Navigating transport in foreign countries can be a real struggle sometimes, even for the most seasomed travellers! Seoul’s subway system is clearly signposted in Korean and English, and often Japanese and Mandarin, too.
On top of this, the announcements calling the next station on subways are made in all four languages. Here are some phrases and words that might be useful to memorise and use, or if only to recognise them.
지하철 (Ji-ha-cheol) – Subway
역 (Yeog) – Station
표 (Pyo) – Ticket
매표소 (Mae-pyo-so) – Ticket Counter – Every subway station also has ticket machines that operate in all aforementioned languages, so buying a ticket is really easy. If you’re up for a challenge, you can try buying a ticket in Korean!
다음 역 어디 있나요? (Da-eum yeog eo-di in-na-yo) – What is the next station?
You can buy single tickets every time for the subway which costs on average ₩1150/65p. Many people like to buy a T-money card, which is a ticket that you can top up with more money whenever you need it. You can also use this card on buses and in many convenience stores – just look for the sign! The subways are fairly easy to use, though I admit I’ve been caught out once or twice by trying to transfer between lines…If you are really stuck, you can say, “도와 주세요!” (do-wa ju-se-yo) – please help me!
What other words are useful in the subways, let us know in the comments below!
