#korean proverbs

Korean Self-Love Quotes/Proverbs & Life Lessons

남의 떡이 더 커보인다.

Literal Translation: The other person’s rice cake is bigger than yours

Meaning: don’t compare yourself or your life with someone else’s

Life Lesson:

Especially on social media, you only see the parts that other people choose to show - the highlights, but not the behind the scenes. You’re life is not better or worse than another persons. The grass always looks greener on the other side, but you never know what that person is going through behind the scenes. Don’t try to trade your life in for another person’s just because of how things appear on the outside.

Vocab from proverb:

남 - another person, stranger

의 - possessive particle (‘s)

떡 - rice cake

더 - more

크다 - big

아/어 보이다 - to look, appear, seem

엎질러진 물이다

Literal Translation: It is spilled water.

Meaning: There is no use in crying over spilled milk.

Life Lesson:

A lot of things in life aren’t worth crying over, especially if it’s something that happened in the past. The past is the past and we have to learn to let go of the past. If you dwell on your failures, your shortcomings, your embarrassing moments, or any other terrible things you may have experienced in the past - It will keep you from living in the present. You Can Not Change The Past - no matter how much you think about it, so there’s no use “crying” over it. Don’t let the past determine who you are today. Whenever you catch yourself worrying too much about a past occurrence, tell yourself, “It already happened and I can’t control that, but I can control what I do today”.

Vocab from proverb:

엎질러지다 - to spill

물 - water

똥이 무서워서 피하니? 더러워서 피하지.

Literal Translation: you don’t avoid poop, because it’s scary. You avoid poop because it’s dirty.

Meaning: you should avoid certain things and people in your life, not because you are scared, but because it will disrupt your peace and happiness.

Life Lesson:

If at all possible try to remove or minimize contact with toxic people in your life - even if that just means distancing yourself from them mentally. Also avoid overtly negative and toxic situations whenever you can, because it can improve your mental health and overall happiness. Holding on to grudges, anger, sadness, etc. can also be harmful to your mental health - It may be hard to hear but some things you have to let go of. For yourself and your peace of mind. Forgive yourself of any past mistakes or failures and allow yourself to move forward.

Vocab from proverb:

똥 - poop

무섭다 - be scared of

아/어/해서 - because

피하다 - to avoid

니? - informal question ending

더럽다 - to be dirty

지 - shortened form of 지요 / 죠

(when speaker confirms something they thought the listener already knew)

말을 냇가에 끌고 갈 수는 있어도 억지로 물을 먹일 수는 없다

Literal Translation: You can lead a horse and go to a stream, but you can’t make it drink water through its own will

Meaning: You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink

Life Lesson:

You can’t force someone to do something that they don’t want to do. You can’t change someone who isn’t willing to change. You can’t save someone who doesn’t want to be saved. You can’t help someone who doesn’t want to be helped. There are many ways to say it, but the overall message is the same.

On the opposite side of the coin, It’s a great idea to be open and willing to positive changes and to growth. In life you want to always be growing and not static - unless your perfect (which no one is). Sometimes we may feel static and like we are going no where no matter how hard we try to move. In those cases, either you need to make a change and do something a bit different or you are moving forward but it’s just so slowly that you don’t notice it - taking a step back and looking at your situation objectively can sometimes help.

Vocab from proverb:

말 - horse

냇가 - stream (of water)

끌다 - to lead

고 - and

가다 - to go

ㄹ 수 있다 - can do

아/어도 - even if

억지 - force

(으)로 - by (explain methods)

억지로 - by force

물 - water

먹이다 - to feed, make eat/drink

ㄹ 수(는) 없다 - can’t

(the 는 adds emphasis)

[KOREAN PROVERBS]

I'm back after catching up with all my deadlines, how has everyone been?

Since it's my come back after a while, let's just do some light brain activation with these proverbs, I will make sure to come back to these with more complicated ones in the future.

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1. 낫 놓고 기역 자도 모른다: So ignorant as not to know his ABC - Literal meaning: To look at an A and not knowing what it is - This proverb is used to indicate illiterate people or one that are so dumb that he knows nothing at all.

2. 가자니 태산이요, 돌아서자니 숭산이라: Stuck between a rock and a hard place - Literal meaning: It's Taesan mountain in the front and Sungsan mountain in the back - This proverb is used to indicate a dilemma where neither moving forward or moving backward is a good choice.

3. 공자 앞에서 문자 쓴다: To teach a fish how to swim - Literal meaning: To write words in front of Confucius - This proverb is used to indicate people with less knowledge that tend to show off in front of people who are more knowledgable than them.

4. 아이는 작게 낳아서 크게 길러라: To raise your small child into a big one - This proverb is used to tell people to not worry about how big or small your children are when they are born, the important thing is to raise them into great men.

5. 빌어먹는 놈이 콩밥을 마다할까: Beggars can't be choosers - Literal meaning: Beggars cannot refuse to eat rice with beans - This proverb is used to advise people to not pick and choose especially when they are in need and have no other choices.

6. 번갯불에 콩 볶아 먹겠다: Be quick-tempered - Literal meaning: Roast beans with lightning and eat them - This proverb is used to indicate people who are so rushed they would roast beans with lightning to eat, people who feel frustrated because they can't resolve some problems immediately. - Similar proverbs: 번갯불에 담배 붙이겠다 và 번갯불에 회 쳐 먹겠다.

7. 구더기 무서워 장 못 담글까: You can't succeed if you are afraid of failure - Literal meaning: Maggots cannot be an excuse for not making soybean paste - This proverb is used to say that even if something is a bit disturbing or uncomfortable, you should do what you have to do.

8. 눈은 있어도 망울이 없다: Unable to tell right from wrong - Literal meaning: To have eyes but no cornea - This proverb has two main meanings. One means "having the most basic ones but not the needed, most important thing". One means "not having the ability to tell right from wrong".

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Don’t forget to LIKE and SHARE this post with your friends and let’s keep on studying 😘

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Day- 3/100

learn 2 idioms 

고생끝에 낙이 온다 (After you get through harsh time for your goal, you will get what you want.) - No pain, no gain.

Hi, I’m Admin Gyu. Today I’m gonna introduce some old-sayings and four-character idioms frequently used in Korea today. Learning old-sayings and four-character Chinese idioms is really important to Korean people because we use lots of phrases like these in our daily conversation. (+Korean students have to study hard on these old sayings because it comes out in the Korean SAT) 

Sayings(=proverbs) is a short sentence that people often quote, which gives advice or tells you something about life. And four charcter Chinese idioms are similar to old-sayings but it is a little bit different. It consists of four Chinese characters(Hanja). 

You may think Chinese idioms are not Korean because they are technically ‘Chinese’. But since Korea borrowed the Chinese characters in the past(before King Sejong invented 한글), we use loads of Chinese words that were developed during the past (A common phenomenon found in some East Asian countries. In fact, the majority of Korean words can be written in Chinese characters. Some students memorize the Chinese version of the words because Hanja symbolizes the meaning, while Hangeul symbolizes the sound. So if we know the Chinese version, it’s easier to know the meaning of the word. However, Chinese characters are VERY complicated and hard.) 

So when we study Korean as a young student, we also learn lots of Chinese characters to learn increase our vocabulary. And one way to learn Chinese character easily is to learn through the four-character Chinese idioms (사자성어). Many of them shows Korea/China’s history or culture so studying them also helps you understand history! If you want to study more about Korea’s traditional culture or history or have a more natural conversation, these will help you increase your Korean skill!

🦉WISE KOREAN PROVERBS🧠

for when you're not feeling motivated to study

서당개 삼 년에 풍월 읊는다

Literal meaning: After three years at a village schoolhouse, even a dog can recite a poem

Meaning: How to hone your skills?  By practicing of course! Encourage someone with these words as practice makes perfect! In my opinion, practice doesn't make perfect, but It does make progress.

시작이 반이다

Literal meaning: Starting is half the task

Meaning: This is to tell someone that simply starting something is very important, before you can take the next steps. In English, I would say "You have to start to be great" or "You have to start to get somewhere"

고생 끝에 낙이 온다

Literal translation: At the end of hardship comes happiness.

Meaning: This proverb is used during difficult times to encourage someone to keep working hard and not give up.

📔Vocabulary List🖊

🏫서당 개 삼 년에 풍월 읊는다

Literal meaning: After three years at a village schoolhouse, even a dog can recite a poem

서당 - village school: a school where children used to learn to be literate

개 - dog

삼년 - 3 years

풍월 - composing a poem

읊다 - recite

🕡시작이 반이다🎬

Literal meaning: Starting is half the task

시작 - start, begin

반 - half

이다 - to be

😁고생 끝에 낙이 온다

Literal translation: At the end of hardship comes happiness.

고생 - trouble; hardship

끝 - to end

낙 - joy; pleasure; delight

INTERESTING KOREAN PROVERBS

⚠️I Got This Information From theculturetrip.com

개똥도 약에 쓰려면 없다

Literal translation: When you want to find even dog poop to use as medicine, there isn’t any.

Meaning: Put simply, things are never where you want them. For example, your desk is always covered in pens but the second you need one to scribble down a phone number in a hurry, you can’t seem to find one.

공자 앞에서 문자 쓴다

Literal translation: Write hanja in front of Confucious

Meaning: This proverb describes someone who is so arrogant that they are attempting to instruct an expert how to do something. You wouldn’t try to teach a fish how to swim, nor would you tell Confucius how to write Chinese characters.

원숭이도 나무에서 떨어진다

Literal translation: Even monkeys fall from trees.

Meaning: This expression suggests that even someone who is an expert at something sometimes makes mistakes – monkeys are great climbers, but even they sometimes fall. If a friend is really beating themselves up over a mistake, this proverb can be used to reassure them that sometimes these things just happen.

매도 먼저 맞는 게 낫다

Literal translation: It’s better to get beaten by the whip first.

Meaning: Basically, this expression means that if there’s something unpleasant you’re ultimately going to have to endure, it’s better to get it over and done with.

💥Vocabulary Breakdown Below💥

💩개똥도 약에 쓰려면 없다

Literal translation: When you want to find even dog poop to use as medicine, there isn’t any.

개똥 - dog poop

약 - medicine

쓰다 - to use

없다 - to not be, not exist

✍️공자 앞에서 문자 쓴다

Literal translation: Write hanja in front of Confucious

공자 - Confucious

앞 - front

문자 - letters

쓰다 - to write

🐒원숭이도 나무에서 떨어진다 🌳

Literal translation: Even monkeys fall from trees.

원숭이 - monkey

나무 - tree

떨어지다 - to fall

🪢매도 먼저 맞는 게 낫다📿

Literal translation: It’s better to get beaten by the whip first.

매 - whip; rod

먼저 - first

맞다 - to hit

돌다리도 두들겨 보고 건너라 - Check the bridge before you cross even if it's made of stone. -> Think before you leap.

A: 난 내년부터 야간 학교에 다닐 생각이야.

B: 시간과 돈을 마련할 자신 있니? 돌다리도 두들겨보고 건너야해.

가는 말이 고와야, 오는 말이 곱다 - If the going words are beautiful, coming words will be also beautiful. -> If you want other people to treat you nicely, you should first treat other people nicely.

A: 어제 여자친구랑 엄청 싸웠어. 걔는 너무 쉽게 화내는 것 같아.

B: 가는 말이 고와야 오는 말이 곱다는 말도 모르니? 너가 먼저 친절히 말해봐.