Learn Korean (For Beginners : Level 1)

Overview

Overview : 
• Consonants
•Vowels

Before we get started, I know some people might want to see the topics we'll be covering in every unit. This is just a summary of what you will be learning. 

In Korean, there are 14 consonants and 10 vowels.

A.) Consonants (Just like the ABC in English, Korean has a specific order) :
ㄱ,ㄴ,ㄷ,ㄹ,ㅁ,ㅂ,ㅅ,ㅇ,ㅈ,ㅊ,ㅋ,ㅌ,ㅍ,ㅎ 

Here is a list of the sounds they make and their names : ⏬

ㄱ
Sound : 'g' 'k'
Name : 기역 (gi-yeok)
ㄴ
Sound : 'n'
Name : 니은 (ni-eun)
ㄷ
Sound : 'd' 't'
Name : 디귿 (di-geut)
ㄹ
Sound : 'r' 'l'
Name : 리을 (ri-eul)
ㅁ
Sound : 'm'
Name : 미음 (mi-eum)
ㅂ
Sound : 'b'
Name : 비읍 (bi-eub)
ㅅ
Sound : 's'
Name : 시옷 (shi-ot)
ㅇ
Sound : '-ng'
Name : 이응 (ie-eng)
ㅈ*
Sound : 'j'
Name : 지읒 (Ji-eut)
ㅊ*
Sound : 'ch'
Name : 치읓 (chi-eut)
ㅋ
Sound : 'k'
Name : 키읔 (ki-euk)
ㅌ
Sound : 't'
Name : 티읕 (ti-eut)
ㅍ
Sound : 'p'
Name : 피읖 (pi-eup)
ㅎ
Sound : 'h'
Name : 히읗 (hi-euh)

*Starred ones are hard to tell apart. Be careful when distinguishing 'ㅈ' from. 'ㅊ'.

If you have a Korean keyboard, you might's noticed that when you clicked the -shift- button, the consonants double.
These are called 쌍자음 (ssang-ja-eum). These are used to emphasize the letter.
Only 5 consonants use these.
ㅂ,ㅈ,ㄷ,ㄱ,ㅅ

ㄲ
Sound :  'kk' 'gg'
Name : 쌍 기역 (ssang gi-yeok)
ㄸ
Sound :  'tt' 'dd'
Name : 쌍 디귿 (ssang di-get)
ㅃ
Sound :  'bb' 'pp'
Name : 쌍 비읍 (ssang bi-ep)
ㅆ
Sound :  'ss'
Name : 쌍 시웃 (ssang shi-ot)
ㅉ
Sound :  'jj'
Name : 쌍 지읒 (ssang ji-eut)

*Pronounciation
E (eut, et, ep, etc.) - say "uh", but clench your teeth. Then, flatten your tongue.*

You can practice writing them by learning 3-4 a day. It's important to know how to write and pronounce the letters to learn to speak the language.

You also may have noticed that some consonants have TWO different sounds.

We'll learn about something called 받침 (batchim) later in part 2.

For now, we're moving to the vowels.

B.) In English, the vowels are : A,E,I,O,U, (Y). They help make the sounds of the word.

There is a specific order for the vowels as well.
The basic vowels are listed below.
ㅏ,ㅑ,ㅓ,ㅕ, ㅗ, ㅛ, ㅜ, ㅠ, ㅡ, ㅣ
Then, we have :
ㅐ,ㅒ,ㅔ,ㅖ

ㅏ
Sound : ah
ㅐ
Sound : Ae
ㅑ
Sound : yah
ㅒ
Sound : Yae
ㅓ
Sound : Eo
ㅔ
Sound : E
ㅕ
Sound : Yeo
ㅖ
Sound : Ye
ㅗ
Sound : Oh
ㅛ
Sound : Yoh
ㅜ
Sound : U
ㅠ
Sound : Yu
ㅡ
Sound : Eu
ㅣ
Sound : I (long e)

You may have noticed that none of them have a name. There is no name for them like the consonants did. Instead, they're called by the sound they make.

🎀🎀🎀

We'll be covering all of these characters by slowly going through them per chapter so don't feel too overwhelmed. 

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Overview : Part 2/2 (Unit 2)
•applying vowels with consonants
• learning to read
• Batchim (받침)

To form a letter in Korean, you can put the consonants and vowels together. You read from left to right, moving from the upperhand to the bottom.

Ex. 

ㄱ + ㅏ = 가 (ga) - you started at ㄱ (g), then moved to ㅏ(ah).
ㄴ + ㅣ = 니

-Batchim : The vowel underneath a given character 

Ex. 

ㅎ+ㅏ=하(ha)

하+ㄴ=한(han)