Learning How to Count in Korean - Dibo Sing Along with Drama Fever

Recently, we had the opportunity to do a video project with DramaFever, a video streaming website specifically for Korean programs. In this project, one of our Korean teachers here at Hills Learning, Paul Cho, teaches viewers basic Korean with an episode of the Dibo Sing Along Show. Here is the video link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqcJHxT_HJY 

Counting

There are two ways to count numbers in Korean: Pure Korean and Sino Korean.

Pure Korean: 하나, 둘, 셋, 넷, 다섯, 여섯, 일곱, 여덟, 아홉, 열

Hana, dul, set, net, taseot, yeoseot, ilgop, yeodeol, ahop, yeol

Sino Korean: 일, 이, 삼, 사, 오, 육, 칠, 팔, 구, 십

Il, i, sam, sa, o, yuk, chil, pal, gu, ship

Numbered Objects

When saying numbered objects you use Sino-Korean. For instance:

#1 Train: 일호선

Ilhoseon

#7 (for a sports player): 등번호 칠번

Deungbeonho chilbeon

Counting Objects O

n the other hand, when you count the objects you use Pure Korean instead. As you saw in the video, the counter "마리" ("mali") is used to count the animals. Other examples include:

People: 명

Myeong

Trees: 그루

Geulu

Six Goats

In the goat scene, the lyrics are:

육은여섯염소여섯마리

여기저기에얼른타세요

예예예예예예

Yug-eun yeoseot yeomso yeoseotmali
Yeogi jeogie eolleun taseyo
Yeyeye yeyeye

The key words and phrases to remember here are:

Goat: 염소

Yeomso

Here and there: 여기저기

Yeogi jeogie

Quickly: 얼른

Eolleun

Please hop on/Take a seat: 타세요

Taseyo

Seven Ants

In the ant scene, the lyrics are:

칠은일곱일곱개미  

일곱마리를일일이태우고

일일이일일이

Chil-eun ilgob ilgob gaemi 
Ilgobmalileul il-il-i taeugo
Il-il-i il-il-i

The key words and phrases to remember here are:

Ants: 개미

Gaemi

Pick up: 태우고

Taeugo

One by one: 일일이

Il-il-i

So when it comes to learning basic Korean, sometimes watching children shows are always a great place to start! We hope that this video is helpful, please let us know of any questions.