Korean 4 Character Idioms

What are they?

When you watch TVs or read books in Korean, you have found some words with 4 characters in weird arrangement like 유비무환, 시종일관, 정정당당, etc.

They are called 사자성어, 고사성어, or 한자성어 in Korean. They have interesting meaning and history.

What are the 4 character idioms?

4 character idioms usually came from old books of East Asia(mostly from Ancient China). These words were created by wise men or from famous historic events.

It is used a lot in Korean because it well describes the situation with a few characters and gives us good lessons for life.

What is the benefit of knowing them?

Fluency is the ultimate goal for the learners of any language. Idioms can make you look more fluent and even intellectual. Some of your Korean friends can be surprised for your fluency.

They are also used a lot in TV shows and books, because some expressions are just fit for some situations. Particularly, as they are only 4 characters, it doesn't fill the screen a lot and give you a lot of information about the situation. Because of that, it is used a lot in TV show subtitles. So, if you learn them, you can understand them even better.

What is this Book? What can I get from it?

In this book, there are 30 words of 4 character idioms I've collected from daily conversations and TV shows, news articles and books.

When we encounter idioms, we usually react like this: (1) think about the phrase and forget finding it later, or (2) just don't realize that there was something like that. By reading this book, you can get more out of TV shows or books when you read them later. I am sure that you will see these words in them.

I also added practice sentences to help you review what you have learned. It is a bit cliché, but practice makes perfect. You can only be fluent by continuous practice. The practice questions and their possible answers can help you out.

Finally, when you are learning, you sometimes forgot to look up dictionaries. I've added helpful word definitions for you. You can learn more than just 30 idioms from this book.

The idioms in this book are the collection of 30 idioms I once covered in this blog. I re-read every post and corrected some grammatical mistakes and clarified the meanings of some sentences. I also added some more detailed explanation.

If you are not amazingly happy with the product, always contact me. You can always take back your money. I won't ask any excuses.

What is the difference between 고사성어, 한자성어, 사자성어?

I've covered in the post. Just click it.

What is the difference between the book and blog posts?

Book has 4 more things: word definitions, more explanation, practice questions, exercise questions.

As blog posts were made for podcast, I didn't add word definitions there. However, there are some words that can be hard to you. So, I added definitions as a reading guide.

Sometimes, I've got the question about grammars or words in examples. I answered those questions in the book.

Your ability to speak a new language becomes better when you practice what you have learned. So, I added practice and exercise questions. In practice, you can create your own sentences. In exercise, you can check your understanding with matching words and fill in the blanks questions.

These 4 things are what I couldn't provide with blog, so I added them in the book.

What will I get if I buy the book?

You will get an email with links to 3 types of files, epub, mobi, pdf.

Isn't the book too short?

Yes, I admit it. It's short. I could write a book that contains hundreds of idioms. But I didn't. Because most people got bored in the point of less than half. I always did when I was reading long books about idioms.

When you are learning a new language, there might be a purpose. You might want to talk with your friends, lover, parents(-in-law), etc. You might want to read books or watch TV shows in Korean. I just hope you invest small amount of time to read this book and have more fun with what you want to do. That's why this book is short. Because learning idioms is not your ultimate goal. It's just a small step stone to your goal.

Learning words are not fun.

You don't need to put much time on this book. Just read the book for few minutes and recall what you have learned. Then, go back to your passion. You will find the words in this book here and there. If you cannot recall them, just come back and read the chapters again. It will surely help you.

Think of learning words as a small investment. It will surely pay you back later.

Aren't they Useless and hard to find words?

I don't recommend 4 character idioms to absolute beginners--those who even don't know how to read 한글. However, if you are not, idioms can be like a toy and you can have fun with it anytime.

In English, there are many words you can find frequently such as in, are, the, etc. However, the phrase, to turn over a new leaf, which I used earlier is not frequently used like them. Still, you should know that phrase to understand some books, TV shows or conversations.

Idioms cannot be your first priority. However, you should know them if you want to be fluent.

What if the book is too hard for me?

You can check whether the book is too hard for you by reading the blog posts here. I used the same examples in the book. So, you can check it out.

It's fine to buy it now and read it later when you become better at Korean. Sometimes, I go back to my old English books and I am still learning from them.

We think a book is hard when we try to memorize everything at first. We all know that it is a non-sense. However, we try that many times. It's natural to forget something after your study. Just read the book briefly for fun. Then, do something you like with Korean language. Later, come back to this book. You will surely find some new things in this book you never knew when you first read it. It's the sign of your improvement and how we learn a new language.

It's Too Expensive for me.

First of all, you can read most of the book here for free. The book is the package of the contents in the blog with some exclusive explanation and questions and answers.

Just try the book if you are not sure. You can always get a refund. I don't want your money if you are not amazingly happy with the book.