Best 5 Study Cafes in Seoul

Study Cafes in Seoul

Now that you are in Seoul either just travelling or studying, and want a place to relax and be focused, you should consider visiting one of these awesome Cafes in Seoul!! Studying at the same location everyday can get tiring and unmotivated, therefore here is a list of places you can go and sit down to study or read. Since changing environments time to time can improve your style of thinking and spice up your study time.

The 1st Penguin

The 1st cafe in Seoul that is great for those who want a nice and quiet place to study or read, has designed their shop for those purposes. This style of a Cafe is unusual but effective for customers since there are 200 electric outlets, 2 computers, 30 lamps, dozens of pencils and sharpeners. Also they provide free water and books if you don't have anything to study with. You will also find some couches, desks for two with a lamp, blankets and even a chalkboard. That being said, this place is really for those who want to study or read, so not a good idea to go there and have a conversation.

The location of The 1st Penguin is near Korea University, so it's really popular for students who attend the prestigious school. Also the colors of the Cafe are really bright and colorful that help people stay awake!! Another thing about their location, is that there are quite a number of restaurants around that you can go eat when you get hungry, but The 1st Penguin do sell small snacks.

For more information click HERE!



Cafe Meeple

Cafe Meeple first opened back in 2007 and has attracted tens of thousands of students to study there and people to just prepare work or read. The cafe is really spacious and aims to provide comfortable study spaces for people. There you can find various sizes of tables, study rooms, and printing facilities. Also there is a possibility you can get a discount if you go during their early hours!!

If you know Korean, visit their Website for more information!!



Dokdabang Cafe

The Dokdabang Cafe is symbolic in Sinchon, it first opened back in 1971 as a music cafe and it was popular among students in the 70's and 80's for 33 years and closed down in 2005. However it has re-opened thanks to the grand son of the original owner and has been a favorite of locals since then!! and close to Yonsei University!!

The Cafe is not just for study as the other two, it has two separate areas for study and regular common space. The ambiance gives a gracefully library-like feel because of their interior design such as wooden tiles, ceiling-tall wooden shelves, wood patio doors with gold linings and classical music as background music. They also have huge glass windows that you will be able to enjoy the view of Sinchon.

If you need a quiet space to study or read, they have a room for that!! In there you will find tables with study lamps and absolutely no talking. Another great part of this cafe is that they have two private meeting rooms for hourly rent for any purpose you would need, maybe such as study groups. Now for the coffee, any drink you purchase you can have a coffee refill for FREE but only once for every purchased drink.

The cafe also is well known for their seasonal Bingsu, every Summer they sell Melon Bingsu which is a favorite because of the style it's served but also of its delicious taste!!

For more information and reviews click HERE!

More pictures and credit click HERE!

Cafe Cita at Soom Island

This cafe near Sogang University is a combination of reading room, cafe and an art gallery. The environment is really peaceful and relaxing!! The combinations mentioned are divided into different spaces around the building, such as where you would find the Book Gallery there is a no-talking policy, then there is the Cafe (CITA) and then an art gallery to enjoy.

Occasionally the Cafe Cita hosts film screenings, book club meetings and lectures. You would also find special meditation and conference rooms available for rent on the seventh floor. However CITA is well known for their beautiful pastries!! The Head Chef studied at Le Cordon Blue in France and one of the popular items are the tarts which people claim are the best ones they ever tried!!

For more information click HERE!


Sahara Cafe

The Sahara Cafe is a hidden gem in Seoul and is really popular among Soongsil University students. Because of the cheap price for coffee and a beautiful and minimalist design. You can go there to study or read, they even have hundreds of books to choose from!!

For seating they have pillowed chairs, long tables with study lamps and just a nice quiet relaxing atmosphere. The nearest subway station to get here is Soongsil University station and they are open Monday to Saturday from 11 am to 11 pm and on Sunday 1 pm to 11 pm, go ahead and check them out!!

Address: 501-2 Beonji Sangdo-dong, Dongjak-gu, Seoul, South Korea
주소: 서울특별시 동작구 사당로 6-1

We hope that you find this information useful and get the chance to visit any of these locations!! Remember to check out our other blog posts about Exploring outside of Seoul!! 

Stay in Korea for the Spring 2020

Come to Korea in the Spring!! 

Spring is one of South Korea's seasons that don't last long but is a beautiful and romantic time to be in as well!! Usually Spring last from mid March to May and every year you will witness beautiful cherry blossoms (usually beginning of April). Because of the Cherry Blossoms there are various seasonal items and perfect locations to take the perfect picture!!

Flower Festivals ONLY in the Spring

Cherry Blossoms are everywhere in South Korea during the Spring, but unfortunantly they don't last long so here is a list of places we recommend for you to go if you want to capture the perfect Instagram picture or your new profile pic!! Also keep in mind that most of the dates are to be determined (TBD) due to we can't know when the cherry blossoms will show.  

The Apricot Blossom Festival (Gwangyang Maehwa) 

Dates for 2020: First half of March TBD  

Once a year since 1997, the celebrations of this festival are specified on the Apricot fruit and its products. This festival takes place in Maehwa, a village in South Jeolla region and Maehwa in Korean translates to apricot due to the popularity. The scenery is beautiful and with the Baegunsan Mountain located near the acres of apricots, creates a romantic view!! 

Visit this Website for more information!

Yeouido Spring Flower Festival

Dates for 2020: Usually April 7 on wards, but depends on cherry blossom blooming 

Every April at this festival you will experience cultural street performances and be able to enjoy a stroll through the Cherry Blossom tunnel!! Also the Hangang River is there too so you may want to enjoy a picnic there and do the classical thing of eating chicken and beer or ramen and enjoying the view. 

Visit this Website for more information!

Seokchonhosu Lake Cherry Blossom Festival 

Dates for 2020: 04.5 - mid-April

Another great place for Cherry Blossom is Seokchon lake as there are trees lined up around the entire lake! Besides of taking your pictures and enjoying the view, you can also enjoy many activities, exhibitions and cultural performances as well. 

Visit this Website for more information!


Jeju Cherry Blossom Festival 

Dates for 2020: Average March 24 TBD 

Want to go to the great island? There are plenty of beautiful Cherry Blossoms in Jeju!! At the Jeju the cherry blossoms there are considered the King Cherry Tree Blossoms since they are the largest and most luxurious among all cherry blossoms. Keep in mind tho that the full blooming of these trees only last for about 2 to 3 days!! All the other trees will continue to blossom from late March to the second week of April. 

Visit this Website for more information!

Jinhae Gunhangje Festival

Dates for 2020: Average first week of April TBD 

This festival is held in the area of Jungwon Rotary and Downtown Jinhae with the blooming of cherry blossoms!! There are various programs such as a pre-event, cultural performances, military performances and more!!   

Visit this Website for more information!


Icheon's Baeksa Village Festival

Dates for 2020: Average first week of April TBD 

The Icheon's Baeksa Village is home to a number of "sansuyu" (cornus fruit) trees which have been growing there over 100 years!! Through each season the trees change colors but in early Spring they change to bright Yellow and in Autumn to vivid red fruits. Because of these amazing trees the festival is hosted to bring visitors and experience the gorgeous trees through Korean traditional folk games and a Sansuyu Flower Parade. We believe is one of the places you won't want to miss out!!  

Visit this Website for more information!

Cheongpungho Cherry Blossom Festival

Dates for 2020: Average first week of April TBD 

Another great place to experience the gorgeous Cherry Blossoms is at the Cheongpungho Cherry Blossom Festival!! The event is held at the Cheongpung lake area of Jecheon where you can experience various flowers besides the cherry blossoms such as the white cherry trees, forysthia and azalea. Also there will be exhibitions, performances, bungee jumping by the lake, and many water sports!! Great way to enjoy your spring vacation!! 

Visit this Website for more information!

Taean Tulip Festival

Dates for 2020: Average second week of April 'till March TBD 

Want to see other kind of flowers besides Cherry Blossoms!? well check out this great event where is located at the Korea Flower Park in thhe Chungcheongnam-do Province. The Park is purposely designed for this festival and is considered in the TOP 5 by the World Tulip Summit!! There will also be ceremonies, singers and cultural art performances, animal feeding experiences and a firework show!! A lot more too!! 

Visit this Website for more information!

Learn more about Culture and Arts!!

If you want to learn more about South Korean culture and the history of arts in this great country, you will want to schedule to experience one of these amazing festivals ONLY during Spring!!

Jeju Fire Festival

Dates for 2020: Average Beginning of March TBD 

Yes FIRE!!! this festival is held in order to pray for a good harvest and good health in the new year in accordance to the lunar calendar. At the event visitors will be able to experience various folk games, hands-on programs and a beautiful natural environment of Jeju Island!! Don't worry the festival is completely safe and monitored.

Visit their Official Website for more information!

Yeongam Wangin Culture Festival

Dates for 2020: Average Early April TBD 

The history behind this festival is that it celebrates the greatest achievements of Korea's Dr. Wangin who travelled to Japan over 1,600 years ago to spread cultural and art knowledge. Dr. Wangin's teachings includes the Thousand-Character Text (a primer of Chinese Characters) and the Analects (Discourses) of Confucius. The festival takes place at the Historical Site of Dr. Wangin and Sangdaepo Historic Park. There will be various performances and cultural exhibitions!!! 

Visit this Website for more information!

Goryeong Daegaya Experience Festival

Dates for 2020: Average Second week of April TBD 

Daegaya (AD 42-562) was a nation that inhabited the Korean Peninsula around the 4th Century. Daegaya nation was sophisticated and held extremely high standards of culture. They created the Gayageum (the twelve-stringed traditional Korean harp) which became a large role of establishing the culture of music. Therefore the nation is thought to be a powerful force in the area (now gyeongsangnam-do) and to have influence on the wider world. At the festival you will be immersed into the ancient history of Korea's Daegaya since there are interactive programs with relic exhibitions, wooden boat-making "mokseons" (which were used to trade with other societies) and much more!! Nearby the festival there is a Farming Village where you can go pick strawberries and experience the Korean Farming Lifestyle!! 

Visit this Website for more information!

Mungyeong Traditional Chasabal Festival

Dates for 2020: Average last week of April to May TBD

Do you enjoy Ceramics!? Come to the Mungyeong Traditional Chasabal Festival which takes place at Mungyeongsaejae Open Set in Gyeongsangbuk-do an area famous for traditional ceramics!! The event has been occurring since 1999 and has become a premier festival recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports & Tourism! If you come you will be able to join in a traditional tea ceremony and pottery-making programs which are operated by local artisans and won't mind to help you out! 

Visit this Website for more information!


Daegu Yangnyeongsi Herb Medicine Culture Festival

Dates for 2020: Average beginning of May TBD

Interested in Herbs!? This event is a tradition that goes back to 350 years ago since it was an international market where herbal medicines from China, Russia, Europe, and many other regions were sold! The festival displays medicinal herbs found in Korea's mountains and offers visitors an opportunity to experience a wide range of relaxing and curative traditional medicinal procedures. This is great for those who are really interested in Korea's medicinal herbs as well as the sciences and traditions of Asia. 

Visit their Official Website for more information!

We hope that you find this information useful and be able to visit any of these events in Korea!! Remember to check out our other blog posts about living in Korea!!

Study Korean, Practice Korean

Language Buddies!!

Hi, I am an intern here at 42SHARE and have studied for a year in a Korean University as an exchange student. The purpose of the program was to learn Korean and immerse myself more into the culture. Therefore I understand how hard it can be to actually practice your Korean as well as intimidating to use it with strangers!! During my stay, I went to a few language circle events where you can meet people who want to help YOU and learn from foreigners living in Seoul!!

Following I will provide a list of places that you should totally go at least once during your time in Seoul!! As well as tips on how to best maintain your learned Korean and your level of Korean does not matter when attending these just try them out :)

Before that, let's learn about an online service which is commonly used by the upcoming organizations we are going to talk about. If you are not familiar with "Meetup" it's a service used to organize online groups to host in-person events for people with similar interests, which in this case Korean language!!

GSM Terrace Language Exchange Cafe and Pub:

Hongdae and Gangnam

This organization is one of the most popular ones and are pretty organized on how to best accommodate those who are wanting to learn and practice a new language. Their focus is really to connect people, besides of having events for language exchange they also host international parties where they're usually over the weekend and meant for fun!!

An awesome part of this organization is that you can also practice other languages such as Japanese, Chinese and Spanish!!

OK, OK, what's the price? well it's pretty cheap and they even have memberships for a cheaper price if you plan to go continuously!! Also each entry includes two drinks from their menu which includes, coffee, tea, juice, craft beer, cocktails and more!

⬕ Drop-in: ₩12,000

⬕ Drop-in Prepay:₩9,000

⸋ Online

Memberships:

⬕8 Entries: ₩60,000

⸋ 25% Discount

⸋ Both locations

⸋ Korean lesson

⬕12 Entries: ₩80,000

⸋ 33% Discount

⸋ Both locations

⸋ Korean lesson

⬕20 Entries: ₩100,000

⸋ 66% Discount

⸋ Both locations

⸋ Korean lesson

As mentioned, they also offer other languages and have an approximate number of how many people go each day of the week, and here it is:

⬕Monday ⬕Thursday

⸋ Time: 7 pm to 11 pm ⸋ Time: 7 pm to 11 pm

⸋ People: 30 to 50 ⸋ People: 50 to 90

⸋ Languages: Korean, English and Japanese ⸋ Languages: Korean, English and Spanish

⬕Tuesday ⬕Saturday

⸋ Time: 7 pm to 11 pm ⸋ Time: 3 pm to 6 pm

⸋ People: 30 to 50 ⸋ People: 70 to 100

⸋ Languages: Korean, English and Chinese ⸋ Languages: Korean, English and Chinese

⬕Wednesday ⬕Sunday

⸋ Time: 7 pm to 11 pm ⸋ Time: 3 pm to 6 pm

⸋ People: 30 to 50 ⸋ People: 30 to 60

⸋ Languages: Korean, English and Chinese ⸋ Languages: Korean, English and Chinese

Also, the Korean lesson is only for one hour, after that it's the exchange part of the event according to the third language of the day, for example on Thursday Spanish. Now for those interested on the International Pub Parties here are the days and times they are hosted:

⬕Friday ⬕Saturday Night ⬕Sunday

⸋ Time: 7 pm to 12 am ⸋ Time: 7 pm to 12 am ⸋ Time: 7 pm to 11 pm

⸋ People: 70 to 110 ⸋ People: 70 to 110 ⸋ People: 30 to 60

⸋ Just mingling ⸋ Just mingling ⸋ Wine and Cheese

Check out their website for more information!!

Their Meetup page!!

Language Exchange Cafe

This organization is quite big as well since they have more locations compared to the one above. However the difference is that the events hosted by this group are more for meeting people from various nationalities and exchange language but they do not regulate on how the meetings would go, is more of a mingling party with a friendly atmosphere!!

 

For the meetings they book whole cafes or pubs so only the ones who are participating are there and feel free to move around and enjoy their time. Another thing is that you do not have to sign up or come at the assigned time and/or stay for the whole time!!

The common languages to exchange are Korean, English, Japanese, French, Spanish, Chinese, Russian and more!! All languages are welcome as well!!  

⬕Monday ⬕Friday

⸋ Hongdae: 7 pm to 12 am ⸋ Hongdae: 7 pm to 12 am

⸋ FREE entrance ⸋ Free entrance

⸋ Come anytime ⸋ Come anytime

⬕Tuesday ⬕ Saturday

⸋ Hongdae: 7 pm to 12 am ⸋ Hongdae: 3 pm to 6 pm

⸋ FREE entrance ⸋ Gangnam: 3 pm to 6 pm

⸋ Come anytime ⸋ FREE entrance, in Gangnam only for Foreigners

⬕Wednesday ⬕Sunday

⸋ Hongdae: 7 pm to 12 am ⸋ Hongdae: 3 pm to 6 pm

⸋ Gangnam: 7 pm to 10 pm ⸋ Gangnam: 3 pm to 6 pm

⸋ FREE entrance, in Gangnam only for Foreigners ⸋ FREE entrance, in Gangnam only for Foreigners

⸋ Hyehwa: 7 pm to 10 pm (₩5,000)

⬕Thursday

⸋ Hongdae: 7 pm to 12 am

⸋ FREE entrance

⸋ Come anytime

Check out their Facebook pages of each location for more information:

Meetup Hongdae Gangnam Hyehwa

Outside of Seoul

If you are learning Korean or want to practice it with locals but are not in Seoul, don't worry there are events like these as well in other big cities!! Such as Busan or Daegu!! 

There is a website you should look into and will have more information about time, price and exact locations for these other cities!! The name of the website is Friends in Korea which is the #1 for Koreans and Expats in Korea!! 

Most likely than not they will run their events as Langauge Exchange Cafe group we learned about above, since they are linked and use Meetup a lot as well. 

Just for an example, let's see how's Busan's language exchange events: 

⬕International Parties

⸋ Twice a Month

⸋ Gwangalli and Haeunde

⸋ Entrance fee: ₩5,000

⸋ Time: 7:30 pm to 11:00 pm

⸋ Come anytime!!

Online

If you feel you may not have enough time to go to one of the events in either organizations, check out this blog post about top 5 Korean language Exchange sites to practice your Korean!! Some of them would be as having a pen pal and others sort of like a Facebook community.

Apps

Some good language exchange apps that are great and I even use them myself are HelloTalk and HiNative!!

These apps are great when doing your homework and you find yourself stuck in a question!!

HelloTalk

Was created to learn a language by chatting with native speakers around the world. In the app you can use voice recordings, voice calls, video calls, upload pictures and even doodles!! Another thing that I noticed about this one is that most people kind of use it as Instagram, where they would upload pictures about their day, such as food, animals and/or views (nature) with a caption and asking to be corrected. I love seeing those kind of posts because allows me to see the person's style of taking pictures and how they live in their country.

Download for: iOS

Download for: Android

HiNative

Is a global Q&A community for language learners and people that are curious about the world!! This app I personally find it a lot more helpful when doing your homework because you can ask a question and get a response pretty quick!! Also if you are want to learn about the culture but not sure what questions to ask, this app has templates for you to use and pose to the community, pretty helpful!!

Download for: iOS

Download for: Android

Of course there are the ups and downs for using apps like these but try them out to see if they workout for you!!

We hope the information we provided are of great help and that you get to improve your Korean a lot more!! Please drink responsibly and have fun!! Remember to check out our other blog posts about living in Seoul