Lesson 3
Welcome back! This is the 3rd lesson of "Learn Korean Language". In the previous two lessons, you already learned a total of 8 letters. In this lesson, you will learn 4 additional basic letters, many new Korean words and you will begin to use your knowledge actively in writing, rather than just reading.
The first new letter is the vowel O:
ㅗ
This is pronounced like the oa in boat. Listen here. Since this vowel is much wider than it is tall (unlike the vowels you have learned so far), it would be difficult to fit it next to a consonant in a little square box. That is why it has to go below the consonant, saving much space this way.
As an exercise, try to read the following Korean words that contain the letter O.
오만 Arab country
밀라노 city in Northern Italy
로마 capital of Italy
모로니 capital of Comoros
나이로비 capital of Kenya
일리노이 state of the USA
Even when the vowel is already below the consonant, it is still possible to add another consonant below that vowel in order to have a syllable that ends in a consonant. Examples:
볼리비아 country in South America
본 city in Western Germany
바이올린 music instrument
록 style of music
It is also possible to have o at the end of a syllable. "Wait a minute! Didn't you say that this consonant is just a placeholder?" When it comes at the beginning of a syllable, it is just a placeholder enabling the syllable to start with a vowel. When it comes at the end of a syllable, it is pronounced like the ng in ring. Practise reading these words now:
가봉 country in Western Africa
앙골라 country in Southern Africa
리옹 city in France
몽골 country north of China
볼링 hobby
Time for a new consonant: meet Digeut.
ㄷ
This letter is pronounced like a t or d.
Practise reading:
빌딩 a house, hall, skyscraper or the like
안도라tiny country between France and Spain
인도big country in Asia, former British colony
라디오extremely popular before there was television
비디오now being replaced by DVD
And here's Shiot:
ㅅ
Shiot is pronounced like an s.
Here are words to practise with:
사나 capital of Yemen
시리아 country in the Middle East
미시간 state of the USA
소말리아 country in Eastern Africa
사담 former Iraqi ruler
The last letter for this lesson is:
一
This vowel looks just like an ordinary horizontal line. It is much wider than tall, so it is also written below the preceding consonant rather than next to it. It's pronunciation is a bit strange, somewhat like the French u or the German ü. It's between the English oo and ee sounds. The u in the English word mure is probably one of the closest examples of the sound in English. In words of foreign origin, it is often an in-between sound used to make consonant clusters more pronounceable for the Koreans. (i.e. It is used as a neutral vowel sound; it even sounds like schwa.) It is transcribed as eu.
Words for practise:
보스니아 Balkan country
아그라 city whose main attraction is the Taj Mahal
그리스 European country
그린란드 very cold country
아이슬란드 also very cold country
라오스 country in South-East Asia
아디스아바바 capital of Ethiopia
이슬라마바드 capital of Pakistan
리스본 capital in Europe
마드리드 another capital in Europe
오슬로 another European capital
시드니 city in Australia
Having been able to read all these words, do you think you could guess how to write "Asmara"(the capital of Eritrea) in Korean? Try to write it on your paper.
Hint: since syllables can't end in s, this name has four syllables in Korean: a-seu-ma-ra. Here's another one to try to write down: "Madras"(ma-deu-ra-seu).
AsmaraMadras
Are you still with me? If you didn't have trouble with this lesson, you are ready to go on to lesson 4, where you will learn the rest of the simple letters and continue practising your writing skills.
