Soho Korean
  1. My course
  2. Level 1
  3. Unit 1

Level 1 · Beginner 1 · Unit 1

Hello, I'm Hoya

By the end you can

  • Greet people and say goodbye
  • Say your name, nationality and job
  • Ask someone's name and country
In native review 7 parts · about 30 minutes
Hoya meets Sori under the pine tree for the first time.

Part 1

Under the pine tree

Listen first. Then hide the English and read along. Then use Shadow: Sori or Hoya says a line, you say it back.

  1. Hoya

    안녕하세요!

    Hello!

  2. Sori

    안녕하세요. 저는 소리예요.

    Hello. I'm Sori.

  3. Hoya

    저는 호야예요. 반갑습니다.

    I'm Hoya. Nice to meet you.

  4. Sori

    반가워요. 호야 씨는 학생이에요?

    Nice to meet you. Are you a student, Hoya?

  5. Hoya

    네, 학생이에요. 소리 씨도 학생이에요?

    Yes, I'm a student. Are you a student too, Sori?

  6. Sori

    아니요, 저는 학생이 아니에요. 선생님이에요.

    No, I'm not a student. I'm a teacher.

  7. Hoya

    아, 선생님! 그럼 소리 선생님이에요?

    Oh, a teacher! So you're Teacher Sori?

  8. Sori

    네. 그냥 소리쌤이에요.

    Yes. Just Sori-ssaem is fine.

  9. Sori

    호야 씨는 어느 나라 사람이에요?

    Which country are you from, Hoya?

  10. Hoya

    저는… 호랑이예요.

    I'm… a tiger.

  11. Sori

    네, 알아요.

    Yes. I know.

Part 2

Grammar

5 patterns, each with the rule and examples you can hear.

1

N은/는

The topic marker

은/는 marks what the sentence is about — think "as for…". Use 은 after a noun that ends in a consonant and 는 after a noun that ends in a vowel.

ends in a consonant은선생님은
ends in a vowel는저는 · 호야는

  • 저는 호야예요.

    I'm Hoya.

  • 소리 씨는 선생님이에요.

    Sori is a teacher.

  • 선생님은 한국 사람이에요.

    The teacher is Korean.

2

N이에요/예요

“to be”

Korean puts “is / am / are” at the end, attached to the noun. Use 이에요 after a consonant and 예요 after a vowel. The question is the same sentence with your voice going up at the end.

ends in a consonant이에요학생이에요 · 선생님이에요
ends in a vowel예요호야예요 · 의사예요

  • 저는 학생이에요.

    I'm a student.

  • 소리 씨는 선생님이에요.

    Sori is a teacher.

  • 호야 씨는 가수예요?

    Are you a singer, Hoya?

3

N이/가 아니에요

“is not”

To say something is not something, put 이 or 가 on the noun and add 아니에요. 이 after a consonant, 가 after a vowel. The spelling is 아니에요 — never 아니예요.

ends in a consonant이 아니에요학생이 아니에요
ends in a vowel가 아니에요의사가 아니에요

  • 저는 학생이 아니에요.

    I'm not a student.

  • 호야 씨는 의사가 아니에요.

    Hoya is not a doctor.

  • 소리 씨는 한국 사람이 아니에요?

    Isn't Sori Korean?

4

네 / 아니요

Yes and no

네 means yes; 아니요 means no. 네 also means “I see” or “I'm listening”, so you will hear it constantly in conversation.

  • 네, 학생이에요.

    Yes, I'm a student.

  • 아니요, 선생님이 아니에요.

    No, I'm not a teacher.

5

어느 나라 사람이에요?

Where are you from?

Literally “which country person are you?”. Answer with the country and 사람이에요: 미국 사람이에요 — “I'm American”.

  • 어느 나라 사람이에요?

    Which country are you from?

  • 저는 베트남 사람이에요.

    I'm Vietnamese.

  • 소리 씨는 한국 사람이에요.

    Sori is Korean.

Part 3

Words

32 words. Tap a card to hear it. When you finish, they go into your review — they come back tomorrow.

expressions

people

jobs

countries

Part 4

Practice

Check each answer as you go. Nothing is graded — mistakes are how this works.

은 or 는?

  1. 저___ 호야예요.

    I'm Hoya.

  2. 선생님___ 한국 사람이에요.

    The teacher is Korean.

  3. 소리 씨___ 선생님이에요.

    Sori is a teacher.

  4. 회사원___ 미국 사람이에요.

    The office worker is American.

이에요 or 예요?

  1. 저는 학생___.

    I'm a student.

  2. 호야 씨는 가수___?

    Is Hoya a singer?

  3. 소리 씨는 선생님___.

    Sori is a teacher.

  4. 저는 요리사___.

    I'm a cook.

이 or 가?

  1. 저는 의사___ 아니에요.

    I'm not a doctor.

  2. 소리 씨는 학생___ 아니에요.

    Sori is not a student.

  3. 호야 씨는 한국 사람___ 아니에요.

    Hoya is not Korean.

Put the words in order

  1. I'm Vietnamese.

  2. Sori is not a student.

  3. Which country are you from?

Choose the right answer

  1. 호야 씨는 선생님이에요?

    Is Hoya a teacher?

  2. 소리 씨는 어느 나라 사람이에요?

    Which country is Sori from?

Part 5

Fix Hoya’s mistakes

Hoya wrote these. Each has one mistake — the kind a sensible learner makes. Say the fixed sentence before you check.

  • Say “I'm Hoya”.

    Hoya wrote 저는 호야이에요.

    Show the fix

    저는 호야예요.

    호야 ends in a vowel, so it takes 예요. 이에요 is for nouns that end in a consonant.

  • Say “I'm not a student”.

    Hoya wrote 저는 학생이 아니예요.

    Show the fix

    저는 학생이 아니에요.

    아니 ends in a vowel, so 예요 looks right — but this one word is always spelled 아니에요. Even Koreans get it wrong.

  • Say “Sori is a teacher”.

    Hoya wrote 소리 씨은 선생님이에요.

    Show the fix

    소리 씨는 선생님이에요.

    The topic marker goes on 씨, and 씨 ends in a vowel: 씨는.

Part 6

Hoya's diary

Hoya writes his first three lines of Korean. Then three more. Read it yourself first; tap a line to see its meaning, or listen to Hoya read it.

Check your reading

  1. Is Hoya a teacher?

  2. Where is Sori from?

Part 7

Writing

Introduce yourself in three sentences — your name, your country and your job.

See Sori’s model answer
  • 안녕하세요. 저는 에밀리예요. Hello. I'm Emily.
  • 저는 캐나다 사람이에요. I'm Canadian.
  • 저는 회사원이에요. I'm an office worker.

Unit 1 complete

Finish every part above, then mark the unit complete. Your words come back in Review tomorrow.

Next: What is this? →