1000 Key Korean Idioms and Proverbs

This book was designed to present Korean idioms and proverbs in the form of a dictionary to enable foreign students learning Korean to use these expressions in everyday conversation. Idioms and proverbs also appear as important expressions in TOPIK questions, and they are highly useful in everyday life. In this book, 1,000 idioms and proverbs that were selected according to frequency have been divided into 13 major themes and sub-topics to be studied. Vivid example sentences utilizing each expression are presented in a conversational format, and English translations and audio recordings are also provided to enhance students’ understanding. Using “Confirmation Questions” and “Idioms and Proverbs Seen in TOPIK Questions” in the appendix, students can check their level of understanding and identify how idioms and proverbs are mainly used in TOPIK reading questions, so this book can also be highly useful for preparing for the TOPIK exam. ▪ 1,000 carefully selected key Korean idioms and proverbs. This book contains a total of 1,000 entries that include expressions with high frequency of use and great educational effectiveness based on five major sources. Both Korean and English translations explaining the meaning of each entry are included, and synonyms, origins, and additional explanations are also provided to increase students’ understanding of each expression. ▪ Study by subject using 13 systematically categorized major themes and sub-topics. 1,000 expressions were categorized and sorted into 13 major themes, and the major themes were then divided into a total of 56 sub-topics so students could efficiently learn the expressions by grouping them by subject. Confirmation questions are provided in the appendix so students can check that they have mastered the expressions in each sub-topic and so they can review and self-evaluate. ▪ English translations and audio files of practical dialogues provided. Sample dialogues utilizing each expression are provided along with English translations so students can understand how each expression is used in actual conversations in context. In addition, audio files recorded by professional voice actors are provided through QR codes so students can master the correct pronunciation and intonation all at once. ▪ Obtain a high score on the TOPIK exam through TOPIK-style practice questions in the appendix. Using TOPIK-style practice questions in the appendix, students can check how the idioms and proverbs they have learned are presented in TOPIK reading questions. After studying the major themes, students can solve TOPIK-style questions to review the content they have learned while also completing adequate practice to achieve a high score on the TOPIK exam.