3 · 40 words
Holidays and traditions
The great holidays, the rites and foods that go with them, and family celebrations.
Korea’s two great holidays, 설날 (Lunar New Year) and 추석 (the autumn harvest festival), follow the lunar calendar, 음력, so their dates move from year to year. Each has its own food — 떡국at New Year송편at Chuseok — and its own rituals: the deep bow to the elders, 세배, and the rite for the ancestors, 차례. Note the verbs: you 쇠다 a holiday and 지내다 a rite, where English says “celebrate” or “hold”.
The words
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Verb (4)
절하다to bow deeply (kneeling)Verb3
결혼식에서 신랑 신부가 부모님께 절했어요.At the wedding the bride and groom bowed deeply to their parents.
빚다to shape by hand (dumplings, rice cakes)Verb3
추석 전날 밤에 온 가족이 둘러앉아 송편을 빚었어요.The night before Chuseok the whole family sat round and made songpyeon.
쇠다to celebrate, keep (a holiday)Verb3
올해는 외국에서 설을 쇠었어요.This year I spent New Year abroad.
기념하다to commemorate, markVerb3
개교 오십 주년을 기념하는 행사가 열렸어요.An event was held to mark the school's fiftieth anniversary.
Noun (35)
명절traditional holiday, festivalNoun3
명절 음식을 준비하느라 하루 종일 바빴어요.I was busy all day preparing the holiday food.
Above all 설날 and 추석, when families gather.
세배the New Year's bow to one's eldersNoun3
설날 아침에 할아버지께 세배를 드렸어요.On New Year's morning I made the New Year's bow to my grandfather.
세뱃돈New Year money (given to children)Noun3
아이들은 세뱃돈을 받고 무척 기뻐했어요.The children were delighted to get their New Year money.
Given by the elders in return for 세배.
덕담words of good wishesNoun3
어른들이 새해 덕담을 한마디씩 해 주셨어요.Each of the elders said a few words of good wishes for the new year.
떡국rice-cake soupNoun3
한국에서는 설날에 떡국을 먹으면 한 살 더 먹는다고 해요.In Korea they say that eating rice-cake soup on New Year's Day makes you a year older.
송편songpyeon (half-moon rice cakes for Chuseok)Noun3
송편 안에는 깨나 콩을 넣어요.Songpyeon are filled with sesame or beans.
차례ancestral rite (held on a holiday morning)Noun3
추석 아침에는 일찍 일어나서 차례를 지내요.On the morning of Chuseok we get up early and hold the ancestral rite.
The same spelling also means “turn”: 제 차례예요, it is my turn.
제사memorial rite (on the anniversary of a death)Noun3
할아버지 제사 때문에 큰아버지 댁에 갔어요.I went to my uncle's house for the memorial rite for my grandfather.
성묘visit to the family gravesNoun3
추석 연휴에 가족과 함께 성묘를 다녀왔어요.Over the Chuseok holiday I went with my family to visit the family graves.
음력the lunar calendarNoun3
설날과 추석은 음력으로 날짜를 정해요.The dates of Seollal and Chuseok are set by the lunar calendar.
Said [음녁].
양력the solar calendarNoun3
요즘은 대부분 생일을 양력으로 지내요.These days most people go by the solar calendar for their birthday.
Said [양녁].
정월 대보름the first full moon of the lunar yearNoun3
정월 대보름에는 땅콩이나 호두를 깨물어 먹어요.On the first full moon of the lunar year people crack peanuts or walnuts with their teeth.
윷놀이yut (a board game played with four sticks)Noun3
설날에 온 가족이 모여 윷놀이를 했어요.At New Year the whole family got together and played yut.
Said [윤노리].
연날리기kite flyingNoun3
바람이 부는 날 아이들이 강가에서 연날리기를 해요.On windy days children fly kites by the river.
사물놀이samulnori (folk percussion for four instruments)Noun3
축제에서 사물놀이 공연을 보고 신이 났어요.At the festival I watched a samulnori performance and got really into it.
Two drums and two gongs; said [사물로리].
탈춤mask danceNoun3
탈춤은 탈을 쓰고 추는 전통 춤이에요.Talchum is a traditional dance performed in masks.
민속촌folk villageNoun3
외국인 친구와 민속촌에 가서 옛날 집들을 구경했어요.I went to the folk village with a foreign friend and we looked round the old houses.
전통traditionNoun3
이 식당은 전통 방식으로 김치를 담가요.This restaurant makes its kimchi the traditional way.
문화cultureNoun2
다른 나라의 문화를 배우는 건 재미있어요.Learning about other countries' cultures is interesting.
풍습customNoun3
나라마다 결혼 풍습이 조금씩 달라요.Wedding customs differ a little from country to country.
환갑sixtieth birthdayNoun3
아버지 환갑을 맞아 가족 여행을 갔어요.For my father's sixtieth birthday we went on a family trip.
어린이날Children's DayNoun3
어린이날에 아이들과 놀이공원에 갔어요.On Children's Day we went to an amusement park with the children.
어버이날Parents' DayNoun3
어버이날에는 부모님께 카네이션을 달아 드려요.On Parents' Day we pin carnations on our parents.
스승의 날Teachers' DayNoun3
스승의 날에 학생들이 선생님께 편지를 썼어요.On Teachers' Day the pupils wrote letters to their teacher.
크리스마스ChristmasNoun2
한국에서는 크리스마스에 연인끼리 데이트를 많이 해요.In Korea many couples go out on dates at Christmas.
불꽃놀이fireworksNoun3
축제 마지막 날 밤에 불꽃놀이가 열렸어요.On the last night of the festival there was a fireworks display.
행사eventNoun3
주말에 시청 앞 광장에서 큰 행사가 있어요.There is a big event in the square in front of City Hall at the weekend.
귀성길journey home for the holidaysNoun3
귀성길 고속도로가 아침부터 꽉 막혔어요.The motorways home for the holiday were jammed from the morning on.
한가위Hangawi (the native name for Chuseok)Noun3
한가위는 추석을 뜻하는 순우리말이에요.Hangawi is the native Korean name for Chuseok.
강강술래ganggangsullae (a circle dance under the full moon)Noun3
추석날 밤에 여자들이 손을 잡고 강강술래를 했어요.On the night of Chuseok the women joined hands and danced the ganggangsullae.
백일a baby's hundredth dayNoun3
아기가 태어난 지 백일이 되어 작은 잔치를 했어요.When the baby was a hundred days old, we had a small party.
Traditionally celebrated, like the first birthday.
청첩장wedding invitationNoun3
대학 친구한테서 결혼식 청첩장을 받았어요.I got a wedding invitation from a university friend.
축의금cash gift at a weddingNoun3
결혼식에 가서 축의금을 냈어요.I went to the wedding and gave a cash gift.
Given in an envelope at the reception desk.
칠순seventieth birthdayNoun3
할머니 칠순 잔치에 친척들이 모두 모였어요.All the relatives came together for my grandmother's seventieth birthday party.
제기차기jegichagi (kicking a shuttlecock)Noun3
설날에 사촌들과 마당에서 제기차기를 했어요.At New Year I played jegichagi in the yard with my cousins.
A traditional game: keeping a weighted shuttlecock in the air with one foot.
Phrase (1)
소원을 빌다to make a wishPhrase3
정월 대보름 밤에 보름달을 보며 소원을 빌었어요.On the night of the first full moon I looked at the moon and made a wish.
This list belongs to Korean culture and history — five lists and 200 words that can also be practised as a whole.
Practise this list
Multiple choice and gaps, drawn from exactly these 40 words. Whatever you get wrong comes back tomorrow.