안 녕하세요! Well, the world has changed. You used to have to carry around a heavy little pocket dictionary in foreign countries to help explain to a local how you have no idea where you are. These days, we have access to wonderful apps like Learn Korean on the iPhone that will even speak the words aloud FOR you. No worrying about mispronunciation.

 

The breakdown: Learn Korean is an application in the Apple App Store. It has numerous categories: Greetings, General Conversation, Numbers, Directions & Places, Transportation, Eating Out, Time and Date, Accommodation, Shopping, Colors, Cities and Provinces, Countries, Tourist Attractions, Family, Dating, Emergency, Feeling Sick, and Tongue Twisters. The number of phrases in each category ranges 20+ and some have more than 60. Tap once, and each phrase includes the written hangul, romanization, and English translation. Tap a phrase twice and listen to a native speaker’s audio recording. Hold a finger on a phrase and copy either the hangul or the translation. Press the heart to the side of a phrase and save it as a favorite for a quick list at the bottom.

 

Here are some screenshots of the app in action.

Use the search option to quickly look up phrases.

Add phrases to your favorites list for easy access.

 

 

Swipe through the many categories to find exactly what you’re looking for wherever you are, whatever you’re doing.

 

 

Tap once for the hangul and romanization, twice for the Korean pronunciation.

 

 

Some of the categories have little useful tips!

 

 

Toggle the play phrases automatically button to switch your preferences if your pronunciation is already excellent. Also, check out cogent’s other language apps. I have their full LearnJapanese app! And for first-time users, a quick glance through the Tips section is very helpful.

 

 

Here are some phrases from the Eating Out category.

 

 

Overall, this is a really great app to use, whether casually or seriously. If you’re waiting in line, on a subway, AT Subway, or anywhere, you can just plug your headphones in and go over a few phrases. You can download the free version with access to Greetings, General Conversation, Numbers, Directions & Places, Transportation, and Eating Out, but to get the rest of the categories, as well as automatic updates with new phrases, you have to pay $4.99 for Learn Korean Pro. If you’re not going to rely heavily on this app, don’t bother, but if you really enjoy the free version, then just don’t buy four iTunes songs and spend your moolah on a couple hundred Korean phrases instead. And p.s., you’ll definitely enjoy access to the Tongue Twisters section.

 

감사합니다! 또 봐요!