Korean reading practice for beginners

Korean Short Story : Phone conversation

Hi Korean learners ! Today, we meet again for another Korean reading practice for beginners. This time, it is targeted towards baby beginners. (A0 – A1)

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

Table of Contents

Korean Reading Practice

톡화

μ—¬λ³΄μ„Έμš”?Hello ?
μ—¬λ³΄μ„Έμš” μžν”Ό 씨, μ € λΉ„λˆ„μ˜ˆμš”!Hello, Zapi. It’s me, Binu!
였, μ•ˆλ…•ν•˜μ„Έμš” λΉ„λˆ„ 씨. μ˜€λžœλ§Œμ΄μ—μš”.Oh, hello Binu. It’s been a while
λ„€, μ˜€λžœλ§Œμ΄μ—μš”. ν˜Ήμ‹œ 내일 μ‹œκ°„ μžˆμ–΄μš”?Yes, it’s been a while. By any chance, do you have time tomorrow?
λ„€, μ‹œκ°„ μžˆμ–΄μš”. μ™œμš”?Yes, I do. Why ?
μ™œλƒν•˜λ©΄ μ €λŠ” 삼겹살을 λ¨Ήκ³  μ‹Άμ–΄μš”.Because I want to eat samgyeobsal
μ •λ§μš”? 저도 λ¨Ήκ³  μ‹Άμ–΄μš”! 같이 식당에 κ°€μš”.Really? I want to eat that too. Let’s go to the restaurant together.
μ’‹μ•„μš”! μ–Έμ œ κ°€κ³  μ‹Άμ–΄μš” ?Nice! When do you want to go ?
저녁 7μ‹œ μ–΄λ•Œμš”?What about 7 pm ?
μ’‹μ•„μš”. 그럼, 내일 7μ‹œμ— λ§Œλ‚˜μš”.Sounds good. Then, let’s meet tomorrow at 7 pm.
내일 λ΄μš”!See you tomorrow!

Vocabulary

ν•œκ΅­μ–΄μ˜μ–΄
μ—¬λ³΄μ„Έμš”?Hello?
μ˜€λžœλ§Œμ΄μ—μš”It’s been a while
ν˜Ήμ‹œBy any chance
μ‹œκ°„Time
μ™œλƒν•˜λ©΄Because
μ‚Όκ²Ήμ‚΄Samgyeopsal (pork belly)
식당Restaurant
μ–Έμ œWhen
저녁Evening
μ–΄λ•Œμš”?How about?
λ§Œλ‚˜λ‹€To meet
내일Tomorrow

Grammar points

-μ΄μ—μš” / -μ˜ˆμš”

Meaning : is / am / are
Usage : μ΄μ—μš” / μ˜ˆμš” are polite sentence endings used to state something or identify something in Korean. They both mean “is/am/are” in English and are used differently depending on the preceding word’s ending:

  • μ΄μ—μš” : Used when the preceding word ends in a consonant.
    Example: ν•™μƒμ΄μ—μš” (It’s a student).
  • μ˜ˆμš” : Used when the preceding word ends in a vowel.
    Example: μΉœκ΅¬μ˜ˆμš” (It’s a friend).

Example in the text: λΉ„λˆ„μ˜ˆμš” (It’s Binu). / μ˜€λžœλ§Œμ΄μ—μš” (It’s been a while).

-μžˆλ‹€

Meaning: “to have” / “to exist”
Usage: When used in the context of time, it means “to have time” or “to be available.” It can be conjugated into different forms to match the politeness level and tense.

  • Example: μ‹œκ°„μ΄ μžˆμ–΄μš” (I have time / There is time).
  • Negative form: μ—†μ–΄μš” (Don’t have / There isn’t).
    -> μ‹œκ°„μ΄ μ—†μ–΄μš” (I don’t have time / There is no time)

The particle used with μžˆλ‹€ / μ—†λ‹€ is 이/κ°€. However, the particles are often omitted during spoken speech when the intent is clear.

Example in the text: μ‹œκ°„ μžˆμ–΄μš” (I have time) μ‹œκ°„ μžˆμ–΄μš”? (Do you have time?)

-κ³  μ‹Άλ‹€

Meaning: want to
Usage: κ³  μ‹Άλ‹€ is used to express a desire or want to do something. It attaches to the verb stem:

Verb stem + κ³  μ‹Άλ‹€: I want to (verb)

You can then remove the λ‹€ to add the sentence ending fitting the situation (μ–΄μš”, μŠ΅λ‹ˆλ‹€, …)

Example in the text: λ¨Ήκ³  μ‹Άμ–΄μš” (I want to eat) 같이 κ°€κ³  μ‹Άμ–΄μš” (I want to go together)

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 :

  1. Korean voice only, with pictures to help the understanding
  2. Korean subtitles + translation
  3. 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.

2 thoughts on “Korean Short Story : Phone conversation”

  1. I really love the content here it’s so helpful it’s so well presented and I can easily follow please continue this program I really love it 🀍

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