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HOUSING & DORMSPublicerat av batchim_hater 🇳🇱 Netherlands · för 4 h sedan
How thin are goshiwon walls actually
read that the walls are basically partitions. i'm a light sleeper and i also need to do speaking homework out loud.
can you hear normal talking through them? can they hear me? do people actually complain
can you hear normal talking through them? can they hear me? do people actually complain
10 kommentarer
OFFICIELLT SVAR
MinjiALLO TEAM
Korea local tips · Seoul
The walls are thin. Plan for it rather than hope.
Honestly what you can expect: normal speaking volume from the next room is audible as sound and often as words. Alarms, doors, footsteps in the corridor, someone's video at 1am — all of it comes through. Some newer buildings are noticeably better; older ones are partitions with wallpaper.
So yes, they can hear you, and that is the part that matters for your speaking homework.
What students actually do about the practice problem:
1. Do speaking work outside the room. A study cafe (스터디카페) is 2,000 to 4,000 won an hour, everyone there has headphones on, and nobody cares if you mutter. This is the standard solution and it works better than whispering at your desk.
2. Practise in the shower cubicle with the fan on. Sounds absurd, is genuinely common.
3. Record yourself on the walk to class. Nobody on a Seoul street will notice one person talking to their phone.
4. Keep it to daytime. Speaking at normal volume at 2pm is fine; at 11pm it is not.
For the light-sleeper half:
- Earplugs. Everyone who lives in a goshiwon owns them. Foam ones, a big box, they cost nothing.
- A white noise app or a small fan. This does more than earplugs for most people because it masks rather than blocks.
- Ask which floor and which side when you view. Rooms next to the kitchen, the entrance or the laundry get the most traffic noise. A room at the end of a corridor is quieter.
- Visit at 8am if you can. That tells you more about the building than any listing.
One thing worth knowing about the culture: goshiwon have stricter quiet expectations than most housing precisely because the walls are thin, and originally because everyone in them was studying for exams. Complaints do happen and they go to the operator, who will pass them on. That cuts both ways — it means your neighbours are also being asked to keep it down.
Honestly what you can expect: normal speaking volume from the next room is audible as sound and often as words. Alarms, doors, footsteps in the corridor, someone's video at 1am — all of it comes through. Some newer buildings are noticeably better; older ones are partitions with wallpaper.
So yes, they can hear you, and that is the part that matters for your speaking homework.
What students actually do about the practice problem:
1. Do speaking work outside the room. A study cafe (스터디카페) is 2,000 to 4,000 won an hour, everyone there has headphones on, and nobody cares if you mutter. This is the standard solution and it works better than whispering at your desk.
2. Practise in the shower cubicle with the fan on. Sounds absurd, is genuinely common.
3. Record yourself on the walk to class. Nobody on a Seoul street will notice one person talking to their phone.
4. Keep it to daytime. Speaking at normal volume at 2pm is fine; at 11pm it is not.
For the light-sleeper half:
- Earplugs. Everyone who lives in a goshiwon owns them. Foam ones, a big box, they cost nothing.
- A white noise app or a small fan. This does more than earplugs for most people because it masks rather than blocks.
- Ask which floor and which side when you view. Rooms next to the kitchen, the entrance or the laundry get the most traffic noise. A room at the end of a corridor is quieter.
- Visit at 8am if you can. That tells you more about the building than any listing.
One thing worth knowing about the culture: goshiwon have stricter quiet expectations than most housing precisely because the walls are thin, and originally because everyone in them was studying for exams. Complaints do happen and they go to the operator, who will pass them on. That cuts both ways — it means your neighbours are also being asked to keep it down.
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10 kommentarer
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The walls are thin. Plan for it rather than hope.
Honestly what you can expect: normal speaking volume from the next room is audible as sound and often as words. Alarms, doors, footsteps in the corridor, someone's video at 1am — all of it comes through. Some newer buildings are noticeably better; older ones are partitions with wallpaper.
So yes, they can hear you, and that is the part that matters for your speaking homework.
What students actually do about the practice problem:
1. Do speaking work outside the room. A study cafe (스터디카페) is 2,000 to 4,000 won an hour, everyone there has headphones on, and nobody cares if you mutter. This is the standard solution and it works better than whispering at your desk.
2. Practise in the shower cubicle with the fan on. Sounds absurd, is genuinely common.
3. Record yourself on the walk to class. Nobody on a Seoul street will notice one person talking to their phone.
4. Keep it to daytime. Speaking at normal volume at 2pm is fine; at 11pm it is not.
For the light-sleeper half:
- Earplugs. Everyone who lives in a goshiwon owns them. Foam ones, a big box, they cost nothing.
- A white noise app or a small fan. This does more than earplugs for most people because it masks rather than blocks.
- Ask which floor and which side when you view. Rooms next to the kitchen, the entrance or the laundry get the most traffic noise. A room at the end of a corridor is quieter.
- Visit at 8am if you can. That tells you more about the building than any listing.
One thing worth knowing about the culture: goshiwon have stricter quiet expectations than most housing precisely because the walls are thin, and originally because everyone in them was studying for exams. Complaints do happen and they go to the operator, who will pass them on. That cuts both ways — it means your neighbours are also being asked to keep it down.
Honestly what you can expect: normal speaking volume from the next room is audible as sound and often as words. Alarms, doors, footsteps in the corridor, someone's video at 1am — all of it comes through. Some newer buildings are noticeably better; older ones are partitions with wallpaper.
So yes, they can hear you, and that is the part that matters for your speaking homework.
What students actually do about the practice problem:
1. Do speaking work outside the room. A study cafe (스터디카페) is 2,000 to 4,000 won an hour, everyone there has headphones on, and nobody cares if you mutter. This is the standard solution and it works better than whispering at your desk.
2. Practise in the shower cubicle with the fan on. Sounds absurd, is genuinely common.
3. Record yourself on the walk to class. Nobody on a Seoul street will notice one person talking to their phone.
4. Keep it to daytime. Speaking at normal volume at 2pm is fine; at 11pm it is not.
For the light-sleeper half:
- Earplugs. Everyone who lives in a goshiwon owns them. Foam ones, a big box, they cost nothing.
- A white noise app or a small fan. This does more than earplugs for most people because it masks rather than blocks.
- Ask which floor and which side when you view. Rooms next to the kitchen, the entrance or the laundry get the most traffic noise. A room at the end of a corridor is quieter.
- Visit at 8am if you can. That tells you more about the building than any listing.
One thing worth knowing about the culture: goshiwon have stricter quiet expectations than most housing precisely because the walls are thin, and originally because everyone in them was studying for exams. Complaints do happen and they go to the operator, who will pass them on. That cuts both ways — it means your neighbours are also being asked to keep it down.
0
you can hear words, not just sound. i learned my neighbour's entire breakup over three weeks. earplugs and a fan, non negotiable
24
the fan matters more than earplugs. masking beats blocking
9
"words not just sound" is unfortunately the clarity i needed
8
study cafe for speaking practice. 3000 won an hour, everyone has headphones, nobody looks up. that's where all the language students go
18
스터디카페 is genuinely one of the best things about studying in korea. open 24h a lot of them
7
ask which room when you view. mine was next to the kitchen and i heard every single person cooking at every hour. end of the corridor is much quieter
14
korean here — goshiwon culture is quiet by design because they were built for exam students. people do complain, but that also means your neighbours get told to be quiet too
11
this is a fair point, the rules protect you as much as constrain you
5
visit at 8am. that's when you find out what the building is actually like. 2pm on a sunday tells you nothing
8
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