bun), using the first.

Q. Do I need to learn all this? No. Prices show on the register screen and most menus print numbers. Learn 만 (man) so a spoken price makes sense, and let the screen do the rest. Paying itself is covered in our money guide.

What do you say to a taxi driver in Korea?

Show the destination in Korean and say 여기로 가 주세요 (yeogiro ga juseyo), "please go here." Drivers navigate by address, so a Korean address or place name on your screen works far better than an English landmark name. (Peep observation)

Swap any station name into the second line. Station is 역 (yeok), and the ending changes slightly with the sound before it, but drivers understand either way.

To address the driver politely, say 기사님 (gisanim). It works like "sir" or "ma'am" for any driver.

Q. What if the driver cannot find the place? Show the place's phone number. Many drivers can call ahead or search their navigation by number. (Peep observation) A building name plus the nearest subway exit number also helps. Fares and taxi apps are in our Seoul subway, bus and taxi guide.

Q. Is "please drive gently" rude to ask? Not when it is said with 주세요. It is a fair request on a day you feel tender or carry something fragile.

How do you order food in Korean?

Point at the menu or the picture and say 이거 하나 주세요 (igeo hana juseyo), "one of this, please." Staff will usually greet you with a headcount question first, so answer with the number of people. (Peep observation)

The single-portion line saves dinners. Barbecue and some stew places sell by the portion (인분, inbun) and often expect at least two. Solo travelers should ask before sitting down. (Peep observation)

Q. How do I say I am vegetarian? Say 저는 고기를 안 먹어요 (jeoneun gogireul an meogeoyo), "I do not eat meat." Then ask about the broth: 고기 육수 들어가요? (gogi yuksu deureogayo?), "Is there meat stock in it?" Many soups and stews start from meat or fish stock even when no meat is visible.

How do you say "I have an allergy" in Korean?

Say the food, then 알레르기가 있어요 (allereugiga isseoyo), "I have an allergy." For example, 땅콩 알레르기가 있어요 (ttangkong allereugiga isseoyo) means "I have a peanut allergy." 알레르기 is the standard spelling; you may also hear 알러지 (alleoji).

Then add one of these lines:

Packaged food in Korea lists allergens in a separate box with its own background color, near the ingredients.⁵ Learn the Hangul for your allergen and you can scan convenience store labels in seconds. A restaurant dish has no label, so you ask.

Q. Will staff take an allergy seriously? Many do when it is written down and short (Peep observation), but never rely on that alone. Show a card that reads, for example, "땅콩 알레르기가 있어요. 조금만 들어가도 안 돼요." If the answer is unsure, choose another dish. A phrase card helps people understand you; it cannot check the kitchen for you. If you have a severe allergy, travel with the emergency plan and medicine your own doctor has given you.

What do you say at a Korean pharmacy?

Say where it hurts and since when, then mention anything the pharmacist must know: allergies, pregnancy, or other medicines you take. The pharmacist chooses what fits, so you do not need to know any product names. (Peep observation)

Korean pharmacies dispense prescription medicine only against a prescription issued in Korea, so a prescription from home will not be filled there. Our Korean pharmacy guide explains what you can buy without one and where to find a pharmacy at night. If symptoms are severe or do not improve, see a doctor rather than a pharmacy.

Q. What if I take a regular medicine at home? Keep a photo of its label, with the ingredient name in English, on your phone. Show it with 다른 약을 먹고 있어요. The ingredient name usually helps a pharmacist even if the brand is unknown in Korea.

What do you say at a Korean clinic or hospital?

At the front desk, you mostly need three lines: you have a booking, it is your first visit, and you would like someone who speaks English. After that, the useful skill is listening for a few questions staff ask every patient. (Peep observation)

At the front desk

What staff will ask you

What you may need to say

That last line matters if you plan a travel insurance claim. Ask at the desk on the day, before you leave, so you are not emailing from home later. (Peep observation)

Phrases help with check-in. They are not enough for a consultation, a consent form or aftercare instructions. For those, get the clinic to confirm by email, before booking, whether an interpreter is included and in which language. Our Korean clinic consultation checklist lists what to send and ask before you fly.

Q. Is there interpretation help outside the clinic? Seoul's official medical tourism site runs an interpretation request service for hospital and clinic visits in Seoul. It asks for requests at least 7 days ahead and a minimum of 2 hours, with time and fee agreed with the interpreter.⁶ The 1330 helpline also interprets by phone and chat.^{2, 3}

Do translation apps work in Korea?

Yes, and camera mode does most of the work. Point it at a menu, a pharmacy box or a sign, and the text turns into English on screen. Papago and Google Translate are the two that visitors mention most; either works for short sentences. (Peep observation)

How to get better results:

Need data the moment you land? Our eSIM and SIM guide for Korea walks through the options.

Q. Should I trust an app for a consent form? No. Use an app to get the gist of a menu or a sign. For anything you sign, ask for an English version or a human interpreter.

What should you do when nobody understands you?

Call 1330, the Korea Travel Helpline run by the Korea Tourism Organization. It gives travel information and interpretation by phone and online chat.² English, Korean, Japanese and Chinese run 24 hours a day; Russian, Vietnamese, Thai, Malay and Indonesian run from 08:00 to 19:00. From overseas, dial +82-2-1330.³

In an emergency, call 119 for fire and ambulance or 112 for police. When the call connects, say "English, please" or "Interpreter, please," and the operator can connect an interpreter.⁴ Have your location ready: a nearby building name or your phone's GPS.

Save both numbers now, along with these two lines:

Before the trip itself, check Korea entry requirements. It also carries a short first-day phrase list you can screenshot.