Learning Korean with webtoon “July Found by Chance” (어쩌다 발견한 7월)

For the first time in my life I tried to read a webtoon in Korean – a language I barely know – as I am too impatient to wait for the translation and too sick to work on my textbook right now. As I went through it I wrote down Korean vocabulary and grammar and decided to share it here, in case anyone would like to join me in the struggle of reading it in Korean.

It is called July Found by Chance (어쩌다 발견한 7월) (<- this is raw Korean version) published by Daum and made by my favorite webtoon author (만화가) known as muryu (무류).

It is beautifully drawn, and has an exciting plot and a type of humor I really enjoy. I decided to try to read it even though I don’t understand 90% of what’s being said (95%?).

I’m not leaving anything for later. I’ve learned my lesson last time. (Refer to my previous post to understand my favorite-webtoon debacle.)

July Found by Chance is a relatively easy webtoon to learn Korean with.

Granted, it’s a regular webtoon written for native speakers – not for Korean language learners, and since the beginning is quite mysterious it takes an episode or two to figure out what’s going on, but other than that it uses quite simple language.

It is set in high school so characters use short and simple sentences. Much shorter than in my beloved historical webtoon that caused the aforementioned debacle, anyway.

While it’s not technically a Korean comic for beginners, I am a beginner and that’s not stopping me. At the very least it doesn’t have long convoluted monologues by court officials emulating historical Korean speech, like a certain other webtoon. (Yep, you guessed it, refer to my previous post about the debacle.)

Another good thing about using this particular webtoon to learn Korean is that it has fantastic re-readability. When I went through it the second time I was able to notice certain details that were meaningless in the first read-through. “Ah, that’s when it started! Of course,” “There they are in the background, finishing their conversation. That’s why the jump happened.”

It makes repeat reading equally enjoyable as the first and, after all, repetition is the mother of learning.

To get right to the main point – Korean grammar and vocabulary from the webtoon – I left talking about how much reading this webtoon improved my Korean for the end, as well as explaining why I approached it differently than I do other sources for learning Korean, so scroll to the bottom of this post for a few final thoughts.

I wrote down only those Korean words or sentences I don’t understand and either

• find interesting enough,
• important enough for the plot, or
• if I feel like I can aaaaalmost understand them and need just a bit of help.

I will not talk about the plot but you might be able to guess certain plot point from sentences I translate, so: Spoiler alert!

If you notice any mistakes let me know (….please help me!). Three question marks “???” signify that I doubt my translation, or that I have no clue how to translate it at all.

I also included pronunciation in square brackets “[]” only for the words I was uncertain about. If you need more help with pronunciation refer to 3 Korean pronunciation tools.

Let’s get into webtoon’s vocabulary and grammar.

Here is Korean -> English translation as I read through the webtoon:

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Title of the webtoon:

어쩌다 발견한 7월
July Found by Chance / I Found It in July

(↳this is not my translation, these are the titles I found it under)

어쩌다
accidentally, by chance
Note: This word looks like a verb or an adjective but doesn’t act like either. What’s up with that?

발견하다
to discover, stumble on, locate

7월
July

Season 1

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프롤로그
Prologue:

보잘것없다 [보잘꺼덥따] or 보잘 것 없다
worthless, pathetic, meager
Note: More literally: not worth seeing. Refer to the picture above, from the webtoon.

내가 너를 찾을게-
I will find you…

다음주, 그들의 이야기가 펼쳐집니다.
Next week, their story unfolds.

펼치다
unfold, open, spread (out)

–아/어 지–
Changes active to passive construction, when it’s attached to a transitive verb.
Note: 펼치다 -> 펼치 + –아/어 지– + ㅂ니다 -> 펼쳐집니다.
이야기를 펼칩니다 = He/she/it unfolds the story.
이야기가 펼쳐집니다 = The story unfolds.

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Episode 1: Trivial problem 1
1화 사소한 문제 1

사소하다 (Hanja: 些少―)
trivial, minor, insignificant, unimportant
Note: Interestingly, Naver dictionary in Korean gives this definition of that verb: 보잘것없이 작거나 적다. That 보잘것없이 again.

밀다
to push, nudge, shove
Note: I just noticed that the word 밀당 (push-pull, subtle psychological game in a romantic relationship) comes from 밀다 (to push, nudge, shove) + 당기다 (to pull, draw, tug, yank)

-버리다
indicates that the preceding action was done to completion

그렇게 계속 의심하면 여기서 널 밀어버릴 수도 있어.
If you keep doubting me like that, I could push you off here.

신사 (Hanja: 紳士)
gentleman

숙녀 (Hanja: 淑女)
lady

–(으)니까
because, so (speaker gives reason for, and regrets, something not happening)

짓
an act, doing

짓을 할 수는 없지
I can’t do that, can I?

떨어트리다 = 떨어뜨리다
to drop

소중하다 (Hanja: 所重―)
to be precious, valuable, dear
Note: This word occurs frequently throughout this webtoon

변태
pervert

호흡 (Hanja: 呼吸)
breathing, respiration

심박 (Hanja: 深博)
heartbeat
Note: This word occurs frequently in this webtoon

통증 (Hanja; 痛症)
pain, ache

정상 / 비정상
normal, regular / abnormal, irregular

최근 나에겐 사소한 문제가 몇 가지 생겼다.
I’ve had a few minor problems lately.

첫 뻔재 문제-
First problem:

기억이 사라진다.
Memory disappears.

자각하다 (Hanja: 自覺–)
to realize, awake to

일주일 전
a week ago

기말고사 (Hanja: 期末考査)
finals, final exams

은단오
Eun Danoh
Note: Name of the main female character.

전혀 (Hanja: 全―)
completely, entirely; not at all, not a bit

전혀 기억이 없는데?
No memory at all?

안 비켜?!
Can’t you move!?

그게 시작이었다.
That was the beginning.

걷다
to gather up, bring in; to collect, gather;
Also: to walk

뭐가 어떻게 돌아가고 있는거야?
What’s going on?
Note: ??? I don’t understand why this sentence means “What’s going on?” in Korean. I can only understand it as “What how is returning?” 

상황 (Hanja: 狀況)
situation, conditions, circumstances

파악 (Hanja: 把握)
grasp, understanding

상황 파악이 전혀 안되네.
I don’t understand the situation at all.
Note: I don’t know the ending -네 or how it changes the meaning of the sentence.

와중에
in the middle of something complicated happening

지치다
to be exhausted, be fatigued

피로 (Hanja: 疲勞)
tiredness, exhaustion

쌓이다 [싸이다]
to accumulate, pile up

피로가 쌓이다
to become more and more fatigued

분명 (Hanja: 分明)
clearly, plainly, obviously
Note: This word occurs frequently in this webtoon.

체감시간
??? Sense of time, the time your body feels passed 

순식간 [순식깐] (Hanja: 瞬息間)
a moment

건망증 [건망쯩] (Hanja: 健忘症)
amnesia

상실 (Hanja: 喪失)
loss

연관 (Hanja: 聯關)
relation between, connection with

검색어 (Hanja: 檢索語)
search word
Note: Seems like a useful word when using Korean search engines.

여주다
Juda Yeo
Note: Name of a female character.

이주화
Joohwa Lee
Note: Name of a male character, who is a doctor.

넵
Yep
Note: Seems like Korean texting slang.

-ㄴ 것 같아요
-it seems as though
Note: This appears to be a very common Korean sentence ending, I’d better learn it as soon as I have the brain power.

의학 (Hanja: 醫學)
medicine, medical science
Note: To remember this Korean word easier I think of doctor 의사 and school 학교. What do doctors 의 learn in school 학? 의학.

의견 (Hanja: 意見)
opinion, view

방금 (Hanja: 方今)
just now, a moment ago

질색 [질쌕] (Hanja: 窒塞)
hate, detest

딱 질색이야.
I hate it/you.

환각 (Hanja: 幻覺)
hallucination

설마-
Not likely…/No way…/Give me a break…

정신 분열
Schizophrenia
Note: lit. mind split.

백경
BaekKyung
Note: Character’s name. Blond guy with annoying face.

남
others, other people

욕먹 [용먹] (Hanja: 辱-)
??? blame, criticism

나와서 체해.
??? Show up and pull yourself together.

상관없다 [상과넙따] (Hanja: 相關–)
to not care, to not matter, to have nothing to do with

묘함 기시감 같은
strange déjá vu-like

토씨
???

지겹다
to be painfully boring

비웃듯
mockingly

짜증
irritation, annoyance

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Episode 2: Trivial problem 2
2화 사소한 문제 2

차이다
to be dumped, broken up with ; to be hit, kicked

인마
??? short for 이놈아 (you scoundrel, dude)

초능력 [초능녁] (Hanja: 超能力)
superpowers
Note: 능력 means “ability”.

충격 (Hanja: 衝擊)
shock

심박수 (Hanja: 心博數)
heart rate

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눌러 주세요.
Please press (push).
Note: Sign on the doors. Might be useful for anyone having to deal with Korean doors.

누르다
to press, push

순정만화
romance comic

아파도 참아 세 컷이면 나을테니까.
??? Even if it hurts, three cuts will do.

나의 소중한 일주일도 사라졌다.
My precious week has disappeared.

이제부터는 어쩌지?
What do I/we do now?

인생의 경험치가 너무 낮아
I am inexperienced. (lit. Life experience is too low.)

이거 놔 ( from 놓다)
Let go of me

이도화
Dohwa Lee
Note: Name of a male character, who is a second lead.

주인공 (Hanja: 主人公)
main character, protagonist, hero, heroine

남조
??? I couldn’t find this one anywhere, but from the context of their conversation I am guessing this is short for 남자 (male) + 조연 (Hanja: 助演) (supporting role), so second male lead.

자신의 삶이 다른 누군가를 위해 존재할 거라고는 생각하지 않는데.
??? I don’t think his life’s gonna exist for anyone else.

실망하고 있어.
I’m disappointed.

그래도 포기하지 마. 이건 진심이야.
But don’t give up. I mean it./It’s the truth.

무엇을 해야 하는지 어느 하나 기억하지 못 했다.
??? I can’t remember one thing I was intending to do.

심지어
even worse

출석번호
attendance number

도망치다 (Hanja: 逃亡–)
escape, run away

벗어나다
get out (of), break away (from)

악몽 (Hanja: 惡夢)
nightmare

도망칠 수도 벗어날 수도 없는 이 악몽 속에서 무엇보다 두려웠던 건 아무도 내게 말을 걸지 않는다는 것.
???

덜컥
suddenly, unexpectedly

허락하다 (Hanja: 許諾–)
to permit, consent, approve

날 알아봐 주는 건 너 뿐인데.
You’re the only one who recognizes me.

눈치채다
to become aware of, be conscious of, suspect

체육관 (Hanja: 體育館) [체육꽌]
gym

한없이 (Hanja: 限–)
endlessly, infinitely

선명하다 (Hanja: 鮮明–)
clear, distinct, vivid

약혼 (Hanja: 約婚)
engagement, be engaged

이런 내가 널 좋아해도 될까?
???

사다리
ladder

That’s it for now. I will add more as I go through it again.

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Update February 2, 2019

Season 2

Episode 1: A stroll
시즌2 1화 산책

단역 (Hanja: 端役)
minor role,  an extra

시한부 (Hanja: 時限附)
limited in time (such as terminally ill)

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This is actually not how I would learn Korean from a webtoon. It was never my intention to. All I wanted is to read through it and understand the story as much as possible, so my approach to it has been vastly different than what I normally do.

I have too many other Korean sources from which I’m doing structured studying anyway.

• I am learning from Sungkyun Korean 1 textbook.
• I am learning from howtostudykorean.com.
• I am learning from Memrise.com.
• I am learning from another webtoon Twelve Nights, adding new words to Memrise, looking up grammatical constructions, looking up archaic words, etc.

All of these take months. This was the first time I just tried reading through a webtoon, nothing more. In all honesty, I didn’t expect to learn much, if anything.

My predictions were right. I probably didn’t memorize a single new word.

But something unexpected happened!

Usually, if I’m not actively studying Korean, when I come across a large chunk of Korean text my eyes just glaze over. I know for certain that I won’t understand it, and slowly reading syllable by syllable to check if I can pick out a few words I do understand is just too exhausting for me.

하.지.만 after just three days of forcing myself to read every single word from this webtoon and trying to understand it I could inexplicably scan large chunks of Korean text easily and pick out the words I know at a glance.

I really didn’t expect to see any improvement let alone such a drastic one. I wonder if it’s temporary or if it will last.

So despite not forcing myself to memorize Korean webtoon vocabulary something good did come out of it.

If you would rather read July Found by Chance (어쩌다 발견한 7월) webtoon in an app than on Daum Webtoon site, Daum has webtoon apps for iOS and Android. Unfortunately, unlike Naver, it doesn’t have English version of its app.