Korean speakers common vocabulary mistakes in English

Konglish different or not English simplest responses

English for Korean learners/ false friends

1. eye shopping
2. gown
3. after service
4. consent     
5. Dutch pay
6. interphone
7. McGuyver knife
8. one piece
9. open car
10. White Day
11. Y shirt
12. back singer
13. ball pen
14. S.F.
15. cider
16. cunning
17. handle
18. hip
19. Hotchkiss
20. apart

Instructions

1. With a partner, mark each word or expression above with “Different” if it also exists in British or American English but with a different meaning to when it is used in Korean, or with “Not” if it is a Korean word or expression that doesn’t exist in British or American English.
2. Check your answers with your teacher or the answer key
3. Practice the language one more time by listening and holding up the “Diff” or “Not” cards.
4. Play a game with these cards by putting them on the table and racing to be the first person to slap your hand down on the right card 
5. Join another group and get them to play the games in stages 3 and 4 above, correcting their errors each time.

Cards to hold up

Photocopy the sheet below and cut out the individual cards so each group or each person has one of each.

Different	Not	Different	Not
Different	Not	Different	Not
Different	Not	Different	Not
Different	Not	Different	Not
Different	Not	Different	Not
Different	Not	Different	Not

Suggested answers

1. eye shopping- NOT- Window shopping
2. gown- DIFFERENT- a very formal dress, not a short form of “dressing gown”/ “bathrobe”
3. after service- NOT- “after sales service”
4. consent- DIFFERENT – means “permission”, not power point/ socket
5. Dutch pay- NOT- going Dutch/ splitting the bill
6. interphone- NOT- intercom
7. McGuyver Knife- NOT- Swiss army knife
8. one piece- DIFFERENT – a general term meaning “one slice” etc as in “one piece of cake”, but not used to mean “a dress”
9. open car- DIFFERENT – means a car with a door open (although not used very often), not a convertible/ soft top/ cabriolet
10. White Day- NOT- this day doesn’t exist in UK or US, as the boys give chocolates on Valentine’s Day
11. Y shirt- NOT- formal shirt, dress shirt, business shirt or (usually) just “shirt”
12. back music- NOT- background music
13. ball pen- NOT- ballpoint pen/ biro/ pen
14. S.F.- NOT- the short form of science fiction is sci fi
15. cider- DIFFERENT – it is always made from apples and (in the UK) alcoholic, not a general term for pop/ soda/ fizzy drink.
16. cunning- DIFFERENT- it means “sly” or “wily” (clever in a bad way like a fox), not specifically “cheating” (in a test etc)
17. handle- DIFFERENT- it is the part of a door, mug, kettle etc that you put your hand on, but not a steering wheel in a car or handlebars on a bike
18. hip- DIFFERENT- means the side of your body near your hip bone, not your bottom/ buttocks
19. Hotchkiss- NOT- this was a famous brand of stapler but is unknown nowadays in the US or UK
20. apart- DIFFERENT- means separate, not a short form for “apartment” (the closest equivalents are “flat” or “condo”)

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Related pages

English for Korean learners page

Simplest responses post