Basic Korean: Alphabet and Reading Introduction to Hangul (한글)
사랑해요
Welco elcome me to Kore orean an
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Some quick facts about Korean: ✤
The Korean language originated as Chinese script, which was called “Hanja”. These were Chinese characters, but read completely different from Chinese.
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In 1443, King Sejong the Great created Hangul.
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Hangul consists of 24 characters: 14 consonants, 10 vowels
Consonants ✤
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There are 19 consonants. Here they are, with their associated sounds: ㄱ (g,k) ㄴ (n) ㄹ (r,l) ㅁ (m) ㅂ (b,p) ㅅ (s) ㅇ (ng) ㅈ (j) ㅊ (ch) ㅋ (k) ㄷ (t) ㅍ (p) ㅎ (h).
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These ones are double consonants. They have a ‘harder’ sound:
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ㄲ (kk) ㄸ (tt) ㅃ (pp) ㅆ (ss) ㅉ (jj)
Don’t worry too much about this yet. We’ll cover it in more detail soon.
Vowels ✤
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These require a little more complicated explanation. Here we go: ㅏ (water) ㅑ (yah) ㅓ (law) ㅕ (yeo) ㅗ (sole) ㅛ (yo) ㅜ (spoon) ㅠ (you) ㅡ (put) ㅣ(feet)
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Here are the ones that I often confuse:
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ㅐ(hand.. ae) ㅒ(yae.. yay!) ㅔ(met.. eh) ㅖ(ye.. like Kanye)
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These ones combine single vowels:
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ㅙ , ㅚ ㅞ<-- wet ㅝ (woh) ㅟ (we) ㅢ (oui)
How to read Korean ✤
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Reading Korean is a bit different from reading English (or any other language, for that matter). Korean is read in a clockwise direction. Take the word 탕 (tahng, meaning soup) We read the characters in this order: ㅌ , ㅏ , ㅇ , because ㅌ is at the top, and following the clockwise direction, ㅏ is next, ending with ㅇ.
탕
Putting it together ✤
Let’s put these together. If you remember from before, ㅂ is what sound?
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That’s right. B.
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Now, ㅏ is what sound? That’s right. Ah.
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Try reading this: 밥.
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This means ‘rice’. How do you pronounce it?
Putting it together ✤
Let’s put these together. If you remember from before, ㅂ is what sound?
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That’s right. B.
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Now, ㅏ is what sound? That’s right. Ah.
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Try reading this: 밥.
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This means ‘rice’. How do you pronounce it?
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ㅂ = b. ㅏ = ah. So 밥 = bab.
Practice ✤
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For practice, try reading the following. Use the guide to put the words together. Remember that you start with the glyph on top, and move clockwise.
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한
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큰
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강
Practice ✤
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For practice, try reading the following. Use the guide to put the words together. Remember that you start with the glyph on top, and move clockwise.
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한 (han, meaning sorrow)
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큰
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강
Practice ✤
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For practice, try reading the following. Use the guide to put the words together. Remember that you start with the glyph on top, and move clockwise.
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한 (han, meaning sorrow)
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큰 (kun, meaning big)
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강
Practice ✤
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For practice, try reading the following. Use the guide to put the words together. Remember that you start with the glyph on top, and move clockwise.
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한 (han, meaning sorrow)
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큰 (kun, meaning big)
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강 (gang, meaning river)
Special Considerations ✤
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Like any language, there are special considerations when reading Korean. Have a look at this word: 암 , pronounced ‘ahm’, means Cancer (sorry, I couldn’t think of a nicer word) When a word begins with a vowel sound, there will always be the ㅇ glyph at the beginning. It is silent. Note that it is ONLY silent at the beginning of a character. If ㅇ is at the end of a character, it is pronounced ng. 방
장
청
vs.
옴
역
욘
Special Considerations ✤
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Like any language, there are special considerations when reading Korean. Have a look at this word: 암 , pronounced ‘ahm’, means Cancer (sorry, I couldn’t think of a nicer word) When a word begins with a vowel sound, there will always be the ㅇ glyph at the beginning. It is silent. Note that it is ONLY silent at the beginning of a character. If ㅇ is at the end of a character, it is pronounced ng. 방 Bang
장
청
vs.
옴
역
욘
Special Considerations ✤
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Like any language, there are special considerations when reading Korean. Have a look at this word: 암 , pronounced ‘ahm’, means Cancer (sorry, I couldn’t think of a nicer word) When a word begins with a vowel sound, there will always be the ㅇ glyph at the beginning. It is silent. Note that it is ONLY silent at the beginning of a character. If ㅇ is at the end of a character, it is pronounced ng. 방
장
Bang
Jang
청
vs.
옴
역
욘
Special Considerations ✤
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✤
Like any language, there are special considerations when reading Korean. Have a look at this word: 암 , pronounced ‘ahm’, means Cancer (sorry, I couldn’t think of a nicer word) When a word begins with a vowel sound, there will always be the ㅇ glyph at the beginning. It is silent. Note that it is ONLY silent at the beginning of a character. If ㅇ is at the end of a character, it is pronounced ng. 방
장
청
Bang
Jang
Cheong
vs.
옴
역
욘
Special Considerations ✤
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✤
Like any language, there are special considerations when reading Korean. Have a look at this word: 암 , pronounced ‘ahm’, means Cancer (sorry, I couldn’t think of a nicer word) When a word begins with a vowel sound, there will always be the ㅇ glyph at the beginning. It is silent. Note that it is ONLY silent at the beginning of a character. If ㅇ is at the end of a character, it is pronounced ng. 방
장
청
Bang
Jang
Cheong
vs.
옴 Om
역
욘
Special Considerations ✤
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✤
Like any language, there are special considerations when reading Korean. Have a look at this word: 암 , pronounced ‘ahm’, means Cancer (sorry, I couldn’t think of a nicer word) When a word begins with a vowel sound, there will always be the ㅇ glyph at the beginning. It is silent. Note that it is ONLY silent at the beginning of a character. If ㅇ is at the end of a character, it is pronounced ng. 방
장
청
Bang
Jang
Cheong
vs.
옴
역
Om
Yeok
욘
Special Considerations ✤
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Like any language, there are special considerations when reading Korean. Have a look at this word: 암 , pronounced ‘ahm’, means Cancer (sorry, I couldn’t think of a nicer word) When a word begins with a vowel sound, there will always be the ㅇ glyph at the beginning. It is silent. Note that it is ONLY silent at the beginning of a character. If ㅇ is at the end of a character, it is pronounced ng. 방
장
청
Bang
Jang
Cheong
vs.
옴
역
욘
Om
Yeok
Yon
Your first phrase! ✤
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Here we will learn your first actual word. It means ‘How are you?’ Try reading it out ou t loud. lo ud. You’ll You’ll sound silly at first, as you sound them out, but it will become more fluid with practice.
안녕하세요
Your first phrase! ✤
✤
Here we will learn your first actual word. It means ‘How are you?’ Try reading it out ou t loud. lo ud. You’ll You’ll sound silly at first, as you sound them out, but it will become more fluid with practice.
안녕하세요
an
Your first phrase! ✤
✤
Here we will learn your first actual word. It means ‘How are you?’ Try reading it out ou t loud. lo ud. You’ll You’ll sound silly at first, as you sound them out, but it will become more fluid with practice.
안녕하세요
an
nyeong
Your first phrase! ✤
✤
Here we will learn your first actual word. It means ‘How are you?’ Try reading it out ou t loud. lo ud. You’ll You’ll sound silly at first, as you sound them out, but it will become more fluid with practice.
안녕하세요
an
nyeong
ha
Your first phrase! ✤
✤
Here we will learn your first actual word. It means ‘How are you?’ Try reading it out ou t loud. lo ud. You’ll You’ll sound silly at first, as you sound them out, but it will become more fluid with practice.
안녕하세요
an
nyeong
ha
sae
Your first phrase! ✤
✤
Here we will learn your first actual word. It means ‘How are you?’ Try reading it out ou t loud. lo ud. You’ll You’ll sound silly at first, as you sound them out, but it will become more fluid with practice.
안녕하세요
an Friday, July 2, 2010
nyeong
ha
sae
yo
Your first phrase! ✤
✤
Here we will learn your first actual word. It means ‘How are you?’ Try reading it out ou t loud. lo ud. You’ll You’ll sound silly at first, as you sound them out, but it will become more fluid with practice.
녕하세요
안 an
nyeong
ha
sae
yo
Your first phrase! ✤
✤
Here we will learn your first actual word. It means ‘How are you?’ Try reading it out ou t loud. lo ud. You’ll You’ll sound silly at first, as you sound them out, but it will become more fluid with practice.
안 an
녕
nyeong
하세요 ha
sae
yo
Your first phrase! ✤
✤
Here we will learn your first actual word. It means ‘How are you?’ Try reading it out ou t loud. lo ud. You’ll You’ll sound silly at first, as you sound them out, but it will become more fluid with practice.
안 an
녕
nyeong
세요 하 ha sae
yo
Your first phrase! ✤
✤
Here we will learn your first actual word. It means ‘How are you?’ Try reading it out ou t loud. lo ud. You’ll You’ll sound silly at first, as you sound them out, but it will become more fluid with practice.
안 an
녕
nyeong
하 ha
요 세 sae
yo
Your first phrase! ✤
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Here we will learn your first actual word. It means ‘How are you?’ Try reading it out ou t loud. lo ud. You’ll You’ll sound silly at first, as you sound them out, but it will become more fluid with practice.
안 an
녕
nyeong
하 ha
세 sae
요 yo
Congratulations!
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You’ve completed your first, very basic Hangul lesson. Again, the point of this lesson was to introduce you to Hangul, the Korean alphabet. This will allow you to do some fun stuff like read and write Konglish to your friends. What I mean by this is that you can write English words in Korean. For example: 핼로 , if you can read that, sounds like ‘hello’.
Questions & Comments ✤
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Questions and comments are always welcome. You can email me at
[email protected] and I will be happy to reply to any questions you have about Hangul, Korean, or teaching English in Korea. Can you read these? They are Konglish: ✤
하피
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캐나다
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컴퓨터
Further Reading
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Some great resources exist on the Internet: ✤
LearnKorean.com Le arnKorean.com
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Korea Broadcasting System (KBS)
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My blog (No Korean lessons, but a good read nonetheless)