Talking About Hobbies and Pets in Korean: Beginner Story & Dialogue 🎨

Join Minjun and Seoyeon in this charming story about a fun afternoon of drawing their pet cats, Cheese and Nabi. You’ll learn essential A1-A2 level Korean vocabulary for hobbies, family, and pets, and see how to describe events in the past tense.

💬 Video Transcript

Here is the full transcript of the story, with Korean and English translations.

민준 (Minjun): 저와 서연이는 그림 그리기를 끝냈어요. 정말 재미있었어요.
(Minjun: Seoyeon and I finished drawing. It was really fun.)

민준 (Minjun): 저는 제 고양이 치즈를 그렸어요. 그림 속 치즈는 자고 있어요.
(Minjun: I drew my cat, Cheese. In the picture, Cheese is sleeping.)

민준 (Minjun): 서연이는 자기 고양이 나비를 그렸어요. 그림 속 나비는 놀고 있어요.
(Minjun: Seoyeon drew her cat, Nabi. In the picture, Nabi is playing.)

민준 (Minjun): 우리는 서로의 그림을 봤어요. “와, 서연아, 나비 정말 귀엽다!” 제가 말했어요.
(Minjun: We looked at each other’s drawings. “Wow, Seoyeon, Nabi is so cute!” I said.)

민준 (Minjun): 서연이가 웃었어요. “민준아, 너도 치즈 잘 그렸다! 정말 똑같아.”
(Minjun: Seoyeon smiled. “Minjun, you drew Cheese well too! It looks exactly the same.”)

민준 (Minjun): 우리는 그림이 아주 마음에 들었어요. 그래서 할머니께 보여드리고 싶었어요.
(Minjun: We really liked our drawings. So we wanted to show them to our grandmother.)

민준 (Minjun): “우리 이 그림, 할머니께 보여드리자.” 제가 말했어요. 서연이도 고개를 끄덕였어요.
(Minjun: “Let’s show these drawings to Grandma,” I said. Seoyeon nodded her head too.)

민준 (Minjun): 마침 거실에 치즈가 자고 있었어요. 저는 제 그림을 치즈 옆에 조심스럽게 놓았어요.
(Minjun: Just then, Cheese was sleeping in the living room. I carefully placed my drawing next to Cheese.)

민준 (Minjun): 그림 속 치즈와 진짜 치즈가 나란히 있었어요. 정말 웃겼어요. 치즈는 눈도 뜨지 않았어요.
(Minjun: The Cheese in the drawing and the real Cheese were side by side. It was really funny. Cheese didn’t even open his eyes.)

민준 (Minjun): 그때, 나비가 다가왔어요. 서연이는 나비에게 자기 그림을 보여줬어요.
(Minjun: Just then, Nabi came over. Seoyeon showed Nabi her drawing.)

민준 (Minjun): 나비는 그림을 보고 킁킁 냄새를 맡았어요. 그리고 앞발로 그림 속 나비를 툭 쳤어요. 아마 친구인 줄 알았나 봐요.
(Minjun: Nabi looked at the drawing and sniffed it. Then, she tapped the Nabi in the picture with her front paw. I guess she thought it was a friend.)

민준 (Minjun): 저와 서연이는 소리내어 웃었어요. 우리는 그림을 들고 할머니께 갔어요.
(Minjun: Seoyeon and I laughed out loud. We took our drawings and went to our grandmother.)

민준 (Minjun): 할머니는 텔레비전을 보고 계셨어요. “할머니, 이것 보세요.”
(Minjun: Grandmother was watching television. “Grandma, look at this.”)

민준 (Minjun): 할머니는 우리 그림을 보시고 활짝 웃으셨어요. “아이고, 우리 강아지들. 그림 솜씨가 아주 좋네! 정말 잘 그렸다!”
(Minjun: Grandmother looked at our drawings and smiled brightly. “Oh my, my little darlings. Your drawing skills are very good! You drew so well!”)

민준 (Minjun): 할머니는 제 머리를 쓰다듬어 주셨어요. 그리고 서연이에게도 칭찬해 주셨어요.
(Minjun: Grandmother patted my head. And she praised Seoyeon, too.)

민준 (Minjun): 할머니는 냉장고로 가셨어요. “그림 그리느라 힘들었지? 할머니가 시원한 오렌지 주스 줄게.”
(Minjun: Grandmother went to the refrigerator. “You must be tired from drawing, right? Grandma will give you some cool orange juice.”)

민준 (Minjun): 우리는 할머니가 주신 시원한 주스를 마셨어요. 정말 맛있었어요.
(Minjun: We drank the cool juice that Grandmother gave us. It was really delicious.)

민준 (Minjun): 그림도 그리고, 칭찬도 받고, 맛있는 주스도 마셔서 기분이 정말 좋았어요.
(Minjun: I felt really good because I drew a picture, got a compliment, and drank delicious juice.)

📝 Essential Vocabulary

Here are some key words and phrases from the story. Listen to the pronunciation and practice saying them out loud!

🔍 Grammar Focus

This story is full of useful grammar for beginners. Let’s look at two key patterns.

1. The Simple Past Tense: -았/었어요 (-at/eosseoyo)

To talk about things that have already happened in Korean, you attach a past tense marker to the verb stem. The entire story is told in the past tense. The ending you use depends on the last vowel of the verb stem.

• If the last vowel is ㅏ (a) or ㅗ (o), you add -았어요.
• If the last vowel is anything else (e.g.,ㅓ, ㅜ, ㅣ), you add -었어요.
• For verbs ending in 하다 (hada), they become -했어요 (haesseoyo).

Let’s see some examples from the story:

• 재미있었어요 (It was fun): The verb stem is 재미있- (jaemiit-). The last vowel is ㅣ, so we add -었어요 to get 재미있었어요.
• 봤어요 (We saw): The verb stem is 보- (bo-). The last vowel is ㅗ, so we add -았어요. 보 + 았어요 contracts to 봤어요.
• 마셨어요 (We drank): The verb stem is 마시- (masi-). The last vowel is ㅣ, so we add -었어요. 마시 + 었어요 contracts to 마셨어요.

2. Connecting Actions with -고 (-go)

The particle -고 is used to connect two or more actions or states in sequence. It’s similar to saying “and” or “and then” in English. You attach it directly to the verb stem of the first action.

Look at this sentence from the end of the story:

• 그림도 그리고, 칭찬도 받고, 맛있는 주스도 마셔서… (I drew a picture, and got a compliment, and drank delicious juice…)

Here, -고 links three actions that happened one after another: 그리다 (to draw) → 그리고, 받다 (to receive) → 받고.

Another example:

• 나비는 그림을 보고 킁킁 냄새를 맡았어요. (Nabi looked at the drawing and then sniffed it.)

This shows the sequence: Nabi first looked (보고) and then she sniffed.

🌍 Cultural Tip

🃏 Flip & Learn

Review the vocabulary from our story with these flashcards.

💡 Key Takeaways

Here are the most important points to remember from this lesson:

• Use the past tense endings -았/었어요 to talk about completed actions. Pay attention to the last vowel of the verb stem to choose the correct one.
• The particle -고 is a simple and effective way to connect two clauses, showing a sequence of events.
• You can praise someone’s work by saying 잘 그렸다! (You drew well!) or 솜씨가 아주 좋네! (Your skill is very good!).
• Notice the use of the honorific verb 보여드리다 (to show) when the children want to show their drawings to their grandmother, who is of higher status.

🎯 Practice Quiz

Test your understanding of the story and its vocabulary.

✍️ Fill in the Blanks

Let’s test your spelling and memory! Fill in the missing words below. Use correct spelling.