Thanks to South Korean bloggers’ excellent hashtag skills which use an easy-to-follow system, Instagram makes tracking how locations look on a particular day and discovering new hashtags is surprisingly easy. Learn how right now!
Before you begin, smartphone apps you will need
In order to manage the language differences without knowing Korean (but still using pattern recognition skills), you will need the following apps on your smartphone. You will be copying Korean from the South of Seoul app, searching on Instagram, translating new information with Papago, and creating lists of terms in an app of your choosing. A summary of the smartphone applications you need are as follows:
- South of Seoul
- Papago
- Any program for saving lists of information (Keep Notes, Evernote, Apple Notes are all options)
First, how do I know the current status of any famous location around Korea?
Did you know there is a way to use Instagram to immediately know what the popular or famous muhly grass, fall colors, cherry blossoms, silver grass, green tea fields, tulip festivals, etc look like right now? Here is how it all works.
To find out if something like pink muhly grass is in season at your local Instagram muhly grass ‘hotplace’ (the Korean term for a popular location) you can look at the tags on Instagram and then look at the most recent images. This way of searching Instagram gives you instant weather and bloom reports based on folks’ posts from that area.
This is a far more accurate system than posting in random groups on Facebook hoping to know what things might look like. You get a first-hand report, in real-time, right on Instagram.
You can use the South of Seoul app to make your Hangul Instagram search easier since you can copy the Korean name of each location and post it into Instagram with a #. Here is a little tutorial on how the South of Seoul app can help you check out the current conditions of locations around South Korea.
Step 1: Search South of Seoul by either location name or key words by keywords
You can search “Closest” or “Newest” locations added depending on what you are looking for. South of Seoul volunteers try to tag each location with keywords such as “Muhly grass” or “Pink Grass” or “Fall colors” so that you can more easily find places based on what they are famous for.
Step 2: Copy the Hangul name of the location
To do a solid search on Instagram you need the name written in Korean. Very limited information is available using English or romanized names. You can simply tap the Korean name in the South of Seoul app and it will copy.
Step 3: Paste the Hangul name with a hashtag
Step 4: Sort by ‘Recent’ posts on Instagram
Step 5: Look a the recent posts
Popular Korean Keywords Used Across the Country
South of Seoul Volunteers are always adding to this list in the South of Seoul app in order to empower your searches for information around South Korea. Let us know what other phrases you might need in the comments. Using this list will help get you started on a big journey of discovery. You can copy and paste this list into an app on your phone so that you always have it with you.
- pink muhly grass = #핑크뮬리
- fall landscapes = #가을풍경
- ginkgo road = #은행나무길
- ginkgo tress = #은행나무
- cherry blossoms = #벚꽃
- delicious restaurant = #맛집
- travel = #여행
- recommendation = #추천 (this may go on the end of a hashtag to specifically look for recommendations)
- hotplace = #홋플
- date ideas = #데이트코스
- cafe = #커페
- dog cafe = #애견카페
- drinking spot = # 술집
- brunch = #브런치
- camping = #캠핑
- pension = #펜션
- forest = #숲
- festival = #페스티발 or #축제
How to discover how things look in certain Locations.
Now that you know how to search by keyword the next step is learning how to search by keywords and area. Since Korean Instagramers have a great tagging system, discovering what things are like around Korea is quite simple. You simply put the location and the keyword together with a hashtag. It looks something like this
- Pyeongtaek + pink muhly grass = #평택핑크뮬리
- Pyeongtaek + brunch = #평택브런치
- Pyeongtaek + delicious restaurant = #평택맛집
- Pyeongtaek + delicious restaurant + recommendation = #평택맛집추천
However, here are some terms like ‘가을풍경’ which means falk landscape. In this situation, if you want to know what fall colors look like in a certain are you need to use # + location + trip which might look like #아산여행.
Second, how do I discover new keywords for my Korean life
The above lists get you started on your Instagram searching journey and then you will want to discover more search terms for yourself. You can discover new, interesting searches using the following steps:
Step 1: Put a city name into Instagram Search and tap on the # section.
A long list of search terms for Pyeongtaek will come up on your screen and you will want to screenshot them. You will notice all the terms that come after Pyeongtaek (평택). Once you have a screenshot you can go learn what each of these tags means.
Step 2: Take that screenshot and put it into Papapago translation app
Papago will be far more accurate with these terms than Google Translate. It’s going to look like the image below. You can now isolate the keywords and see the translations. You can copy the Korean keyword from Papago.
Step 3: Create a Hashtags List in Your Notes
Don’t lose this work. Copy and paste both the Korean # and the English meaning into a Notes app on your phone. Make sure that you document all of this research for later. You can also share these hashtags lists with each other to make life in Korea easier to navigate. We all build this life together.
Anything else you need help with?
South of Seoul volunteers are always interested to learn what struggles English-speaking residents in South Korea face. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments and we can consider creating blogs to help support you in overcoming issues you may face.
South of Seoul posts for inspiration on where to take your own Insta worthy photos
Lanae Rivers-Woods moved to Korea in 2011 where she lives in the countryside with her family, friends, and puppies. She holds a BSSW (Bachelor’s of Science in Social Work), a MAIT (Master’s of Arts in International Teaching), and registered by the Pyeongtaek Korean Times with the Korean government as a Cultural Expert.
Ms. Rivers-Woods used her 15 years experience as a social architect, UX/UI designer, and technology consultant to found South of Seoul in 2015. South of Seoul is a volunteer organization that leverages technological tools to mitigate cultural dissonance in multi-cultural communities.
Through South of Seoul, Ms. Rivers-Woods works with independent volunteers, non-profit organizations, businesses, local & federal government, universities, and US military organizations to develop solutions to support English speaking international residents in rural South Korea.
Additionally, Ms. Rivers-Woods founded the South of Seoul smart phone app available for Google Play and iPhone. The app provides information a resources for those living and traveling in South Korea.
When she isn’t in South of Seoul development meetings or working her day job, Ms. Rivers-Woods loves to be outside at skate parks, the beach, or playing in the mountains.
