When it comes to learning a language, there are a lot of different schools of thought on the matter. Some people aim for fluency and want to speak a language as well as the locals whereas others are happy to just get be able to get by whilst visiting a place.
As for how much of a language you need to know, it really depends on your own goals, the type of person you are, what you want to use the language for, and how you learn.
In this article, we'll be looking at the level you should have in Korean before going to South Korea as a tourist, to live there, or to find work there. Different situations have different requirements so use this advice as a guide and remember that your requirements may differ.
Should You Learn Korean Before You Visit Korea?
Personally, I like to learn a little bit of the local language before I go anywhere. It tends to make things easier and it's always been appreciated by locals when I travel.
Around the world, most native English speakers are notorious for how little they speak foreign languages and the entire English-speaking world is quite guilty of being monolingual. You tend to find that if you do make an effort and learn a few essential Korean phrases in a given language, everybody is much nicer to you, even if they were being pretty nice anyway.
There are lots of useful expressions you can learn before you travel to South Korea, but generally, you'll want to know basic greetings, how to ask for things politely, how to introduce yourself, and manners.
If you enjoy learning languages, then it can always help to learn how to ask what things are, how to say something in Korean, and other useful expressions that you can use to start building your vocabulary in the target language.
A few numbers, at least the numbers from 1 to 10, can be really useful and maybe some expressions to ask people if they speak English. Even if you have very little Korean, it's nice to ask somebody if they can speak English rather than just starting a conversation in it and assuming that they'll accommodate you.
You have to remember that while English is a lingua franca at most of South Korea's most popular tourist attractions, South Korea only has a moderate level of English. While there are many South Koreans with excellent English, the general proficiency in English isn't amazing and you may end up in situations where little to no English is spoken. It's worth having a few useful Korean expressions up your sleeve.
Do You Need to Learn Korean to Live in Korea?
As mentioned, the level of English in Korea isn't the best. It's not necessarily terrible, but there are other countries in the world where English speakers could comfortably live their day-to-day lives without having to learn the language.
While you may be able to find a few people who speak English well enough to help you, you really should learn the language to make things much easier.
No matter where you are in the world, it can help an awful lot to speak the local language, especially if you're dealing with bureaucracy. Whether you're looking for accommodation, opening a bank account, buying property, looking for work, or just trying to make friends, it's much easier when you can speak the language and understand what's going on.
You also need to remember that since Korean uses a different alphabet to English, it's worthwhile learning the language just to be able to read signs, labels, menus, and anything else that you'll have to read whilst you're living there.
Socially, if you want to make friends in South Korea, it helps to speak the language. Of course, if you just want to make English-speaking friends, you can, but it's probably not the reason you decided to move to South Korea in the first place.
By learning Korean, your overall quality of life in the country will be greatly improved and while you could live day-to-day speaking only English, finding other English speakers, or using a translator app on your phone, you could hardly say that you're “living” in South Korea, could you?
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Do You Need to Learn Korean to Work in Korea?
Living somewhere and working somewhere are two different things. If you're not living in South Korea to study, you'll probably be working. However, the requirements are slightly different.
Certain jobs, especially those looking for English speakers, mightn't even need you to speak any Korean, especially if the workplace or a specific department operates completely in English.
In this case, Korean skills won't be required, but they would be recommended for all the reasons we mentioned earlier. Even if you're only planning to work in South Korea temporarily, speaking the language can make both your work life and personal life much more enjoyable and enriching.
Though not essential, some Korean language skills will probably be a bonus for a lot of jobs as employers might be looking for English speakers but will also expect employees to have a basic level of Korean to get by.
Do You Need to Be Fluent in Korean to Live in Korea?
If you want to start a lively debate in language learning forums, just ask exactly what fluent means. For the sake of this article, let's just say that it means speaking the language to a very high level so that you're very comfortable in any everyday situation and capable of holding your own in some more technical and specific conversations.
In short, you don't need to be fluent to live in Korea, at least not when you first get there. You should have the basics and have at least enough to get by, especially if you need to be dealing with bureaucracy and all the other fun administrative stuff that comes with living anywhere.
Your Korean doesn't need to be perfect and nor does it even need to be good. All you need is for your Korean to be passable and have enough Korean to make yourself understood. Make sure you know enough Korean to improve and you'll be fine.
If you immerse yourself in the South Korean language and culture, you'll find that your Korean will improve quickly and by a lot. As long as you have the necessary language to improve your Korean, you'll see it improve.
You'll certainly need the basics, but you won't really need more than that if you're willing to put yourself out there and use what little Korean you have. The more you participate, the more you'll see your Korean improve and the closer you'll get to fluency.
Your end goal will likely be to speak Korean fluently, but you don't need to speak it fluently when you arrive.
How Long Does It Take to Learn Korean?
The time taken to learn a language depends on a few things. Generally, the similarity to a student's mother tongue will be one of the key factors. There's also the student, their ability, and how they're choosing to learn the language.
All things being equal, Korean is a fairly tricky language to learn. European languages are usually easier for English speakers to learn because they have more lexical and grammatical similarities to our own language.
Korean, however, is nothing like English. The vocabulary, grammar, and writing systems are all different and these are all things that take time to learn. Estimates suggest that fluency is only attainable after 2,200 hours of study or 88 weeks of extremely intense study.
This means that gaining fluency in Korean will even take some time if you're fully immersed in the language and culture, just remember that fluency might be your goal, but it's not essential.
All you have to do is learn enough Korean to survive and enjoy your time there and the rest will follow.
Which Is the Best Way to Learn Korean?
As every student is different, the best way to learn Korean depends on who you are, what you like, and how you like to learn. Immersion is probably the quickest way to learn, but if you don't have the confidence to put yourself out there and go for it, it might be better to start with Korean lessons.
You can always combine immersion with Korean lessons or work with a private Korean tutor. It's a good idea to try a few different learning approaches before working out what works best for you.
Lessons or private tutorials are good to learn the foundational grammar and vocabulary you need to get talking, but what you really want is to get out there and start using your Korean as soon as you can.
Ready to start learning? Find a Korean course online here on Superprof!
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