Text:  보기 좋은 떡이 먹기도 좋다

Translation: yummy looking rice cake are yummy too

Context: It’s just a silly little saying my mom used to say to me but as I grew up I figured out the deeper meaning behind it. My mom used to say it as a bit of a cheering method to encourage me to study harder as she believed that if you put hard work into making something “look” good, your results would look pretty too.

Analysis: This is a very subtle or a bit more nuanced proverb. Looking from it at face value, you would think it’s maybe something just young children say. But this Korean proverb is heartwarming as it is used often for encouragement to high school students that studying hard now, will result in good fortune in the future.