Let's Learn Korean

[How to Master the Korean Alphabet pt. 2]

Now that you’ve mastered the Korean alphabet, it’s time to learn how to put individual letters together to make words!

[Korean Block Syllables]

First, it’s important to note that unlike other alphabet-based languages like English, Korean words are spelled out in block syllables as shown above. Korean is also written from left to right, and top to bottom.

Let’s take the 한 in 한글 for example:

한 = ㅎ + 아 + ㄴ 한 = ㅎ -> 하 -> 한

[Example]

As you can see:

we started from the left with ㅎ

moved to the right adding the 아

then moved from top to bottom adding the ㄴ

[🇰🇷 Important Notes 🇰🇷]

The grids above may resemble Chinese 田字格, and while similar, are not the same!

Again, as Korean is an alphabetical language, we can see how each box represents a different letter that is either a consonant or vowel.

Memorizing and learning the Korean alphabet is one of my most frequently asked questions. Today let’s review strategies on how to master hangeul (한글)!

First, it’s useful to set up the alphabet in a table like this where you have consonants (자음) on the left side going from top to bottom, and vowels (모음) at the top of the page from left to right.

Most Korean alphabet sheets are set up this way and I’ll be using the first 3 consonants (ㄱ/g, ㄴ/n, ㄷ/d) and first 3 vowels (아/a, 야/ya, 어/eo) in the following examples to demonstrate why as well as why this makes learning the alphabet easy.

Let’s take the first consonant ㄱ(g) and first vowel 아(ah). Right away we notice that the intersection of those letters is 가 (ga). We know this because:

ㄱ(g) + 아(ah) = 가.

This can be done with the following consonant as well where we see that:

ㄴ(n) + 아(ah) = 나.

This can be repeated for all 14 consonants as you move vertically down the line.

So, if you know that ㄱ(g) + 아(ah) = 가(ga), do you know what sounds make 갸? Yes! Because just as we got:

ㄱ(g) + 아(ah) = 가(ga), the same rule applies where

ㄱ(g) + 야(ya) = 갸(gya), and ㄴ(n) + 야(ya) = 냐(nya).

“So how should I practice?”

Well, now that we have the basics down, you can learn the alphabet quickly by practicing writing out each consonant and vowel combination together 10 times saying them aloud as you write.

First write down each consonant:

ㄱ(g): ㄱ ㄱ ㄱ ㄱ ㄱ

ㄴ(n): ㄴ ㄴ ㄴ ㄴ ㄴ

ㄷ(d): ㄷ ㄷ ㄷ ㄷ ㄷ

etc.

Then write down each vowel:

아(a): 아 아 아 아 아

야(ya): 야 야 야 야 야

어 (eo): 어 어 어 어 어

etc.

Then put them together:

가(ga): 가 가 가 가 가

나(na): 나 나 나 나 나

다(da): 다 다 다 다 다

etc.

Within no time you’ll have mastered the alphabet and will be able to read anything you see!

[The Korean Alphabet - Vowels]

Pt. 2: 모음

Here are the 10 vowels that make up the Korean alphabet!

아 - ah

야 - ya

어 - eo (like “uh”)

여 - yeo (like “yuh”)

오 - oh

요 - yo

우 - oo

유 - yoo

으 - eu

이 - yi

[🇰🇷 Important Notes 🇰🇷]

Notice how when a vowel has two lines, we add a “y” to the pronunciation:

e.g. 아 (ah) -> 야 (yah)

This rule holds true for all of the vowels in Korean. Practice using going between the vowel sounds!

[The Korean Alphabet - Consonants]

Hey everyone! Due to popular demand, here is a refresher post on 한글, the Korean Alphabet!

Today’s lesson will be on the 14 자음, or consonants, that make up 한글!

ㄱ - g

ㄴ - n

ㄷ - d

ㄹ - r/l

ㅁ - m

ㅂ - b

ㅅ - s

ㅇ - ng

ㅈ - j

ㅊ - ch

ㅋ - k

ㅌ - t

ㅍ - p

ㅎ - h

Good luck to those of us taking summer classes!

[Summer Classes]

여름 학기 Summer Semester

학기 semester (or quarter for ya bruins)

공부 study

중간고사 midterm exam

최종 시험 final exam

[Study Snacks]

물 water

뜨거운 물 hot water

차 tea

보리차 barely tea

녹차 green tea

커피 coffee

비스킷 biscuits

쿠키 cookie

[Items]

연필 pencil

필통 pencil case

샤프 mechanical pencil

지우개 eraser

펜 pen

책 book

책상 desk

Now that it’s summer vacation, let’s have some fun!

[The Beach]

바닷가 beach

파도 wave

모래 sand

해변 seaside

[Activities]

서핑 surfing

부기 보드 boogie boarding

수영 swimming

제트 스키 jet skiing

낚시 fishing

[Places]

부둣가 pier

[Items]

선 크림 sun cream -> sunscreen/sunblock

자외선 차단제 sunscreen/sunblock (kr)

타월 towel

수건 towel (kr)

[Animals]

갈매기 seagull

물고기 fish

게 crab

새우 shrimp

상어 shark

아기 상어 baby shark doo doo doo

고래 whale

[Food & Beverages]

물 water

아이스크림 ice cream

사이다 soda/cider

수박 watermelon

핫도그 hot dog

햄버거 hamburger

[🇰🇷 Important Notes 🇰🇷]

물고기 (fish) is not the fish that you eat. That is 생선.

게 (crab) sounds like dog, but in this context we know a speaker is referring to crabs since dogs don’t live in water

자외선 차단제 (sunblock) & 수건 (towel) are the Korean words for sunblock and towel respectively, though in everyday speech it is common to hear and use 선 크림 & 타월/수건.

[Blog Update] 7.7.19

Hello Everyone!  Thank you so much for being patient with me on my very unexpected and long hiatus.

I am glad to announce that I am returning to this blog!  Life happened and I was very busy this year trying to take care of myself and my studies as I have just wrapped up 50% of my undergraduate career so I hope you guys & gals understand.

[Some Updates on Myself & My Blog]

Let’s Learn Hangeul launched about 3 years ago as a small passion project of mine to help myself learn more Korean and share the knowledge/journey with the community on Tumblr.  I love learning languages.  It’s been so much fun getting to share my journey with you guys and watch my blog grow, and so inspiring to receive overwhelming support from a wonderful community who supports my interest in studying foreign language.  In terms of my blog, here are few small changes to look out for:

·        name/url spelling correction from “hangul” to “hangeul

·        new banner inspired from the old one

·        new avatar/icon designed by my self! (I’m lowkey proud it almost looks like my own airlines or something haha)

Which segues into the next section ->

[New Business & What to Expect]

The revamped look is only the beginning.  After doing some clean up and reflection, I realized that one of the biggest challenges in producing my own content was finding infographics/designs for the content I wanted to put out.  But, I realized that as a result of working in some pre-professional student orgs, I developed a skill set to start developing my own content and make is as original as I want it to be.  This means that moving forward, I hope to produce:

·        content centered around monthly/weekly themes

·        vocabulary lists/grammar & sentence structure lessons

·        history/entertainment/holiday bits

I am still getting used to the new program and self-design, and each of my posts will now contain a LLH (Let’sLearnHangeul) mark as well.  I am in the process of making more content so please be patient!

🇰🇷 한국어 🇰🇷 - Basic Introduction and 자기 소개

Hey guys, due to popular demand I’ve finally gotten around to creating a post to help you guys delve into learning 한국어 (the Korean language) once you’ve mastered 한글 (the Korean alphabet)! Today, let’s focus on a basic introduction to 한국어 and learn some basic phrases in Korean!

[Brief Historical Background] -한글 created in 1446년 by 세종 대왕 -originally called 훈민정음; proper sounds to educate the people -letters combined to form block syllables -24 letters; 14 consonants (자음) & 10 vowels (모음)

[Basic Greetings and Phrases]

1. Hello, how are you? 안녕하세요?

2. My name is (insert name here). 저는 (insert name here) 이에요/예요. 제 이름은 (insert name here) 이에요.

3. I am a (year number) student in college. 저는 (insert uni name here) (yr 1-4)학년 학생 이에요. Ex: I am a freshman at Great University. 저는 Great University 1학년 학생 이에요.

4. My major is (insert major here). 제 전공은 (insert major here) 이에요. 저는 (insert major here) 공부를 해요.

5. My hobbies are (insert hobbies here). 제 취미는 (insert hobbies here) 이에요.

6. I like (whatever you like!) Ex: I like Korean food! 저는 한국 음식을 좋아해요!

7. Farewell!

Goodbye (to someone who’s leaving) 안녕이가세요!

Basic Conversation: ~Rejoinders~There are several ways you can ask a question as a rejoinder to being asked a question. So given an example like from above:

A: “어느 나라 사람 이에요?” What country are you from?

B: “저는 한국 사람 이에요!”I am Korean!

B: “당신은요?”B: “그쪽은요?”

Happy Birthday Lyrics in Korean:

생일 축하합니다,생일 축하합니다,생일 축하 우리 (name),생일 축하합니다!