How to read

Let’s write 'Han' and 'geul' in Hangeul. Can you do that? We haven’t learned it. : ))

[han]: ㅎ [h] ㅎㅏ [ha] where should we put [n]????

start with consonant put vowel [a] on the right
because it’s vertical vowel

Ok. Now, it’s time to learn the initial, medial and final in a Korean writing block.

ㅎㅏ[han]
2) medial : the vowel
1) initial:
the consonant that starts the block ㄴ 3) final :
exactly as you put 'n' at the end of [ha] the consonant or consonant cluster that
ends the block.
to make it [han], you should put 'ㄴ' [n]
on the bottom of the block in Hangeul. ※ You’ve never heard of 'consonant cluster', have you?
we will certainly get back to that later.

Just remember that:

1. Initial is a consonant or a double consonant which comes first in a block.
2. Medial is always a vowel.
3. Final is a consonant or a consonant cluster. That’s it.
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How to read
Is it really necessary to memorize all the final sound of the consonants?
We DON’T THINK SO.
LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING!!
Just think that they sound the same wherever they go with a few exceptions.
1. Let us give you an example.

밥
how do you read this?
the correct Romanization of this word is [bap].
because the final sound of 'ㅂ' [bieup] is [p].
but, what if we write this [bab]. does its sound change?
[b] and [p] sound so different when they come as the final sound?
Bob and Bop sound so different even in English?
means “meal”

ㅂㅏ [bap]
the answer 'NO!' in Korean.

ㅂ[b] ㅏ[a] ㅂ [b] ㅂ ㅂㅏ[ba]

[bieup]
ㅂ
2. What If someone shows you one Romanized Korean word and ask you to convert it to
Hangeul. Let’s see with the same word '밥'

[bap]: [b] - ㅂ [a] - ㅏ [p] – this is the final of

the block. Therefore, let’s
ㅂ ㅍ which one?
find the consonants which [bieup] [pieup]
have [p] as the final sound.
[비읍] [피읖]

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How to read
These four letters sound all the same actually.

낫 낮 낯 낟
[nat] [nat] [nat] [nat]
[nad] [nad] [nad] [nad]
‘sickle’ ‘daytime’ ‘face’ ‘no meaning’
※ Just for your information
1. If you look into the Korean-Korean dictionary, it is said that ‘낫’ actually sounds like ‘낟’
with ‘ㄷ’[d] which supports what we explained about the final sound of ‘ㄷ’ here and in
the previous page.
2. We don’t mind if you memorize ‘ㅅ’, ‘ㅈ’ and ‘ㅊ’ sound like ‘ㄷ’ [d] when they come as
the final sound.
3. Just remember that these 3 consonants sound the same when they come as the final
sound and it can be either ‘t’ or ‘d’ in Romanization.

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Hangeul writing block : 9 writing blocks
Now, it’s time to learn all the 9 writing blocks.
There is a reason why we didn’t learn these 9 writing blocks in the first place, because it’s
not as important as you think.
init. : initial consonant, med. : medial vowel, fin.: final consonant

ㄷㅏ [da]
init.
ㅁ [mu] init.
ㅇㅣ[wi]
init. med.
med.
ㅜ med.
med.
ㅜ
ㄷㅏ [dak] ㅁ
init.
ㅜ [muk] init.
ㅇ
ㅜㅣ[wing]
init. med.
med.

fin. ㄱ med.

fin. ㄱ
med.

fin.
ㅇ
ㅁ
ㄷㅏ [dak] ㅜ [muk]
init. init.
init. med. med.

ㄹㄱ ㄱㄱ
med. med. can’t think of anything
right now
fin. fin. fin. fin. fin. fin.
※ This is what we call 'consonant cluster'
we WILL get back to that later. Don’t worry about it.
LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING!!
1. Don’t be overwhelmed by these 9 writing blocks. You don’t even have to remember
them. We will tell you why in a couple of pages.
2. We will show you the examples of each block later and explain about it very nicely.
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Wrap-up
Now, you’ve learned all about writing while you’re learning about reading, and there is no more.
You’ve also learned 90% of reading. You will be learning the rest 10 % by doing.
Let’s practice some writing with real words in Use of Lesson 2 before it gets really boring.

■ The list of things you are supposed to know now.

1. 14 consonants and 10 vowels, 11 compound vowels, 5 double consonants
2. How to fill out the block and draw individual letter in order.
3. The fact that Hangeul is written in blocks and one block makes up one syllable.
4. How to read the consonant when it comes as the final in a block.
5. What is consonant cluster
6. Korean honorific verbs end with the suffix '요'[yo] or '다'[da] in declarative sentence.

LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING!!

1. Do not be frustrated by the things you don’t understand here such as consonant cluster.
It’s not about writing. You already know how to write it. It’s all about spelling and
reading. Maybe you have to memorize it later because there is no rule for it.
2. I assume that you are dying for making some sentences with what you’ve learned so far.
We will certainly do that from the Lesson 3.
3. Since you’ve chosen to learn the alphabet first, we are not going to provide you with the
Romanized equivalents to Hangeul from the next lesson unless it’s necessary. So, you’d
better master it in this lesson. : )

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