Essential Korean Podcast

Essential Korean

About

This podcast is brought to you by Kay, a veteran Korean teacher and author of several Korean language books, including Korean Through Folktales, Essential Korean for Daily Conversation, and Online Learning Module for Advanced and Superior Korean. If you want to learn from a teacher who explains the nuances of the Korean language and its grammar, asks you questions, and practices with you with real-life examples, this podcast is for you. If you like the content of this podcast, please check out our EK Podcast Course. In the course, you can read the transcript while listening to the podcast, do practice and worksheets, and even watch the video: www.essentialkorean.com/ek-podcast-course To chat and connect with other listeners of this podcast, join our community on Discord here: https://discord.gg/RBN9NgrTdk For any questions, don't hesitate to contact us at contact@essentialkorean.com :) See you next episode! 

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55 episodes

Korean Cinema & Music: A Journey Through 'ㅆ을까

Dive into the poetic depths of the Korean language with Episode 53 of the Essential Korean Podcast, where we unravel the complexities of ㅆ을까—a grammatical form that captures the poignant musings of past choices and the bittersweet tang of what might have been. In this episode, we embark on an auditory odyssey through the landscapes of cinema and the rhythmic narratives of K-pop. First, we dissect a poignant scene from a beloved Korean movie, parsing the emotion and intent behind ㅆ을까. Then, we groove to the beat of Psys evocative song 어땠을까, unpacking the layers of retrospective longing woven into its lyrics. With grammar and practical language lessons, we’ll explore how this unique expression shapes narratives and conveys deep emotions in Korean storytelling. Whether youre a language learner, a cinephile, or a music enthusiast, this episode will leave you with a new appreciation for the art of Korean expression. Join the discussion post-episode on our website essentialkorean.com under "EK Podcast Episode 53." Share your insights, engage with our vibrant community, and become a part of our collaborative learning experience. Don’t just listen—immerse yourself in the language, reflect on the unspoken words of the past, and connect with us. Your journey through the heart of Korean expression starts here!  ---  #EssentialKorean #LearnKorean #KoreanGrammar #KoreanCinemaLove #KPopLanguage #KoreanPodcast #LanguageLearners #ㅆ을까Journey --- Welcome to the Essential Korean Podcast, where I help break down the nuances of the Korean language to help you become a more aware and confident speaker of Korean. We’ve created the Essential Korean membership https://www.essentialkorean.com/membership to help provide a complete set of tools to elevate your Korean to the next level. Check that out on our website, along with my weekly newsletter, at essentialkorean.com http://essentialkorean.com!

24m
Nov 09, 2023
52. Mastering Korean Food Verbs for Iconic Korean Dishes

Transcript and Key Lesson Points https://my.essentialkorean.com/c/ek-podcast-course/ - - - In this episode, we delve into the linguistic side of Korean cuisine! In this podcast, we explore unique Korean verbs that are associated with the preparation of traditional dishes such as kimchi, jjigae, namul, and more. This episode introduces the verbs in a fun and interactive way, using vivid imagery and repetition for a memorable learning experience. Youll not only learn how to converse about making these iconic dishes but also gain deeper insights into the culture surrounding them. Additionally, stay tuned till the end for an exciting update about our website. Lets get started! --- Welcome to the Essential Korean Podcast, where I help break down the nuances of the Korean language to help you become a more aware and confident speaker of Korean. We’ve created the Essential Korean membership https://www.essentialkorean.com/membership to help provide a complete set of tools to elevate your Korean to the next level. Check that out on our website, along with my weekly newsletter, at essentialkorean.com http://essentialkorean.com!

31m
Jul 15, 2023
51. How To Use Question Word 몇 for Numbers and Classifiers in Korean

Transcript & Key Lesson Points https://www.essentialkorean.com/podcast-course - - -  In this episode, well cover one of the question words, which is long overdue because we had an episode, Episode 3, on basic questions such as 뭐예요 (what is it), 언제예요 (when is it), 어디예요 (where is it), 누구예요 (who is it), and 얼마예요 (how much is it). Yet, its not until today’s episode, Episode 51, that we introduce the crucial question word for numbers, 몇! Well delve into this important question word and learn how to use it by 1) discussing some key concepts and 2) practicing them with situational examples, set in a nice Korean barbecue restaurant!  By the end of this episode, youll be able to comprehend and use this question word 몇 with various classifiers and level up your Korean. Youll also hear a few cultural things to note regarding different types of meat. So, without further ado, lets get started! --- Welcome to the Essential Korean Podcast, where I help break down the nuances of the Korean language to help you become a more aware and confident speaker of Korean. We’ve created the Essential Korean membership https://www.essentialkorean.com/membership to help provide a complete set of tools to elevate your Korean to the next level. Check that out on our website, along with my weekly newsletter, at essentialkorean.com http://essentialkorean.com!

26m
May 23, 2023
50. What is Korean 'YOU'? - How To Address Second Person in Korean

https://www.essentialkorean.com/ https://www.essentialkorean.com/podcast-course https://www.essentialkorean.com/courses, --- In today’s episode, we’ll discuss 1) the difference between the Korean "you" and the English "you" and 2) how to address people youre talking to in Korean.  This is the topic many of you have requested, and I am very happy that I finally got to it and am sharing it with you.   Are you ready to tackle this topic? Let’s dive right in - it’ll be fun and culturally enlightening! --- Welcome to the Essential Korean Podcast, where I help break down the nuances of the Korean language to help you become a more aware and confident speaker of Korean. We’ve created the Essential Korean membership https://www.essentialkorean.com/membership to help provide a complete set of tools to elevate your Korean to the next level. Check that out on our website, along with my weekly newsletter, at essentialkorean.com http://essentialkorean.com!

26m
Apr 03, 2023
49. How To Express Wants or Wishes Part 2: What She/He/They Want (3rd Persons)

https://www.essentialkorean.com/ https://www.essentialkorean.com/podcast-course https://www.essentialkorean.com/courses, --- In today’s episode, we’ll start with a short review of the previous episode, where we learned to express the first person’s wants with one additional usage of the form. After that, we’ll get to a new lesson on how to tell what other people want to do in Korean and compare it with the way in which what ‘I’ or ‘we’ want is expressed in Korean. As today’s episode is the first episode of the new year, we’ll use a situational example very fitting for that– one of our life events that mark and signifies a new beginning: a wedding! With that, to the lesson we go! 

29m
Jan 29, 2023
48. How To Express What 'I' or 'We' Want in Korean

Lesson Recap & Transcript https://www.essentialkorean.com/ https://www.essentialkorean.com/ek-podcast-course https://www.essentialkorean.com/courses,  - - -  In this episode, we will learn the pattern most frequently used in daily conversation to express what I or we wants in Korean.   

24m
Dec 08, 2022
47. 사랑해 줘 Love me VS. 사랑해 주세요 Love me - The difference? (Speech Styles & Speech Levels in Korean)

Lesson Recap & Transcript https://www.essentialkorean.com/ek-podcast-course https://www.essentialkorean.com/ https://www.essentialkorean.com/ek-podcast-course https://www.essentialkorean.com/courses,  - - - In this episode, we will discuss speech styles and speech levels (again :), this tiime with a question from a student, based on a situation from the drama, 힘쎈 여자 도봉순 . Examining the speech styles and levels in different situations will help us experience the dynamics and emotions at play and help us get an intuitive feel of Koreas language and culture. Sounds interesting? -  Lets get started! 

16m
Nov 20, 2022
46. At a Cafe in Korea: What You Will Hear and How To Order

Lesson Recap & Transcript https://www.essentialkorean.com/ https://www.essentialkorean.com/ek-podcast-course https://www.essentialkorean.com/courses, ----- In todays episode, well take a break from grammar-focused lessons for a more real-life situation-based lesson! We will learn:  1)  a few very useful expressions you will hear in a cafe or eatery as a customer and 2) a few ways you can order drinks or food without worrying too much about grammar.  You will learn with situational examples and, today, practice with mini role-plays :)  By the end of this episode, you should feel quite confident when entering a cafe or eatery if or when you visit Korea. With that in mind, let’s dive right into the lesson!   

22m
Nov 07, 2022
45. Future Tense in Korean | Part 3

Lesson Recap & Transcript https://www.essentialkorean.com/ https://www.essentialkorean.com/ek-podcast-course https://www.essentialkorean.com/courses, ------------ This episode is the last in our three-part series on Korean future tense. We’ll expand upon what we have learned in the previous episodes by combining a few sentences with verbs in the future tense form into one sentence using the -고 conjunctive. Let’s finish up our journey with future tense on a high note! To do that, well do something fun with a hypothetical question. Answers to this question call for future tense verbs, and we’ll use the informal-polite future tense form. Stay tuned until the end to create your own answers and also to find out what my personal answer is :) 

27m
Oct 23, 2022
44. "It’s OK. Everything Will Turn Out Alright" in Music

Lesson Recap and Transcript https://www.essentialkorean.com/podcast-lesson-recap-transcript/episode-44 - - - - - - - In this episode, youll learn the informal-polite future tense form and the direct style future tense form in Korean with two songs. You can find the translation of the songs in the transcript, which is accessible for entry and premium plan EK members. We also have our podcast course https://www.essentialkorean.com/ek-podcast-course out for the first nine episodes of this podcast with practice, exercises, and videos, so feel free to check that out on our website http://www.essentiakorean.com as well! - - - - - FEATURED SONGS >  __ __

15m
Oct 09, 2022
Episode 43: Future Tense in Korean | Part 2

Lesson Recap & Transcript - - -  Today’s episode will continue our journey with the future tense, and is divided into three parts: 1) discussion on the difference between the future tense form and the present tense form when action verbs are used to describe future events;  2) different meanings of the future tense form for descriptive verbs; and  3) see how these two key lesson points are at work in conversation with a few situational examples, and a couple of personal anecdotes :)  Let’s get right into it so you see what these mean!

25m
Sep 15, 2022
Episode 42: Future Tense in Korean | Part 1

Lesson Recap & Transcript  In today’s episode, we have another exciting grammar point to cover: the future tense form in Korean. We’ll learn how to conjugate verbs in the future tense, as well as how to conjugate a few irregular verbs. So, if you have been following our podcast episodes in order, you’ll have all three tenses– present, past, and future– under your belt, and, by the end of this episode, you will be able to talk about events or states of being in all three tenses in Korean. How exciting is that! We should get right to the lesson. 

16m
Sep 06, 2022
Episode 41: How to Approach Making Complex Korean Sentences & Pronouncing the 고 Conjunctive in Colloquial Speech [ -구 ] (& Tribute to Extraordinary Attorney Woo)

 Lesson Recap & Transcript In this episode, we’ll do two things:  __ __ Youll also learn to say a sentence, presented as a tribute to the popular K-drama, Extraordinary Attorney Woo  :)  Let’s get right into it ~ 

26m
Aug 15, 2022
Episode 40: Past Tense: Part 2 & -고 Conjunctive

Lesson Recap & Transcript In today’s episode, we will combine all the key lesson points you’ve learned from Episodes 37 and 38 on the 고 conjunctive and Episode 39 on past tense.  By the end of the lesson, youll have learned to tell multiple past events and states with the 고 conjunctive. And you will also be introduced to a new song for the past tense theme. As always, this episode is packed with useful grammar and a lot of practice - lets get started with the lesson! - - - Featured song: https://youtu.be/E1qX6vE4G6U Music by : 우효 Oohyo Title:  꿀차 Honey Tea

22m
Aug 07, 2022
Episode 39: How To Form Past Tense in Korean

Lesson Recap & Transcript In this episode, we will be learning about how to form the past tense in Korean, step-by-step. Well learn the general past tense form first, and then we’ll go through a number of situational examples, in the hopes that you’ll be able to make your own past tense sentences by the end of the episode :) So, let’s get right into it!

24m
Jul 31, 2022
Episode 38.5: EK Study Buddy System & More!

This episode is a special announcement of three new features to help our listeners and members with their learning journey. Please listen in and find out what they are! :) 

4m
Jun 29, 2022
Episode 38: "아깝다" & -고 Conjunctive - Part 2

This episode consists of two parts:  __ __ For the song, youll first hear a cover version by 한승윤 & 서영주 duo in (무명가수전), 2020) and then the original singer 신해철, one of most regarded musicians in Korea.   * * * * * * * Featured Song: 일상으로의 초대 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1B0on2eDEN4 (한승윤 & 서영주) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTkLBhd-hQ8 (신해철) 

32m
Jun 09, 2022
Episode 37: Verb Conjunctive -고 (introducing our first verb conjunctive!)

  In this episode, we will learn our very first verb conjunctive, the 고 conjunctive! When we add the verbal conjunctive -고 to a verb stem (VS), the conjugated verb carries the meaning of the verb in the present tense and the meaning of . As always, well learn this conjunctive and practice speaking with situational examples.   In Korean, different meanings can be marked and expressed right in the verbs with different verbal conjunctives and we’ll learn them one at a time, starting with the -고 conjunctive today. As you start using different verb conjuncitves, your Korean will leap from a novice level and start to flow better. Are you ready to take the leap? I know you are; let’s get right to it :) ** The sentences used in the situational examples in the lesson ** __ __

28m
May 08, 2022
Episode 36: More Situational Examples: Present Tense & Its Meanings (Bonus: 김치찌개 recipe!)

This episode is an extension of the previous episode, Episode 35, which centered on the Korean present tense and its meanings. To reinforce the key points covered in the last episode, well do a few more examples,  this time with more context. Along the way, youll also learn how to make 김치찌개 Kimchi stew in an easy and simple way! 

20m
Mar 29, 2022
Episode 35: Present Tense Form & Its Meanings

This episode will first introduce a few expressions exchanged with someone you havent seen for a while. Then, for the most part, itll discuss the Korean present tense form & its meanings in the four areas:  1) The Korean present tense form can express an action presently in progress.  2) The present tense form can express an action that will be realized in the near future.  3) The present tense form can express an action that occurs regularly. 4) The present tense form can also express an action one tells others to carry out or invites others to do.  As always, well go over new concepts and grammar step by step and practice speaking together.  Lets get started! 

21m
Mar 19, 2022
Episode 34: How To Use Particle 에 l Part 3: Temporal

Lesson Recap & Transcript We’ll continue with the particle 에, and, as the last part of this 3-part series, look at how it can be used to signal WHEN an action or activity takes place.  As always, this episode is far more than just learning the usage of 에. While listening to the episode, youll be asked to repeat and say different sentences and mean what you say :) Follow along, challenge yourself, and practice together with Kay 샘 to be on the way to becoming a confident speaker of Korean :) Lets get started!  

20m
Jan 23, 2022
Episode 33: How To Use Particle 에 l Part 2: Destination

Lesson Recap & Transcript We’ll continue with the particle 에, and, as the second part of this 3-part series, look at how it can be used to signal a DESTINATION.  The usage we’ll learn in this episode is that the particle 에 can follow a destination and be paired with the verbs 가다 and 오다 and any other 가다 and 오다 compound verbs like 들어가다 , 들어오다 , 올라가다 , 올라오다, 돌아가다 돌아오다 .  This episode however is about far more than just the second usage of the particle 에. Along the way, youll learn the new years greeting,  a few kinship terms, and several particle combos to mean also to (place), only to (place), and to (place) at least.  Lets get started :) 

17m
Jan 06, 2022
Episode 31: "How Do I Study Korean?"

In this  episode, Teacher Kay will share her thoughts on  the single most asked question shes received  over the past year, which is "How do I study Korean?"  This is an excellent question to consider for beginners and advanced learners alike, as newer learners should consider ways to effectively and consistently study Korean, and more experienced students should look for ways to improve their existing routine.  You may gain a fresh perspective on the ways you study Korean and even the way you view the language. So head over to this episode and listen in! 

16m
Oct 12, 2021
Episode 30.5 : Korean Pop Music & the Language

Youll find that the structure of this episode, Ep. 30.5,  is quite different from what you are used to (that is if youre a regular listener of our podcast :)  It was recorded in the car, so the audio quality is not going to be amazing to say the least, but hopefully you’ll find something useful and educational. I also did some light post production editing just to make it easier to listen to, so you’ll hear some cuts here and there... You’ll hear two songs in the background. The first song is “그때 그 아이 Someday The Boy” from the K-drama,, aired in 2020; and the second song is “소리 Sound" from , aired in 2018. (As of now, yes, both of these ARE available on Netflix! ) The main points we wanted to get across through today’s episode was idiosyncrasies of the Korean language by examining semantics and pragmatics of K-pop lyrics: For example, the term 그대 or 당신 is translate as ‘you’ in English. They are however not part of daily conversation, but rather mostly used in artistic or literary texts, evoking romantic emotions. This probably explains why you see these terms in Korean love songs so frequently. I also brought up a new speech style, called the plain style. It is used when presenting someones own thoughts to oneself or talking to oneself.  Ok, with those pointers in mind, please enjoy the lesson! 

10m
Sep 24, 2021
Episode 30: How To Use Particle 만

Lesson Recap & Transcript https://www.essentialkorean.com/ep-30-lesson-recap-transcript - - -  In this episode, youll learn how to utilize the particle 만,  the exclusive particle, while reviewing some of the other particles weve learned so far. *FEATURED SONG > Title: 말이야  Im saying  (2013) Artist: Yi Hong Gee 이홍기 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omH47UeVMu8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwNxxRBobFE

19m
Jul 14, 2021
Episode 29: When NOT To Use Particle 을/를 (Part 2 of 을/를!)

Lesson Recap & Transcript https://www.essentialkorean.com/ep-29-lesson-recap-transcript - - -  In this episode,  we will learn about when NOT to use the Korean object particle 을/를 with situational examples. This is going to be a short and sweet episode, but with indispensable grammar rules :) 

13m
Jul 04, 2021
Episode 28: How To Use The Object Particle 을/를

Lesson Recap & Transcript https://www.essentialkorean.com/podcast-lesson-recap-transcript/episode-28 - - -  In this episode,  we will learn how to use the Korean object particle 을/를 and compare it with other particles weve learned.  And,  we will hear a part of the song 잊을게 by Yoon Do Hyunand see how the 을/를  particle is used in action! *FEATURED SONG > Title: 잊을게 Ill Forget You  (2003) Artist: YB & Yoon Do Hyun https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwNxxRBobFE

21m
Jun 21, 2021
Episode 27: How To Use Particle 이/가 (and compare with Particle 은/는)

Lesson Recap & Transcript https://www.essentialkorean.com/ep-27-lesson-recap-transcript  - - -  In this episode,  we will learn how to use the particle 이/가 and how the particle 이/가 is used differently from the particle 은/는.   And,  we will hear a part of the song by Roy Kim titled 봄봄봄 and see how the 이/가  particle is used in action :) *FEATURED SONG > Title: 봄봄봄 Spring, Spring, Spring  (2013) Artist: 로이킴 Roy Kim https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3-BDy55tq4

17m
Jun 06, 2021
Episode 26: Learn Days of the Week and How To Ask What Others Think in Korean

LESSON RECAP & TRANSCRIPT https://www.essentialkorean.com/ep-26-lesson-recap-transcript In this episode,  we will learn two things: __ __ And, of course, we have a song to share. It’s titled 금요일에 만나요 by IU .  Sounds good?  Let’s get started! *FEATURED SONG > Title: 금요일에 만나요 Lets meet on Friday Paradise  (2013) Artist: 아이유 IU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiVmQZwJhsA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDfqXR_5yyQ  ( 2:05-3:07 )

22m
May 05, 2021