Asking for Directions

1. 실례합니다 (shil-le-hab-ni-da)

In order for you to ask a local for directions, you need to approach one. To do this, we say 실례합니다 (shil-le-hab-ni-da), which means "Excuse me". It's a polite way to get a stranger's attention. It is possible, and quite understandable that the stranger might refuse to engage in the conversation, so a loud and clear 실례합니다 would help you in the start. 

Obviously, this is something that you can use to approach a person for any other reasons and also to make way for yourself (e.g. when you want to get through a crowd). 

2. 여기가 어디에요? (yeo-gi-ga eo-di-e-yo?)

Let's dissect this sentence. 여기 (yeo-gi) means here, and 가 (ga) is one of the words that identify the subject of the sentence. Lastly, 어디에요 (eo-di-e-yo) means "Where?".

Put this together and - you guessed it - it translates to "Where is here?". 

If you ask a stranger this question without pointing anywhere, you are asking for the name of the place that you are standing on at that moment. When you point to a photo of a place or a part of a map, you are asking where that place is. 

3. 로 (~ro)

We want to start off by introducing this Korean preposition, which means "towards" or "to". We learned just now that 여기 (yeo-gi) means "here". To say "To here", you say 여기로 (yeo-gi-ro). Add a name of a place before ~로 (~ro), and it gives the impression that that is where you are going. 

~로 어떻게 가요? (~ro eo-tteo-ke ga-yo?)

어떻게 (eo-tteo-ke) = how

가요 (ga-yo) = A conversational format of 가다 (ga-da), which means to go

Yes - putting the two definitions together,어떻게 가요? (eo-tteo-ke ga-yo?) means "how to go?". Put the name of your destination before this question, and connect it with ~로. You now have a full sentence that asks for a direction to a place, or "How does one go to ___?"

스타벅스 (seu-ta-beog-seu) = Starbucks

스타벅스로 어떻게 가요? (seu-ta-beog-seu-lo eo-tteoh-ke ga-yo?) = How do I go to Starbucks?

Exercise: 화장실 (hwa-jang-shil) is toilet/restroom in Korean. How do you ask for directions to the restroom?

Bonus: 감사합니다 (gam-sa-hab-ni-da)

Koreans value mannerisms and politeness. Just like approaching a person with 실례합니다 (shil-le-hab-ni-da), say 감사합니다 (gam-sa-hab-ni-da), or thank you - regardless of whether the stranger was able to help you or not! 

Let's finish by putting everything together: 

실례합니다.
여기가 어디에요?
화장실로 어떻게 가요?
감사합니다! 

If you're not familiar with reading in Korean, use this pronunciation guide: 

실례합니다. (shil-le-hab-ni-da.)
여기가 어디에요? (yeo-gi-ga eo-di-e-yo?)
화장실로 어떻게 가요? (hwa-jang-shil-ro eo-tteo-ke ga-yo?)
감사합니다! (gam-sa-hab-ni-da!)