The job in Korean is 직업. Here you will see various job names and explanations as well! Each section consists of 10 words and a worksheet. You can also download the extra worksheets at the wrap-up! Read the post and find out the job that is related to you!
<Table of Contents>
1. Jobs around
Let's start with the words you'll often see around town and also in my lesson! Try to memorize them because you'll see them very often!
teacher | |
professor | |
student | |
office worker | |
government worker | |
clerk | |
doctor | |
nurse | |
cook | |
hairdresser |
teacher 선생님
In Chinese characters, 선 先 [seon (sun)] means "before" and 생 生 [saeng] means "live, birth." So, 선생 is a person who started to live before you. 님 is a title of honor. 선생님 is not just a noun as a job name. It is also the term you are supposed to use to call a teacher. In Korea, you don't call someone older than you by their name because that is very rude. If you want to know more about it, please check my blog post about how to address someone in Korean. Also, these days 선생님 is used to call someone older politely. Even though, he or she is not a teacher!
student 학생
학생 is a general term for a student. You can specify this term depending on the type of school. Here are some examples.
초등학생 elementary school student
중학생 middle school student
고등학생 high school student
대학생 university student
office worker 회사원
회사 is a company, corporation, or firm. So people who work at those places are called 회사원.
doctor 의사
의사 is a noun, meaning doctor. To politely call the doctor, you have to say "의사 선생님." See? 선생님 is not just a teacher!
<Reading Material> Chinese characters in Korean
You may notice that some words end with the same syllable. "회사원" (office worker), "공무원" (government worker), and "점원" (store worker) end with "원," while "의사" (doctor) and "간호사" (nurse) end with "사." This is because those words have Chinese character bases.
"원" (員) means staff or officer, and "사" (師) means a teacher. Not all the time, but most of the time, understanding Chinese letters can help you understand the Korean language.
In daily life, people usually don't use Chinese characters to write anymore, thanks to the Great King Se-jong who invented the Korean alphabet. However, as you saw in the examples above, many words still have their Chinese origins.
Knowing Chinese characters is very helpful for understanding Korean words. However, if you are not familiar with Chinese and you are a Korean beginner, you don't have to memorize each Chinese character yet. Just try to memorize the ones that you encounter during my lessons!
2. Art-related jobs
artist | |
painter | |
illustrator | |
designer | |
photographer | |
architect | |
musician | |
pianist | |
writer | |
webcomic artist |
artist 예술가
예술 means art, but the broad meaning of art. So, any form of an artist can be 예술가. 예술가 creates art such as painting, sculpture, music, or writing.
artist 미술가
미술 is an art, especially a visual art. It is only related to paintings, sculptures, etc. So, 미술가 is a part of 예술가 category. Here are examples of 미술가.
화가 painter
조각가 sculptor
공예가 craftsman
디자이너 designer
건축가 architect
일러스트레이터 illustrator
photographer 사진가 / 포토그래퍼
사진 is a photo. So, people who take a picture are called 사진가. These days, people also use the loanword, 포토그래퍼 that came from the word, "photographer". It is also said 사진사 or 사진작가. 사진사 has a strong meaning as a type of technician who mainly runs a photo studio and takes identification photos or family photos, while 사진작가 has a stronger vibe as an artist.
musician 음악가 / 뮤지션
음악 means music. These days people also use the word 뮤지션 instead of 음악가 especially when a person is doing modern music or western-influenced music. Here are some examples of 음악가.
가수 singer
작곡가 composer
지휘자 conductor
연주자 musical instrument player
피아니스트 or 피아노 연주자 pianist
바이올리니스트 or 바이올린 연주자 violinish
writer 작가
Watch out for the pronunciation. The ㄱ at the final consonant and the ㄱ of the first consonant of the second syllable affect each other. Even though you write it 작가, you have to read it as [작까].
webcomic artists 웹툰 작가
Cartoonists or manga artists are called 만화가. 만화 is the Korean word for manga. These days, webcomics are more and more popular than paper books. A webcomic is called 웹툰(webtoon) in Korea.
3. Broadcast-related jobs
PD(producer) | |
director | |
announcer | |
weathercaster | |
reporter | |
entertainer | |
singer | |
actor/actress | |
comedian | |
(fashion) model |
actor/actress 배우
배우 can mean both an actor and an actress. You can specify for an actress to 여배우 short for 여자 배우. 여자 means woman/female. A male actor is 남배우 short for 남자 배우. 남자 means man/male.
Like this,
reporter 기자
기자 is a person who covers and writes or edits articles to be published in newspapers, magazines, broadcasts, etc. So, it can mean news reporters, journalists, newsmen, and correspondents.
4. Law, business-related jobs
judge | |
lawyer | |
prosecutor | |
police officer | |
firefighter | |
businessman/businesswoman | |
accountant | |
CEO | |
secretary | |
salesman/saleswoman |
businessman/businesswoman 사업가
Either man or woman will be 사업가 in Korean. Like 배우(actor or actress), Korean words don't distinguish male or female.
CEO 사장님
사장 has a lot of meanings, a company's president CEO, boss. Basically, if a person owns the business, he or she is 사장. However, when you call or refer to them, you add the honorific appellation and call them 사장님.
5. Scholars
Scholars are called 학자. Remember what student is in Korean? Yes, it is 학생. The word "학(學)" means learning/studying. You can tell why they both have the word 학, right? Depending on the type of study, there are lots of scholars. Here are some examples!
scientist | |
engineer | |
mathematician | |
psychologist | |
historian | |
archaeologist | |
philosopher | |
linguist | |
anthropologist | |
sociologist |
6. Various Jobs
athlete | |
driver | |
pilot | |
crew member | |
mechanic | |
farmer | |
fisherman | |
carpenter | |
translator | |
interpreter | |
part-timer |
athlete 운동선수
운동 means sports or exercise. 선수 means a player. You can replace 운동 with a specific sports name. Here are some examples.
축구 선수 soccer player
야구 선수 baseball player
농구 선수 basketball player
pilot 비행기 조종사
For pilots, people also use the loan word 파일럿. The captain is called 기장 or 캡틴.
crew member 승무원
승무원 is a person who is in charge of duties related to the operation of a train, ship, airplane, etc. For flight attendants, people used to use the word 스튜어디스 which came from the word "stewardess." But these days, 객실승무원 or 항공 승무원 are more recommended like "flight attendant."
translator 번역가 / interpreter 통역가
One thing to know is the difference between 번역가(translator) and 통역가(interpreter). 번역가 is the one who translates the written documents and 통역가 interprets the verbal language(talking). They are well-distinguished in Korean, so make sure not to mix up.
part-timer 아르바이트생
I added this word here because it is an interesting word. 아르바이트 came from the German word "Arbeit" It means work. As this word moved to Japan, it had the meaning of "part-time work." Korea took this Japanized German word.
With the Chinese word "생 生" (live), 아르바이트생 means a part-time worker. Since it is too long, people commonly just use the shortened word 알바생.
7. Wrap-up & Worksheets: Job words in Korean
In this post, I showed you various job words in Korean. If you are a beginner, you don't have to memorize all these job names, of course. However, I recommend you memorize the words in section 1. Those words are often used during my lessons!
Here are some worksheets and materials you can use during your study. Please download the free printable PDF to study the new words you learn!
Noun organizer: Jobs
You can keep adding new words to this worksheet. Add only job-related words here. Keep the papers in the file with other nouns. This way you can easily review the words.
All word writing practice
If you don't want to download the individual worksheets during the lesson and want to download the whole worksheet at once, use this one. This one has all!
Quizlet Flashcards
Related grammar lesson: How to say your job? Click here to read my other post!
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