Basic Korean: Alphabet and Reading

Introduction to Hangul (한글)

사랑해요

Friday, July 2, 2010

 Welcome to Korean

✤ 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.

✤ In 1443, King Sejong the Great created Hangul.

✤ Hangul consists of 24 characters: 14 consonants, 10 vowels

Friday, July 2, 2010

 Consonants

✤ 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).

✤ These ones are double consonants. They have a ‘harder’ sound:

✤ 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.

Friday, July 2, 2010

 Vowels

✤ 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)

✤ Here are the ones that I often confuse:

✤ ㅐ(hand.. ae) ㅒ(yae.. yay!) ㅔ(met.. eh) ㅖ(ye.. like Kanye)

✤ These ones combine single vowels:

✤ ㅙ, ㅚ ㅞ<-- wet ㅝ (woh) ㅟ (we) ㅢ (oui)

Friday, July 2, 2010

 How to read Korean

✤ 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

Friday, July 2, 2010

 Putting it together

✤ Let’s put these together. If you remember from before, ㅂ is what

sound?

✤ That’s right. B.

✤ Now, ㅏ is what sound? That’s right. Ah.

✤ Try reading this: 밥.

✤ This means ‘rice’. How do you pronounce it?

Friday, July 2, 2010

 Putting it together

✤ Let’s put these together. If you remember from before, ㅂ is what

sound?

✤ That’s right. B.

✤ Now, ㅏ is what sound? That’s right. Ah.

✤ Try reading this: 밥.

✤ This means ‘rice’. How do you pronounce it?

✤ ㅂ = b. ㅏ = ah. So 밥 = bab.

Friday, July 2, 2010

 Practice

✤ 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.

✤ 한

✤ 큰

✤ 강

Friday, July 2, 2010

 Practice

✤ 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.

✤ 한 (han, meaning sorrow)

✤ 큰

✤ 강

Friday, July 2, 2010

 Practice

✤ 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.

✤ 한 (han, meaning sorrow)

✤ 큰 (kun, meaning big)

✤ 강

Friday, July 2, 2010

 Practice

✤ 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.

✤ 한 (han, meaning sorrow)

✤ 큰 (kun, meaning big)

✤ 강 (gang, meaning river)

Friday, July 2, 2010

 Special Considerations
✤ 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

Friday, July 2, 2010

 Special Considerations
✤ 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
Bang

Friday, July 2, 2010

 Special Considerations
✤ 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
Bang Jang

Friday, July 2, 2010

 Special Considerations
✤ 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
Bang Jang Cheong

Friday, July 2, 2010

 Special Considerations
✤ 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
Bang Jang Cheong Om

Friday, July 2, 2010

 Special Considerations
✤ 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
Bang Jang Cheong Om Yeok

Friday, July 2, 2010

 Special Considerations
✤ 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
Bang Jang Cheong Om Yeok Yon

Friday, July 2, 2010

 Your first phrase!

✤ Here we will learn your first

actual word. It means ‘How are
you?’

✤ Try reading it out loud. You’ll

sound silly at first, as you
sound them out, but it will
become more fluid with
practice.
안녕하세요

Friday, July 2, 2010

 Your first phrase!

✤ Here we will learn your first

actual word. It means ‘How are
you?’

✤ Try reading it out loud. 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
 Your first phrase!

✤ Here we will learn your first

actual word. It means ‘How are
you?’

✤ Try reading it out loud. You’ll

sound silly at first, as you
sound them out, but it will
become more fluid with
practice.
안녕하세요
an nyeong
Friday, July 2, 2010
 Your first phrase!

✤ Here we will learn your first

actual word. It means ‘How are
you?’

✤ Try reading it out loud. You’ll

sound silly at first, as you
sound them out, but it will
become more fluid with
practice.
안녕하세요
an nyeong ha
Friday, July 2, 2010
 Your first phrase!

✤ Here we will learn your first

actual word. It means ‘How are
you?’

✤ Try reading it out loud. You’ll

sound silly at first, as you
sound them out, but it will
become more fluid with
practice.
안녕하세요
an nyeong ha sae
Friday, July 2, 2010
 Your first phrase!

✤ Here we will learn your first

actual word. It means ‘How are
you?’

✤ Try reading it out loud. You’ll

sound silly at first, as you
sound them out, but it will
become more fluid with
practice.
안녕하세요
an nyeong ha sae yo
Friday, July 2, 2010
 Your first phrase!

✤ Here we will learn your first

actual word. It means ‘How are
you?’

✤ Try reading it out loud. 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
Friday, July 2, 2010
 Your first phrase!

✤ Here we will learn your first

actual word. It means ‘How are
you?’

✤ Try reading it out loud. You’ll

sound silly at first, as you
sound them out, but it will
become more fluid with
practice.
하세요
안 녕
an nyeong ha sae yo
Friday, July 2, 2010
 Your first phrase!

✤ Here we will learn your first

actual word. It means ‘How are
you?’

✤ Try reading it out loud. You’ll

sound silly at first, as you
sound them out, but it will
become more fluid with
practice.
세요
안 녕 하
an nyeong ha sae yo
Friday, July 2, 2010
 Your first phrase!

✤ Here we will learn your first

actual word. It means ‘How are
you?’

✤ Try reading it out loud. You’ll

sound silly at first, as you
sound them out, but it will
become more fluid with
practice.
요
안 녕 하 세
an nyeong ha sae yo
Friday, July 2, 2010
 Your first phrase!

✤ Here we will learn your first

actual word. It means ‘How are
you?’

✤ Try reading it out loud. You’ll

sound silly at first, as you
sound them out, but it will
become more fluid with
practice.

안 녕 하 세 요
an nyeong ha sae yo
Friday, July 2, 2010
 Congratulations!

✤ 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’.

Friday, July 2, 2010

 Questions & Comments

✤ Questions and comments are always welcome.

✤ You can email me at mikejrisi@gmail.com 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

✤ 캐나다

✤ 컴퓨터
Friday, July 2, 2010
 Further Reading

✤ Some great resources exist on the Internet:

✤ LearnKorean.com

✤ Korea Broadcasting System (KBS)

✤ My blog (No Korean lessons, but a good read nonetheless)

Friday, July 2, 2010