![]() ![]() I’m old-fashioned: I love using paper flashcards and maybe you do, too! Or, you could give Anki’s digital flashcards a try and practice your reading while scrolling through your phone.įamiliarize yourself with the letters by writing in Korean as much as possible, even if it’s only simple things like people’s names and lists of new vocabulary at the beginning. But it doesn’t have to be dull or repetitive! The best thing about learning how to read in Korean is that there are so many different ways to practice. Now it’s time for some good old revision. Read whole words aloud as you build up your vocabulary list you may be sounding everything out letter-by-letter to begin with, but you’ll soon be reading whole syllables-and then entire words-quickly by sight. While you’re learning, be sure to say the letters aloud every time you read them, until the sounds of the letters start coming to you more naturally. However, it’s also very important to know the correct pronunciation of consonants, because in Korean some consonants are pronounced differently depending on where they’re placed in a word.įor example, at the beginning of a word the letter ㅅ is pronounced with a “s” or “sh” sound, like in 사랑 ( sarang - love) or 시간 ( shigan - time), but at the end of the word ㅅ makes a hard “t” sound, like in 뭣 ( mot - what). It’s important, of course, to know the correct pronunciation of vowels as several Korean vowels are quite different from English ones. ZKorean has a great chart demonstrating the appearance and sound of Hangul letters. Most learner websites will include a demonstration of the sound of each letter, or an example of an English word that has the same pronunciation, but you’ll learn the letters faster-and remember them more easily-if you listen to the pronunciation as you learn each letter. You need to make sure that as you learn each Hangul letter, you’re really learning how to correctly pronounce that letter. It works best if you alternate learning vowels and consonants, to make it easier to find new words. Starting with this little list, each week you can learn another group of letters and build up your vocabulary. 아이유 (a-ee-yoo): K-Pop idol IU’s name in Hangul ![]() Next, you should make a vocabulary list of words spelled using these letters. For example, if your first group of letters is going to be ㅏ(a), ㅗ (oh), ㅜ (oo), ㅠ (yoo) andㅣ(ee) and the silentㅇ, your vocabulary list might look like this: Of course, you can increase the number of letters you learn in each time period as you become more confident. Work out what’s manageable for you. I’d say you should set a minimum of five to ten letters to learn at a time, and give yourself the same set period of time to learn each group of letters, e.g. ![]() Go you! Run with it!īut for those of us who are busy and a little apprehensive about the prospect of learning a new alphabet, it’s perfectly fine to break things down a little bit. Maybe you’re desperate to start reading, and you have a free afternoon you can devote to learning all 40 letters at once. ![]() The best thing about learning on your own is that you can go completely at your own pace. The 3 Simple Steps You Need to Read Korean 1. Here’s a convenient chart of all 40 letters. When this happens, the consonant ㅇ is silent. One more thing to remember: In writing, every syllable stack must begin with a consonant, but some words and syllables are pronounced as beginning with a vowel-for example, 안녕하세요 (annyeong haseyo - hello). The second syllable is spelled: consonant ㄱ + vowel ㅡ + consonant ㄹ. The first syllable 한 is spelled using the consonant ㅎ + the vowel ㅏ + the consonant ㄴ. Let’s use the word “hangul” as an example. The syllables are then joined together to form a word, just like in English. Each syllable must contain at least one vowel and one consonant, and must always begin with a consonant. Hangul is a very simple alphabet of 40 letters (19 consonants and 21 vowels) that are stacked into squares to form syllables. It’s very different from English, to be sure, but it’s actually super simple! There’s something reassuring in the mathematical way it’s set out, and once you understand the pattern you’ll be speed-reading in no time! (Download) How Hangul Works (It’s Easier Than You Might Think!)īefore we get into the how-tos, it may help a little bit if I explain briefly to you just how Korean writing is structured. This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that youĬlick here to get a copy.
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