올챙이송 (Tadpole Song)

My baby loves this song and likes me singing this for her. This is a very cute Korean children song, and I thought it is a good song to learn Korean from.

개울가에 올챙이 한마리 꼬물꼬물 헤엄치다(Kewulga-e olchaengi hanmari komul komul haeumchida)
A tadpole in the brook was wriggle wriggle swimming.

마리 is used only for animals or insects. You don't use it to count people. You use 명, so you say 한 명, 두 명. 꼬물 꼬물 is describing tiny twisting and turning movement, but you usually use it for a small bug or earthworm. 

뒷다리가 쑥, 앞다리가 쑥, 팔딱팔딱 개구리 됐네(Tuitarika suk, aptarika suk, paltak paltak kaeguri tenne)
Back legs pop out, front legs pop out, hopping hopping turned into a frog

쑥 is used with 나오다(come out). When you use 쑥 나오다, it comes out fast, quickly, without any difficulty. There is a sound, 쏙. It is used with 들어가다(go in).  쏙 들어가다 means going in fast, quickly, without any difficulty.


꼬물 꼬물 꼬물 꼬물 꼬물 꼬물 올챙이가(Komul komul komul komul komul komul olchaengika)
Wriggle Wriggle Wrigglw Wriggle Wriggle a tadpole


뒷다리가 쑥, 앞다리가 쑥, 팔딱 팔딱 개구리 됐네(Tuitarika suk, aptarika suk, paltak paltak kaeguri tenne)
Back legs pop out, front legs pop out, hopping hopping turned into a frog

팔딱팔딱 is a hopping, jumping movement. Korean has so many different movement terms.

This is Yuri liking me singing this song. She was only 100 days old when I recorded this song. I also made some mistake in the beginning of the song. Please look for my mistake! :)

Let's learn some more movement terms!

깡총깡총
으쓱으쓱
도리도리
깜빡깜빡
덜덜

There are so many movement terms, so I might list them in another posting. Let's learn these 5 terms.

깡총깡총 is a jumping movement. You might now wonder what the difference between 팔딱팔딱 and  깡총깡총.  I will use 팔딱팔딱 when I describe something flat jumping. I will use 깡총깡총 when I describe something standing vertical such as a rabbit. You can say 토끼가 깡총깡총 뛴다 or 여자아이가 깡총깡총 뛴다. There is 껑충껑충. You use this when something big is jumping and leaping such as a kangaroo. 

으쓱으쓱 is a shrugging movement. 어깨를 으쓱으쓱하다 means you lift your shoulders up. In English, you shrug to show that you don't care about something or ignore something or do not know the answer to a question. However, in Korea, if you hear 으쓱으쓱하다, that means that person is very proud of him/herself and feels good about themselves. But, if you say 어깨를 으쓱 한번 했다, that means the person literally lifted his or her shoulders up so it could be interpreted as not knowing, caring.

도리도리 means shaking your head. Korean people say this to their babies and teach them to turn their head right and left. 

깜빡깜빡 is blinking movement. 눈을 깜빡이다 means blinking eyes. 불이 깜빡이다 means a light is flickering.

덜덜 is a shaking movement. When you are cold, you shiver. You can say 추워서 덜덜 떨었다.

Ok. I hope this helps you guys a lot to learn Korean and understand some of the movement words. 

If you liked it, please comment! :) If you want me to teach you any songs, you can make a request, too. Have a great day!