Is the Popular Panda White or Black?
Hello! This is [Daily Hangeul], here to upgrade your Korean skills!
Welcome back, Korean learners! Today, we are going to learn how to describe animal colors.
Have you noticed what’s trending in Korea lately? The entire nation has fallen in love with a giant panda named “Fu Bao”! 🐼 Videos of this adorable panda are everywhere on YouTube and Instagram. Watching cute animals is a huge trend for “healing” (stress relief) in Korea.
So, when you see a cute video of a panda or a puppy, how do you describe them? Let’s learn the colors you need to talk about these trending animals!
🎨 Key Expressions: Describing Animal Colors
Here are 4 essential expressions to describe animals, perfect for beginners!
1. 무슨 색이에요?
- Pronunciation: [Museun saeg-ieyo?]
- English Meaning: What color is it?
- Detail: This is the standard question used to ask about the color of an object or animal. You can point at an animal and ask this.
- 💡 Pronunciation Tip (Linking Sound):
- When one block ends with a consonant (batchim) and the next starts with a vowel (placeholder ‘ㅇ’), the sound carries over.
- 색이에요 is written as saek-i-e-yo, but it is pronounced [새기에요 (sae-gi-e-yo)]. The ‘ㄱ’ (k/g) sound moves to the next block!
2. 검은색
- Pronunciation: [Geomeun-saek]
- English Meaning: Black
- Detail: This comes from the descriptive verb “to be black.” It is the most common way to say black when describing hair, fur, or objects.
- 💡 Pronunciation Tip (Resyllabification):
- Just like the tip above, the bottom consonant ‘ㅁ’ (m) moves to the next empty vowel spot.
- Instead of saying “Geom-eun,” say it smoothly like [거믄 (Geo-meun)]. It sounds much more natural!
3. 하얀색
- Pronunciation: [Hayan-saek]
- English Meaning: White
- Detail: Used for white clouds, snow, and of course, the white fur of a panda or a Maltese dog (which is very popular in Korea!).
- 💡 Pronunciation Tip (Weak ‘ㅎ’):
- The ‘ㅎ’ (h) sound in Korean is often pronounced very softly, almost like a breath.
- Don’t stress the ‘H’ too hard. Say it gently: [Ha-yan-saek].
4. 갈색
- Pronunciation: [Gal-saek]
- English Meaning: Brown
- Detail: This is the color of a Poodle or a bear. It literally comes from the color of “burlap” or dried leaves.
- 💡 Pronunciation Tip (Liquid ‘ㄹ’):
- The ‘ㄹ’ (l/r) at the bottom sounds more like a soft ‘L’.
- Make sure your tongue touches the ridge behind your upper teeth. [Gal-saek].
🗣️ Real-Life Conversation
Let’s look at a conversation between two friends watching a YouTube video of the famous panda, Fu Bao.
A: 우와, 이 판다 좀 봐! 정말 귀여워.
(Uwa, i panda jom bwa! Jeongmal gwiyeowo.)
Wow, look at this panda! It’s so cute.
B: 진짜 귀엽다! 그런데 무슨 색이야?
(Jinjja gwiyeopda! Geureonde museun saeg-iya?)
It’s really cute! But what color is it?
A: 하얀색하고 검은색이야.
(Hayan-saek-hago geomeun-saek-iya.)
It is white and black.
B: 아, 저기 갈색 곰도 있어!
(A, jeogi gal-saek gom-do isseo!)
Ah, there is a brown bear over there, too!
🇰🇷 Culture Tip & Trend Analysis: The “Fu Bao” Effect
Why are we talking about pandas today? Because of the “Fu Bao” (푸바오) craze!
In Korea, the giant panda Fu Bao has become a top celebrity. Describing her is the perfect practice for today’s lesson because she has distinct black (검은색) patches around her eyes and ears, and a white (하얀색) face.
Also, on Korean social media (Instagram/TikTok), people love to post pictures of their pets. This is often called “Pet-stagram” (펫스타그램).
* Maltese dogs are very common in Korea → You can say: “하얀색 강아지예요.” (It’s a white puppy.)
* Poodles are also popular → You can say: “갈색 강아지예요.” (It’s a brown puppy.)
Knowing these simple colors helps you leave comments on these cute posts!
📝 Wrap-up & Practice
Today we learned how to ask “What color is it?” and the names of three colors found on animals.
Let’s practice! (Quiz)
Fill in the blank to describe the animal below:
Q: A chocolate poodle is very cute. What color is it?
A: ______________ 이에요. (It is brown.)
- 검은색 (Geomeun-saek)
- 하얀색 (Hayan-saek)
- 갈색 (Gal-saek)
Did you find the answer? Please leave your answer in the comments below! Or, tell us the color of your own pet in Korean!
See you in the next lesson! Annyeong! (안녕!) 👋
