Subway

Station signage is the friendliest reading practice in Korea: a small set of words, repeated at every stop, with the answer printed right next to them.

Line badges and station names

Every station sign leads with a colored, numbered circle — the line badge. The color and number identify the line (green 2, orange 3), so the badge orients you before you read a single block. The name beside it is your flashcard: Korean on top, official romanization underneath, which means the subway grades your reading on the spot.

Station names follow patterns worth knowing. 역 on the end just means “station.” A name like 종로3가 mixes blocks with a digit — read the digit in Sino-Korean (sam), the way announcements do. And named exits like ○○입구 (“entrance to ○○”) tell you a landmark is attached to the station.

Getting through the station

Beyond names, a handful of words steer you: 타는 곳 marks the boarding platform, 환승 means transfer (follow it when you change lines), and 나가는 곳 or 출구 point to the exits. Direction boards add ~방면 — “toward” a terminal station — which is how you confirm you're on the right side of the platform before the train arrives.

These words repeat at every single station, in the same official typeface, in the same positions overhead. That repetition is exactly what makes them stick: by your third transfer you'll notice you've stopped translating 환승 and started just following it, which is what reading fluency actually feels like.

How to practice with this deck

Flip the cards above and say each word aloud before checking — station names are ideal reps because they're short, concrete, and you can verify them against any subway map. When the common words start reading themselves, scan the full table below for the longer station names.

The real test is free: next time you ride, read every station sign out the window before the announcement says it.