Korean Reading for Beginners : Swimming Pool

Hi Korean learners ! Today, we meet again for another Korean reading practice for beginners. This Korean short story is targeted towards baby beginners. (A0 – A1) The little story will follow Binu and Zapi at the swimmingpool!

If you haven’t been studying Korean for very long, you should be able to study through it.

In this article, you will find :

A reading practice in Korean
A translation of the text
A youtube video of this reading practice
A vocabulary list
A short explanation of the most difficult grammar parts

Korean Reading Practice
- 수영장
Vocabulary
Grammar points
Study Method for Texts

Korean Reading Practice

수영장

비누

오늘은 날씨가 너무 더워요. 그래서 자피 씨와 수영장에 갈 거예요.

수영장에서는 수영복이 필요해요. 새로운 수영복을 샀어요. 예쁘지요 ?

수영장에 도착했어요.

이 수영장은 아주 큰 수영장이에요. 그래서 조금 비싸요.

자피 씨가 아직 안왔어요.

아…너무 더워요. 기다리기 너무 힘들어요. 연락해 볼게요.

비누 – 자피 씨, 어디예요 ?

자피 – 버스를 기다리고 있어요.
5분 후에 도착할 거예요.
비누 씨는 벌써 수영장에 도착했어요?

비누 – 네, 방금 왔어요.

자피 – 그러면 먼저 들어가요 !

비누 – 아니요, 괜찮아요. 기다릴게요.

***

자피 – 비누 씨, 수영복이 너무 잘 어울려요.

비누 -고마워요 ! 자피씨도 귀여워요.

자피 – 물에 들어가요. 너무 더워요.

비누 – 와 ! 너무 시원해요 ! 자피씨도 들어와요.

***

이렇게 2 시간동안 놀았어요. 아주 좋았어요.

Translation (toggle!)

Swimmingpool

Today, the weather is so hot. So, I’m going to go to the swimming pool with Japi.
You need a swimsuit at the swimming pool. I bought a new swimsuit. Isn’t it pretty?

I arrived at the swimming pool. This swimming pool is very large, so it’s a bit expensive.

Zapi hasn’t arrived yet.

Ah… It’s so hot. It’s really hard to wait. I’ll try contacting Zapi.

– Zapi, where are you?
– I’m waiting for the bus. I’ll arrive in 5 minutes. Binu, have you already arrived at the pool?
– Yes, I just got here.
– Then go in first!
– No, it’s okay. I’ll wait for you.
– Binu, your swimsuit looks really good on you.
– Thank you! You look cute too, Zapi.
– Let’s go into the water. It’s too hot.
– Wow! It’s so refreshing! Zapi, come in too.

We played like this for two hours. It was really fun.

Vocabulary

한국어	영어
날씨	Weather
덥다	To be hot
수영장	Swimming pool
수영복	Swimsuit
필요하다	To need
사다	To buy
도착하다	To arrive
크다	To be big
비싸다	To be expensive
기다리기	Waiting
힘들다	To be hard (difficult)
연락하다	To contact
벌써	Already
방금	Just now
먼저	First
들어가다	To go in
잘 어울리다	To look good (on someone)
시원하다	To be refreshing
들어오다	To come in
놀다	To play

Grammar points

-(으)ㄹ게요

The grammar point -ㄹ게요 (or -을게요 after a consonant) is used to express the speaker’s intention or promise to do something. It implies a commitment, often with the nuance of the speaker doing something in consideration of the listener.

Example from the story:

“기다릴게요” → “I will wait (for you).”
Binu promises to wait, showing consideration for Zapi who will arrive shortly.

Note: This is different from -ㄹ 거예요 (which simply expresses a future action without the nuance of commitment).

Korean Time System

Korean Time System

In Korean, telling time combines native Korean numbers for hours and Sino-Korean numbers for minutes.

You will need to know both systems to tell the time, or in many situations requiring numbers in Korean. But let’s focus on time today.

Native Korean Numbers (for hours)	Sino-Korean Numbers (for minutes)
1 : 하나 → 한 시 (1 o’clock) 2 : 둘 → 두 시 (2 o’clock) 3 : 셋 → 세 시 (3 o’clock) 4 : 넷 → 네 시 (4 o’clock) 5 : 다섯 → 다섯 시 (5 o’clock)	1 : 일 → 일 분 (1 minute) 2 : 이 → 이 분 (2 minutes) 3 : 삼 → 삼 분 (3 minutes) 4 : 사 → 사 분 (4 minutes) 5 : 오 → 오 분 (5 minutes)

Other Texts For True Beginners

Study Method for Texts

If you’re not familiar with text study, here’s a method I would suggest you try.

Since we’ve recently started making YouTube videos for each reading practice we post, I would suggest you watch the video to study the text.
The video is divided as follows :

Korean voice only, with pictures to help the understanding
Korean subtitles + translation
Additional notes

By following the video first, you’ll get a good grasp of the text. Then, you can come back here and study it from here.

Korean Reading for Beginners : Swimming Pool

Table of Contents

Korean Reading Practice

수영장

Vocabulary