Today, we will talk about Seoul’s most amazing resource for a tourist which in Korean is 공이일삼삼공 (gongiilsamsamgong). In English, it’s 021330. When you are in Korea and you are lost and you don’t have a friend, you don’t have anyone to call, no family, no girlfriend, no boyfriend, no military personnel next to you, no English speaking person, this is the number to call. You can use this number for anything. And I really, really mean anything. You can call for bus times, train rides, train stations, ticket shows, what shows are playing, anything really, anything that tourists could really want. |
So when I was living in Korea, I’d used this number all the time to get places and I would be really, really efficient but my friend, he would always ask me, you know, how do you know all these bus numbers, how do you know all these routes, how do you know how to get here and the bus times and the show times and the prices. I just shook my head and I said, 공이일삼삼공 (gongiilsamsamgong) which in English is 021330. Now let’s go over the numbers 0 through 10. 공 (gong) 0, 일 (il) 1, 이 (i) 2, 삼 (sam) 3, 사 (sa) 4, 오 (o) 5, 육 (yuk) 6, 칠 (chil) 7, 팔 (pal) 8, 구 (gu) 9, 십 (sip) 10. |
Let’s go through it one more time 0 through 10, 공 (gong) 0, 일 (il) 1, 이 (i) 2, 삼 (sam) 3, 사 (sa) 4, 오 (o) 5, 육 (yuk) 6, 칠 (chil) 7, 팔 (pal) 8, 구 (gu) 9, 십 (sip) 10. Now that we know the numbers 1 through 10, let’s go over the phone number again. 공이일삼삼공 (gongiilsamsamgong) 021330. This number is from KTO or the Korea Tourism Organization. It’s a government funded organization that has English speakers to help you out during your stay in Korea. 02 공이 (gongi) is the area code for Seoul. So if you are going to be in another city or province, you may have to use a different area code. Check out the PDF to see the rest of them. |
Okay. To close our today’s lesson, we’d like for you to practice what you’ve learned. I will provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you are responsible for shouting it out loud. You will have a few seconds before I give you the answer. So 화이팅 (hwaiting)! |
0 - 공 (gong) |
1 - 일 (il) |
2 - 이 (i) |
3 - 삼 (sam) |
4 - 사 (sa) |
5 - 오 (o) |
6 - 육 (yuk) |
7 - 칠 (chil) |
8 - 팔 (pal) |
9 - 구 (gu) |
10 - 십 (sip) |
All right, that’s going to do it for today. |
13 Comments
HideCan you count to ten in Korean? " 일, 이, 삼, 사, 오, 육, 칠, 팔, 구, 십" :)
Hi Aisleen,
Thanks for posting. We're glad to hear that you found the lessons. We have a few in our Basic Bootcamp series that deals with native and Sino Korean numbers, as well as a few others.
Cheers,
Lyn
Team KoreanClass101.com
Oh never mind I found it! 😅
Where can I learn the native Korean numbers? I only know hana, dul and ses (1 2 3) and i want to know more 😜👍❤️️
Hi Sharmin,
Thanks for posting. Try scrolling down the 'Lesson Notes' section until you come across two buttons--one will say 'Show All', and the other will say 'Download PDF'. Click on this button to download the file onto your computer.
If this doesn't work please let us know.
Sincerely,
Lyn
Team KoreanClass101.com
Where is accompanying PDF? I am not able to find it.
Hi Eleanor,
Thank you for posting. You can read 'zero' in Korean as '영' or '공', both are used to say 'zero'. Both are Sino-Korean characters, but '영' is used in math as the number zero, or numbers with a decimal point (1.01=일점영일). It is also used to cite time (hours, minutes, seconds)
'공', which means 'nothing', is usually used when reading out phone numbers. (010=공일공)
Hope this was of help!
Best,
Lyn
Team KoreanClass101.com
Hello!
I was looking at flashcards on the iPad version of koreanclass101, called word power,
and I noticed that the word for zero was different...
On the app it said that zero was 'yeong' not 'gong' and now I'm confused.
Why is there a difference, and if it's not just an error, which one should I use?
Many thanks!
I think I have these down pretty good, even though sometimes I get 육 and 구 mixed up. Quick question: When do you use this numbering system? I can't remember when to use Sino and Korean. Thanks!
Sindy! Thanks for the congratulations.
Let's cheer the Korean teams together.
신디 같이 응원해요!!
Team KoreanClass101.com
thanks! i love it! i hope i could learn more here! thanks and more power!