For the first time in my life I tried to read a webtoon in Korean – a language I barely know – as I am too impatient to wait for the translation and too sick to work on my textbook right now. As I went through it I wrote down Korean vocabulary and grammar and decided to share it here, in case anyone would like to join me in the struggle of reading it in Korean.
It is called July Found by Chance (어쩌다 발견한 7월) (<- this is raw Korean version) published by Daum and made by my favorite webtoon author (만화가) known as muryu (무류). It is beautifully drawn and has an exciting plot and a type of humor I really enjoy. I decided to try to read it even though I don’t understand 90% of what’s being said (95%?).
July Found by Chance is a relatively easy webtoon to learn Korean with.
Granted, it’s a regular webtoon written for native speakers – not for Korean language learners, and since the beginning is quite mysterious it takes an episode or two to figure out what’s going on, but other than that it uses quite a simple language.
It is set in high school so the characters use short and simple sentences. Much shorter than in my beloved historical webtoon that caused the aforementioned debacle, anyway.
While it’s not technically a Korean comic for beginners, I am a beginner and that’s not stopping me. At the very least it doesn’t have long convoluted monologues by court officials emulating historical Korean speech, like a certain another webtoon.
Another good thing about using this particular webtoon to learn Korean is that it has fantastic re-readability. When I went through it the second time I was able to notice certain details that were meaningless in the first read-through. “Ah, that’s when it started! Of course,” “There they are in the background, finishing their conversation. That’s why the jump happened.”
It makes repeat reading equally enjoyable as the first and, after all, repetition is the mother of learning.
To get right to the main point – Korean grammar and vocabulary from the webtoon – I left talking about how much reading this webtoon improved my Korean for the end, as well as explaining why I approached it differently than I do other sources for learning Korean, so scroll to the bottom of this post for a few final thoughts.
I wrote down only those Korean words or sentences I don’t understand and either
find interesting enough, important enough for the plot, or if I feel like I can almost understand them and need just a bit of help.
I will not talk about the plot but you might be able to guess a certain plot point from sentences I translate, so: Spoiler alert!
사소하다
trivial, minor, insignificant, unimportant
밀다
to push, nudge, shove
-버리다
indicates that the preceding action was done to completion
그렇게 계속 의심하면 여기서 널 밀어버릴 수도 있어.
If you keep doubting me like that, I could push you off here.
신사
gentleman
숙녀
lady
–(으)니까
because, so
짓
an act, doing
짓을 할 수는 없지
I can’t do that, can I?
떨어트리다 = 떨어뜨리다
to drop
소중하다
to be precious, valuable, dear
변태
pervert
호흡
breathing, respiration
심박
heartbeat
통증
pain, ache
정상 / 비정상
normal, regular/abnormal, irregular
최근 나에겐 사소한 문제가 몇 가지 생겼다.
I’ve had a few minor problems lately.
첫 뻔재 문제
First problem
기억이 사라진다.
Memory disappears.
자각하다
to realize, awake to
일주일 전
a week ago
기말고사
finals, final exams
은단오
Eun Danoh
Note: Name of the main female character.
전혀
completely, entirely; not at all, not a bit
전혀 기억이 없는데?
No memory at all?
안 비켜?!
Can’t you move!?
그게 시작이었다.
That was the beginning.
걷다
to gather up, bring in; to collect, gather;
Also: to walk
뭐가 어떻게 돌아가고 있는거야?
What’s going on?
Note: ??? I don’t understand why this sentence means “What’s going on?” in Korean. I can only understand it as “What how is returning?”
상황
situation, conditions, circumstances
파악
grasp, understanding
상황 파악이 전혀 안되네.
I don’t understand the situation at all.
와중에
in the middle of something complicated happening
지치다
to be exhausted, be fatigued
피로
tiredness, exhaustion
쌓이다 [싸이다]
to accumulate, pile up
피로가 쌓이다
to become more and more fatigued
분명
clearly, plainly, obviously
Note: This word occurs frequently in this webtoon.
체감시간
??? Sense of time, the time your body feels passed
순식간 [순식깐]
a moment
건망증 [건망쯩]
amnesia
상실
loss
연관
the relation between, connection with
검색어
search word
Note: Seems like a useful word when using Korean search engines.
여주다
Juda Yeo
Note: Name of a female character.
이주화
Joshua Lee
Note: Name of a male character, who is a doctor.
넵
Yep
Note: Seems like Korean texting slang.
-ㄴ 것 같아요
-it seems as though
Note: This appears to be a very common Korean sentence ending, I’d better learn it as soon as I have the brainpower.
의학
medicine, medical science
Note: To remember this Korean word easier I think of doctor 의사 and school 학교. What do doctors 의 learn in school 학? 의학.
의견
opinion, view
방금
just now, a moment ago
질색 [질쌕]
hate, detest
딱 질색이야.
I hate it/you.
환각
hallucination
설마-
Not likely…/No way…/Give me a break…
정신 분열
Schizophrenia
백경
BaekKyung
Note: Character’s name. A blond guy with an annoying face.
남
others, other people
욕먹 [용먹]
??? blame, criticism
나와서 체해.
??? Show up and pull yourself together.
상관없다 [상과넙따]
to not care, to not matter, to have nothing to do with
묘함 기시감 같은
strange déjá vu-like
지겹다
to be painfully boring
비웃듯
mockingly
짜증
irritation, annoyance
차이다
to be dumped, broken up with; to be hit, kicked
초능력 [초능녁]
superpowers
Note: 능력 means “ability”.
충격
shock
심박수
heart rate
눌러 주세요.
Please press (push).
Note: Sign on the doors. Might be useful for anyone having to deal with Korean doors.
누르다
to press, push
순정만화
romance comic
나의 소중한 일주일도 사라졌다.
My precious week has disappeared.
이제부터는 어쩌지?
What do I/we do now?
인생의 경험치가 너무 낮아
I am inexperienced. (lit. Life experience is too low.)
이거 놔 ( from 놓다)
Let go of me
이도화
Doha Lee
Note: Name of a male character, who is a second lead.
주인공
the main character, protagonist, hero, heroine
자신의 삶이 다른 누군가를 위해 존재할 거라고는 생각하지 않는데.
??? I don’t think his life gonna exist for anyone else.
실망하고 있어.
I’m disappointed.
그래도 포기하지 마. 이건 진심이야.
But don’t give up. I mean it./It’s the truth.
심지어
even worse
출석번호
attendance number
도망치다
escape, run away
벗어나다
get out (of), breakaway (from)
악몽
nightmare
덜컥
suddenly, unexpectedly
허락하다
to permit, consent, approve
날 알아봐 주는 건 너 뿐인데.
You’re the only one who recognizes me.
눈치채다
to become aware of, be conscious of, suspect
체육관 [체육꽌]
gym
한없이
endlessly, infinitely
선명하다
clear, distinct, vivid
약혼
engagement, be engaged
사다리
ladder
Season 2
시즌2 1화 산책
단역
the minor role, an extra
시한부
limited in time (such as terminally ill)
This is actually not how I would learn Korean from a webtoon. It was never my intention to. All I wanted is to read through it and understand the story as much as possible, so my approach to it has been vastly different than what I normally do.
My predictions were right. I probably didn’t memorize a single new word.
But something unexpected happened!
Usually, if I’m not actively studying Korean, when I come across a large chunk of Korean text my eyes just glaze over. I know for certain that I won’t understand it, and slowly reading syllable by syllable to check if I can pick out a few words I do understand is just too exhausting for me.
After just three days of forcing myself to read every single word from this webtoon and trying to understand it, I could inexplicably scan large chunks of Korean text easily and pick out the words I know at a glance.
I really didn’t expect to see any improvement let alone such a drastic one. I wonder if it’s temporary or if it will last.
So despite not forcing myself to memorize Korean webtoon vocabulary something good did come out of it.
If you would rather read July Found by Chance (어쩌다 발견한 7월) webtoon in an app than on Daum Webtoon site, Daum has webtoon apps for iOS and Android. Unfortunately, unlike Naver, it doesn’t have an English version of its app.
It is called July Found by Chance (어쩌다 발견한 7월) (<- this is raw Korean version) published by Daum and made by my favorite webtoon author (만화가) known as muryu (무류). It is beautifully drawn and has an exciting plot and a type of humor I really enjoy. I decided to try to read it even though I don’t understand 90% of what’s being said (95%?).
July Found by Chance is a relatively easy webtoon to learn Korean with.
Granted, it’s a regular webtoon written for native speakers – not for Korean language learners, and since the beginning is quite mysterious it takes an episode or two to figure out what’s going on, but other than that it uses quite a simple language.
It is set in high school so the characters use short and simple sentences. Much shorter than in my beloved historical webtoon that caused the aforementioned debacle, anyway.
While it’s not technically a Korean comic for beginners, I am a beginner and that’s not stopping me. At the very least it doesn’t have long convoluted monologues by court officials emulating historical Korean speech, like a certain another webtoon.
Another good thing about using this particular webtoon to learn Korean is that it has fantastic re-readability. When I went through it the second time I was able to notice certain details that were meaningless in the first read-through. “Ah, that’s when it started! Of course,” “There they are in the background, finishing their conversation. That’s why the jump happened.”
It makes repeat reading equally enjoyable as the first and, after all, repetition is the mother of learning.
To get right to the main point – Korean grammar and vocabulary from the webtoon – I left talking about how much reading this webtoon improved my Korean for the end, as well as explaining why I approached it differently than I do other sources for learning Korean, so scroll to the bottom of this post for a few final thoughts.
I wrote down only those Korean words or sentences I don’t understand and either
find interesting enough, important enough for the plot, or if I feel like I can almost understand them and need just a bit of help.
I will not talk about the plot but you might be able to guess a certain plot point from sentences I translate, so: Spoiler alert!
Three question marks “???” signify that I doubt my translation, or that I have no clue how to translate it at all.
I also included pronunciation in square brackets “[]” only for the words I was uncertain about.
Let’s get into webtoon’s vocabulary and grammar.
Here is Korean -> English translation as I read through the webtoon:
Title of the webtoon:
어쩌다 발견한 7월
July Found by Chance / I Found It in July
(↳this is not my translation, these are the titles I found it under)
어쩌다
accidentally, by chance
Note: This word looks like a verb or an adjective but doesn’t act like either. What’s up with that?
발견하다
to discover, stumble on, locate
7월
July
보잘것없다 [보잘꺼덥따] or 보잘 것 없다
worthless, pathetic, meager
내가 너를 찾을게-
I will find you…
I also included pronunciation in square brackets “[]” only for the words I was uncertain about.
Let’s get into webtoon’s vocabulary and grammar.
Here is Korean -> English translation as I read through the webtoon:
Title of the webtoon:
어쩌다 발견한 7월
July Found by Chance / I Found It in July
(↳this is not my translation, these are the titles I found it under)
어쩌다
accidentally, by chance
Note: This word looks like a verb or an adjective but doesn’t act like either. What’s up with that?
발견하다
to discover, stumble on, locate
7월
July
Season 1
프롤로그Prologue:
보잘것없다 [보잘꺼덥따] or 보잘 것 없다
worthless, pathetic, meager
내가 너를 찾을게-
I will find you…
Episode 1: Trivial problem 1
1화 사소한 문제 1사소하다
trivial, minor, insignificant, unimportant
밀다
to push, nudge, shove
-버리다
indicates that the preceding action was done to completion
그렇게 계속 의심하면 여기서 널 밀어버릴 수도 있어.
If you keep doubting me like that, I could push you off here.
신사
gentleman
숙녀
lady
–(으)니까
because, so
짓
an act, doing
짓을 할 수는 없지
I can’t do that, can I?
떨어트리다 = 떨어뜨리다
to drop
소중하다
to be precious, valuable, dear
변태
pervert
호흡
breathing, respiration
심박
heartbeat
통증
pain, ache
정상 / 비정상
normal, regular/abnormal, irregular
최근 나에겐 사소한 문제가 몇 가지 생겼다.
I’ve had a few minor problems lately.
첫 뻔재 문제
First problem
기억이 사라진다.
Memory disappears.
자각하다
to realize, awake to
일주일 전
a week ago
기말고사
finals, final exams
은단오
Eun Danoh
Note: Name of the main female character.
전혀
completely, entirely; not at all, not a bit
전혀 기억이 없는데?
No memory at all?
안 비켜?!
Can’t you move!?
그게 시작이었다.
That was the beginning.
걷다
to gather up, bring in; to collect, gather;
Also: to walk
뭐가 어떻게 돌아가고 있는거야?
What’s going on?
Note: ??? I don’t understand why this sentence means “What’s going on?” in Korean. I can only understand it as “What how is returning?”
상황
situation, conditions, circumstances
파악
grasp, understanding
상황 파악이 전혀 안되네.
I don’t understand the situation at all.
와중에
in the middle of something complicated happening
지치다
to be exhausted, be fatigued
피로
tiredness, exhaustion
쌓이다 [싸이다]
to accumulate, pile up
피로가 쌓이다
to become more and more fatigued
분명
clearly, plainly, obviously
Note: This word occurs frequently in this webtoon.
체감시간
??? Sense of time, the time your body feels passed
순식간 [순식깐]
a moment
건망증 [건망쯩]
amnesia
상실
loss
연관
the relation between, connection with
검색어
search word
Note: Seems like a useful word when using Korean search engines.
여주다
Juda Yeo
Note: Name of a female character.
이주화
Joshua Lee
Note: Name of a male character, who is a doctor.
넵
Yep
Note: Seems like Korean texting slang.
-ㄴ 것 같아요
-it seems as though
Note: This appears to be a very common Korean sentence ending, I’d better learn it as soon as I have the brainpower.
의학
medicine, medical science
Note: To remember this Korean word easier I think of doctor 의사 and school 학교. What do doctors 의 learn in school 학? 의학.
의견
opinion, view
방금
just now, a moment ago
질색 [질쌕]
hate, detest
딱 질색이야.
I hate it/you.
환각
hallucination
설마-
Not likely…/No way…/Give me a break…
정신 분열
Schizophrenia
백경
BaekKyung
Note: Character’s name. A blond guy with an annoying face.
남
others, other people
욕먹 [용먹]
??? blame, criticism
나와서 체해.
??? Show up and pull yourself together.
상관없다 [상과넙따]
to not care, to not matter, to have nothing to do with
묘함 기시감 같은
strange déjá vu-like
지겹다
to be painfully boring
비웃듯
mockingly
짜증
irritation, annoyance
Episode 2: Trivial problem 2
2화 사소한 문제 2차이다
to be dumped, broken up with; to be hit, kicked
초능력 [초능녁]
superpowers
Note: 능력 means “ability”.
충격
shock
심박수
heart rate
눌러 주세요.
Please press (push).
Note: Sign on the doors. Might be useful for anyone having to deal with Korean doors.
누르다
to press, push
순정만화
romance comic
나의 소중한 일주일도 사라졌다.
My precious week has disappeared.
이제부터는 어쩌지?
What do I/we do now?
인생의 경험치가 너무 낮아
I am inexperienced. (lit. Life experience is too low.)
이거 놔 ( from 놓다)
Let go of me
이도화
Doha Lee
Note: Name of a male character, who is a second lead.
주인공
the main character, protagonist, hero, heroine
자신의 삶이 다른 누군가를 위해 존재할 거라고는 생각하지 않는데.
??? I don’t think his life gonna exist for anyone else.
실망하고 있어.
I’m disappointed.
그래도 포기하지 마. 이건 진심이야.
But don’t give up. I mean it./It’s the truth.
심지어
even worse
출석번호
attendance number
도망치다
escape, run away
벗어나다
get out (of), breakaway (from)
악몽
nightmare
덜컥
suddenly, unexpectedly
허락하다
to permit, consent, approve
날 알아봐 주는 건 너 뿐인데.
You’re the only one who recognizes me.
눈치채다
to become aware of, be conscious of, suspect
체육관 [체육꽌]
gym
한없이
endlessly, infinitely
선명하다
clear, distinct, vivid
약혼
engagement, be engaged
사다리
ladder
Season 2
Episode 1: A stroll
시즌2 1화 산책단역
the minor role, an extra
시한부
limited in time (such as terminally ill)
This is actually not how I would learn Korean from a webtoon. It was never my intention to. All I wanted is to read through it and understand the story as much as possible, so my approach to it has been vastly different than what I normally do.
My predictions were right. I probably didn’t memorize a single new word.
But something unexpected happened!
Usually, if I’m not actively studying Korean, when I come across a large chunk of Korean text my eyes just glaze over. I know for certain that I won’t understand it, and slowly reading syllable by syllable to check if I can pick out a few words I do understand is just too exhausting for me.
After just three days of forcing myself to read every single word from this webtoon and trying to understand it, I could inexplicably scan large chunks of Korean text easily and pick out the words I know at a glance.
I really didn’t expect to see any improvement let alone such a drastic one. I wonder if it’s temporary or if it will last.
So despite not forcing myself to memorize Korean webtoon vocabulary something good did come out of it.
If you would rather read July Found by Chance (어쩌다 발견한 7월) webtoon in an app than on Daum Webtoon site, Daum has webtoon apps for iOS and Android. Unfortunately, unlike Naver, it doesn’t have an English version of its app.
Bibliography:
Korean, Luna ? Flicker of. “Korean Learning.” A Flicker of Korean, 1 May 2019
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