Korean outside the classroom

Learn Korean across a board

In Korea, four board games are part of ordinary life: you play them with a grandfather, in a school corridor, in a park, on a phone on the subway. They are also one of the easiest places to use Korean with real people, because a game gives you something to say.

Why a game is good Korean practice

The same words, over and over

A game has a small vocabulary — black, white, your turn, one more, well played — and you meet all of it in every game. That is exactly how words stick.

A reason to say something

Talking to a stranger is hard when you have nothing to talk about. Across a board you always do: greet, ask for one more game, say it was fun.

Short, low-pressure turns

Nobody expects a long sentence in a game chat. One phrase you learned here is a complete, natural message.

Gomoku.com

Omok — five in a row

오목 omok

The first board game most Korean children learn.

Two players take turns putting black and white stones on the crossings of a board. The first to line up five in a row — across, down or diagonally — wins. A game takes a few minutes and the rules take one.

Korean pupils often play it on squared notebook paper at their desks. The name is the number you learned in the numbers lesson: 오, five, plus 목, a point on the board.

15 × 15 board, black moves first.
Play the computer at four levels, or a person online; there are private rooms you can share by link.
The game room has a text chat, so this is a place to try the phrases below.

Play at Gomoku.com ↗Open the Korean edition ↗

Every button and message in Korean — reading practice while you play.

A wooden five-in-a-row board seen from above with a handful of black and white stones near the centre; two players' hands at the edges. — Omok is played on the crossings of the lines, not inside the squares.

Diagram. Black has four in a row with both ends open. White can block only one end, so black wins on the next move.

Korean you will meet

오목omok · omok — five in a row (gomoku)From the characters 五目, “five points”. 오 is the number five you already know.
돌dol · stoneA baduk stone is 바둑돌.
흑heuk · black (the black stones)Black moves first in omok and baduk.
백baek · white (the white stones)Sounds exactly like 백 “hundred”.
판pan · a game, a round; also the board한 판 = one game. The board is 바둑판 or 장기판.

BadukGo.com

Baduk — the game of Go

바둑 baduk

Simple rules, a lifetime of depth, and a national passion.

The stones are the same as in omok, but the aim is different: you surround empty points to make territory, and capture stones by taking away their last free neighbouring point. Korea has produced many of the world's strongest players, and professional games are shown on television.

Baduk Korean is everyday Korean used in a special way: territory is 집, “house”, the word you already know. The points White receives for moving second are 덤 — the little extra a market seller throws in.

Boards of 9, 13 and 19 lines; Korean rules, with 6.5 points of 덤 for White.
A step-by-step tutorial on a small board, three computer levels, and online games against people.
Text chat in the game room and private messages between members.

Play at BadukGo.com ↗Open the Korean edition ↗

Every button and message in Korean — reading practice while you play.

A full 19 by 19 baduk board late in a game, densely covered with black and white stones. — A finished game on the full board. Beginners start on 9 lines.

Diagram. The white stone has one free point left (marked). That is 단수. If black plays there, the stone is captured.

Korean you will meet

바둑baduk · baduk — the game of Go
집jip · territory (in baduk)The same word as “house”: the points you surround are your houses.
단수dansu · atari — one move from being captured
덤deom · komi — points given to White for moving secondIn everyday Korean 덤 is a little extra thrown in for free at a market.
초읽기choilgi · byo-yomi — the countdown when your main time is goneLiterally “reading seconds”.

JanggiOnline.com

Janggi — Korean chess

장기 janggi

The game you see being played on park benches.

Two armies, Cho (blue) and Han (red), face each other on a board of nine lines by ten. Each general stays inside a small palace; you win by trapping the other one. Chariots run in straight lines, horses and elephants step and turn, cannons must jump over a piece to move.

The pieces are marked with Chinese characters, but players name them in Korean, one syllable each: 차, 포, 마, 상, 사. When you attack the general you call out 장군! — and the answer is 멍군!

9 × 10 board, sixteen pieces each. Cho, the blue side, moves first.
An interactive tutorial teaches each piece; then play the computer at four levels or people online.
You hear the calls in Korean — 장군, 멍군 — whichever language the site is in. The game room has a text chat.

Play at JanggiOnline.com ↗Open the Korean edition ↗

Every button and message in Korean — reading practice while you play.

A janggi board in the starting position: blue pieces of Cho at the top, red pieces of Han at the bottom, each general in its palace. — The starting position. The generals, 楚 and 漢, sit in the middle of their palaces.

Diagram. The palace: nine points joined by diagonals. The general (궁) and the two guards (사) may not leave it.

Korean you will meet

Mark on the piece	Korean name	Piece
漢 / 楚	궁 gung	the general (the piece you must protect)
車	차 cha	chariot
包	포 po	cannon
馬	마 ma	horse
象	상 sang	elephant
士	사 sa	guard
兵	병 byeong	soldier (Han, the red side)
卒	졸 jol	soldier (Cho, the blue side)

장기janggi · janggi — Korean chess
장군!janggun! · Check!Literally “General!”. Said when you attack the other side's general.
멍군!meonggun! · the reply to 장군: “I have answered your check”

Alkkagi.com

Alkkagi — flick the stones

알까기 alkkagi

What Korean children do with a baduk set when no one is looking.

Each player lines up a few stones on a board and takes turns flicking one with a finger. Knock an opponent's stone off the edge and it is out; lose your own over the edge and that is out too. The last side with stones on the board wins.

It needs no reading and no strategy books, which is why it is a favourite at family gatherings — and a relaxed way to play with someone when your Korean is still small.

Classic game with 5 to 10 stones a side, plus versions played with janggi pieces.
Two players on one device, against the computer, or online with an invitation link.
There is no chat on this one: it is a game to play side by side, or while talking on a call.

Play at Alkkagi.com ↗Open the Korean edition ↗

Every button and message in Korean — reading practice while you play.

Diagram. Flick your own stone so that it knocks the other side's stone over the edge — without following it off the board.

Korean you will meet

알까기alkkagi · alkkagi — flicking stones off the board알 is a small round thing (also “egg”); the game is played with baduk stones.
돌dol · stoneA baduk stone is 바둑돌.
판pan · a game, a round; also the board한 판 = one game. The board is 바둑판 or 장기판.
한 판 더 해요han pan deo haeyo · Let's play one more

What players say

These are complete messages. Type one into a game chat, or say it to the person across the table.

Before the game

한 판 할까요?han pan halkkayo? · Shall we play a game?
잘 부탁드립니다jal butakdeurimnida · I look forward to a good game

During the game

천천히 하세요cheoncheonhi haseyo · Take your time
잠깐만요jamkkanmanyo · Just a moment
장군!janggun! · Check!
멍군!meonggun! · the reply to 장군: “I have answered your check”

When it ends

잘 두셨어요jal dusyeosseoyo · Well played
수고하셨습니다sugohasyeosseumnida · Good game — thank you for playing
제가 졌어요jega jyeosseoyo · I lost
제가 이겼어요jega igyeosseoyo · I won
무승부예요museungbuyeyo · It's a draw
한 판 더 해요han pan deo haeyo · Let's play one more

Saying who you are

한국어를 배우고 있어요hangugeoreul baeugo isseoyo · I'm learning Korean
저는 한국어 초보예요jeoneun hangugeo choboyeyo · I'm a beginner at Korean
어디에서 오셨어요?eodieseo osyeosseoyo? · Where are you from?
천천히 말해 주세요cheoncheonhi malhae juseyo · Please speak slowly
재미있었어요jaemiisseosseoyo · That was fun
또 만나요tto mannayo · See you again

Check the words

Eight quick questions on the game words above.

How to use a game as practice

Learn the game in your own language first. You cannot practise Korean while also working out how a horse moves. Play a few games against the computer until the rules are automatic.
Switch the site to Korean. Now every label is a word you can guess from where it sits: start, resign, one more game, your turn. This is reading practice that costs no effort.
Open with one phrase. When you are matched with someone, type 잘 부탁드립니다. If they answer in Korean, add 한국어를 배우고 있어요. Most people are kind to a learner who says so.
Close properly. Win or lose, end with 수고하셨습니다 or 잘 두셨어요. It is what Korean players say to each other, and it is good manners in any language.

Good manners at the board

Greet at the start and thank at the end. Leaving without a word is rude everywhere.
Use the polite endings you have learned, even if the other person writes casually. A learner being polite is never wrong.
Not everyone you meet online is Korean, and not everyone wants to chat. If there is no answer, just play.
Never share personal details in a game chat.

A note about these four sites. Gomoku.com, BadukGo.com, JanggiOnline.com and Alkkagi.com are run by the same team as KoreanSchool.com. We recommend them because we know exactly what is in them; you can of course practise the same phrases on any board, online or on a table.

Not reading Hangul yet?

The names on this page are easier once you can read them. The first lesson takes five minutes.

Start lesson 1

Why a game is good Korean practice

The same words, over and over

A reason to say something

Short, low-pressure turns

The four games

Omok — five in a row

Korean you will meet

Baduk — the game of Go

Korean you will meet

Janggi — Korean chess

Korean you will meet

Alkkagi — flick the stones

Korean you will meet

What players say

Before the game

During the game

When it ends

Saying who you are

Check the words

How to use a game as practice

Good manners at the board

Not reading Hangul yet?