# 뚝딱



## 82riceballs

Hi all, 

I learned that 뚝딱 means being able to do something fast and well... so can I say something like 

요리를 뚝딱 할 수 있게 되고 싶어요.

To mean that "I want to be able to make food fast and well."? Or is there a more natural way to say that in Korean?


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## jakartaman

뚝딱 is an onomatopoeic word--it's the noise made when hitting something with a magic wand(actually, not a fancy, girly magic wand but a magic bat or 도깨비 방망이),

 thus creating what you want very quickly.

For example,

걔는 음식을 뚝딱 잘 만들어. He/She can make something to eat quickly.

걔 부엌에서 뚝딱하더니 맛있는 걸 갖고 나오더라. He/She was making something in the kitchen just for a few minutes and brought out something good to eat.

걔는 뭐든지 뚝딱 잘 만들어. He/She can make anything quickly.

Most of the time when we say 뚝딱, we don't really expect something really good to be made--just something edible or usable temporarily--

knowing that it would only take a short period of time. And 뚝딱 잘 만드는 사람들 usually have years of experience of doing it so they can do it quickly 

and still make something relatively fine. So you don't want to say, "요리를 뚝딱하고 싶어요," as a novice. People will think you will end up making something almost inedible.

A lot of Korean 아줌마 make good food really fast. If you see one of those ladies, you can say, "저도 요리를 뚝딱할 수 있었으면 좋겠어요," 

meaning "I wish I could make food as fast as you(or her)."


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## 82riceballs

Thanks for all your helpful explanations! I didn't know that 뚝딱 mostly meant fast and doesn't necessarily mean well. In English, if you say you can do something rapidly, you are implying you can do it well too! haha

In general, though, when one says, "I want to be able to..." in Korean, is the only way to say that "았/었으면 좋겠어"?

e.g.
A: How well do you want to speak Korean?
B: I want to be able to speak Korean like a Korean.
한국사람처럼 한국어를 말할 수 있었으면 좋겠어요.
>Does this sound weird? "한국 사람처럼 한국어를 할 수 있게 되고 싶어요."

A: What's your goal in cooking?
B: I just want to be able to rapidly make the things I like.
내가 좋아하는 음식을 뚝딱 만들 수 있었으면 좋겠어요.
>Does this sound weird? 내가 좋아하는 음식을 뚝딱 만들 수 있게 되고 싶어요.

Thank you so much for your help!!


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## PIA Watss

A: How well do you want to speak Korean?

B: I want to be able to speak Korean like a Korean.

한국사람처럼 한국어를 말할 수 있었으면 좋겠어요.

>Does this sound weird? "한국 사람처럼 한국어를 할 수 있게 되고 싶어요." ->  It sounds ok to me

A: What's your goal in cooking?

B: I just want to be able to rapidly make the things I like.

내가 좋아하는 음식을 뚝딱 만들 수 있었으면 좋겠어요.

>Does this sound weird? 내가 좋아하는 음식을 뚝딱 만들 수 있게 되고 싶어요 Maybe kids would write like this.


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## Rance

There are couple similar expressions.

한국사람처럼 한국어를 말할 수 있으면 좋겠어요.
한국사람처럼 한국어를 말하고 싶어요
한국사람처럼 한국어를 말할 수 있길 원해요.

I'm sure there are more ways, but those two are ones I can think of at the moment.


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## jakartaman

82riceballs said:


> 한국사람처럼 한국어를 말할 수 있었으면 좋겠어요.
> >Does this sound weird? "한국 사람처럼 한국어를 할 수 있게 되고 싶어요."
> 
> 내가 좋아하는 음식을 뚝딱 만들 수 있었으면 좋겠어요.
> >Does this sound weird? 내가 좋아하는 음식을 뚝딱 만들 수 있게 되고 싶어요.



A Korean who wants to speak English like an American would say...

미국 사람처럼 영어 할 수 있(었)으면 좋겠어요.

미국 사람처럼 영어 했으면 좋겠어요.

미국 사람처럼 영어 하고 싶어요.

We don't say '영어를 말하다' because '어' itself is 말. But you might hear 영어/한국어를 말하다 especially from the Koreans who know English. 

English has corrupted the way Korean is spoken: "영어를 *말하다*' comes from the direct translation of '*speak *English.' 

Both 한국 사람처럼 한국어를 할 수 있게 되고 싶어요 and 내가 좋아하는 음식을 뚝딱 만들 수 있게 되고 싶어요 don't sound natural.

내가 좋아하는 음식을 뚝딱 만들 수 있(었)으면 좋겠어요 sounds the best because it means you wish you could--you can't now because you lack such skills.

(나도) 내가 좋아하는 음식을 뚝딱 만들*고 싶어요* is OK in the right situation; it can also be taken to mean you want to start cooking your favorite food quickly now.


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## Rance

> We don't say '영어를 말하다' because '어' itself is 말. But you might hear 영어/한국어를 말하다 especially from the Koreans who know English.
> 
> English has corrupted the way Korean is spoken: "영어를 *말하다*' comes from the direct translation of '*speak *English.'



Well there are definitely such cases such as to play basketball.
-농구를 놀다 (X)
-농구를 하다 (O)

However, for our case, that should be acceptable translation.
"To know a language" is not same as "to speak a language".
To speak language is limited its usage to strictly vocal communication while to know a language is to be able to speak/read/write a language.
"영어를 하다" is closer "to know English" than "to speak English".

When you say, "I want to speak Korean like Korean people", it usually means that you want to be able to vocally communicate in fluent manner like a native speaker.
In such case, I think 말하다 should be fine to be used.


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