About 20 years ago, I remember how startling it was when I heard a native speaker pronounce the word “chocolate” because the pronunciation of the word “chocolate” was entirely different than what I had known.

 

There are no other Korean words for this 외래어 (wae-rae-uh: loanword, foreign word usage). Therefore, I thought that native speakers would speak exactly the same as I would in saying 초코릿. However, the huge difference of the word “chocolate” between English and Korean is in intonation.

In Korean, we have many foreign words that phonetically sound like English. In fact, there is a strong movement to minimize 외래어 in order to prevent impurity in Korean.

 

I am going to share some examples of 외래어 in which the only difference is the Korean intonation. I included the audio files below. I want you to try to say the words in English after you listen to the files.

 

1. 초코릿 (cho-co-lit: chocolate)

2. 오렌지 (oh-ran-gee: orange)

3. 카디건 (gah-dee-gun: cardigan)

4. 비닐 (bee-nill: vinyl)

5. 밀크쉐이크 (mil-keu-shae-ee-keu: milk shake)

6. 드라이브 (deu-rai-ee-beu: drive)

7. 쇼핑 (cho-ping: shopping)

8. 폰 (pone: phone)

9. 라이터 (lai-ee-ter: lighter)

10. 가스 (gah-sseu: gas, stove)

11. 도너츠 (doh-nuh-cheu: donuts)

12. 커피 (kuh-pee: coffee)

13. 바베큐 (bah-beh-kyoo: barbeque)

14. 사우나 (sah-wooh-nah: sauna)

15. 마요네즈 (mah-yo-neh-zeu: mayonnaise)

16. 카라멜 (kah-lah-mel: caramel)

17. 쥬스( jeu-seu: juice)

18. 스포츠 (seu-poh-cheu: sports)

19. 헬스 (hell-seu: health)

20. 아파트 (ah-pah-teu: apartment)

21. 피자 (pi-jah: pizza)

22. 택시 (taek-ssi: taxi)