Chat in English with someone who speaks Korean

Piou lets you write in English while your contact writes in Korean: each message is translated on the reader's own device, into their language, and the original is always one tap away. Translation is part of Piou Premium (₩7,900 a month in South Korea, $5.99 in the US, after a 7-day free trial) and keeps working offline once both languages are downloaded.

How it works between English and Korean

You type in English, your contact types in Korean, and nobody has to switch. Piou detects the language of each message on the sender's phone and stores it exactly as written. The translation happens on the reader's device: a translated message is labeled “Translated”, and “Show original” reveals the Hangul that was actually typed.

No cloud translation service is involved. The engine depends on the device:

• iPhone (iOS 18 or later): Apple's built-in translation.
• Android (8.0 or later): Google's ML Kit, with the language models downloaded to the phone.
• Web app (app.piou.chat): the open-source Bergamot engine with Firefox Translations models, running in the browser, or Chrome's built-in translation on desktop when available. English–Korean is a direct pair.

Translations never leave the device. The messages themselves are stored on Piou's servers, in their original language, so they can be delivered and synced.

Translation is personal. With Premium, you read everything in English: messages, polls, the text of status updates, and voice messages, which are transcribed and translated while the original audio stays playable. On the free plan, you see the Korean as written, with a banner once a day per conversation offering to read it in English. Your contact needs Premium to read you in Korean; if only you have it, Piou suggests gifting it.

An example exchange

Jessica, an American married to Minho, writes to her mother-in-law in Daegu before Chuseok. The translations are illustrative; the exact wording depends on each device's engine.

• Jessica writes: “Hi Mother! Minho and I will get to Daegu around noon on Saturday. Is there anything we should bring?”
  • Her mother-in-law reads: “안녕하세요, 어머니! Minho와 나는 토요일 정오쯤 대구에 도착할 거예요. 뭐 가져가야 할 게 있을까요?”
• Her mother-in-law writes: “그래, 조심히 와라. 아무것도 안 가져와도 돼. 송편은 같이 빚자.”
  • Jessica reads: “Okay, come safely. You don't need to bring anything. Let's make songpyeon together.”
• Jessica writes: “Wonderful. See you Saturday!”
  • Her mother-in-law reads: “좋아요. 토요일에 봬요!”

Two details matter here. Her mother-in-law wrote in 반말, casual speech, which many Korean parents-in-law use with a son's wife; English shows no difference. In the other direction, Jessica's “I” came out as the casual 나 instead of the humble 저, a slip a Korean daughter-in-law would avoid. Songpyeon, the half-moon rice cakes made for Chuseok, simply stayed in Korean.

Tips for writing to Korean speakers

• Use titles, not first names. Koreans often address people by title or kinship term: 어머님 (mother-in-law), 선배 (a senior at school or work), 팀장님 (team leader), 선생님 (teacher). Writing “Mother” or “Team Leader Kim” in English keeps more respect than a first name.
• Age shapes the conversation. Because speech levels depend on age and seniority, a Korean acquaintance may ask your age early on. It helps them choose the right form of address; it isn't nosiness.
• Family name first. In 김민지 (Kim Min-ji), Kim is the family name. Kim, Lee and Park are very common, so “Ms. Kim” alone may not be clear in a group. Korean women keep their family name after marriage, so your mother-in-law may not share your partner's surname.
• Spell out dates. Korea writes dates year, month, day (2026.10.18). Write “October 18” and nothing can flip.
• Know the big holidays. Seollal (Lunar New Year) and Chuseok mean family time and heavy travel; confirm plans early.
• Decode the shorthand. ㅋㅋ is laughter, ㅠㅠ is crying or sadness, ㅇㅇ means “yes” and ㄱㅅ means “thanks”. They may come through untranslated.

Translation limits to know

• Speech levels and honorifics. 존댓말 and 반말, honorific verb endings and suffixes such as -님 or -씨 have no English equivalent, so respect is flattened in one direction and guessed in the other.
• Omitted subjects. Korean often leaves out “I”, “you” or “we”, so the engine guesses who is doing what.
• 우리 as “my”. Expect the occasional “our mom” or “our company” where the writer meant “my”.
• Kinship words. 오빠 and 언니 literally mean older brother and older sister, but a woman may call her boyfriend 오빠, and close friends use both. The translation can't always tell which is meant.
• Konglish. Some words borrowed from English shifted meaning: 파이팅 (“fighting”) means “you can do it!”, and 서비스 can mean something free, on the house.
• Voice. Transcription, subtitles and Face to face mode depend on your device's speech recognition; strong regional dialects and background noise lower accuracy.
• High stakes. For medical, legal, immigration, money or contract questions, use a professional interpreter or a human translation. In an emergency in Korea, call 119 for an ambulance or fire, and 112 for the police.

Getting started

1. Install Piou on an iPhone (iOS 18 or later) or an Android phone (8.0 or later), or open app.piou.chat and add it to your home screen (Safari → Share → “Add to Home Screen” on iPhone; Chrome → ⋮ → “Install app” on Android).
2. Create your account with Apple, Google or an email address, choose English, and verify your phone number once. It lets your contacts find you; it's never used to sign in.
3. Download English and Korean on Wi-Fi so translation also works offline.
4. Add your contact from “Already on Piou”, or send an invite link or QR code. They choose Korean as their language.
5. Start the 7-day free trial. A card is required and nothing is charged for 7 days. If you want your contact to read you in Korean, tap “Gift Piou to someone”.