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Hangul in Modern Society

The number of letters that Korean people use in these days are not exactly the same with the first time it was created. There was 28 characters / letters that created. But a few of them are not used anymore and there is only 24 letters in official Hangul nowadays. Though there is a different opinion on how the alphabets should be count. This has become one of debatable question in Korea. While 24 is the number of alphabets that Korea have, these are excluding the combined letters (two or more letter combined to make one sound). If these letters are combined, there will be 40 alphabets in total. Though the number itself seems to confused people, all the 40 alphabets are used in modern society. 

How to Write Hangul

While it seems easy to write hangul (picking up the letter and write it one by one), there is some rules that need to keep in mind before you start writing your name in Hangul. 

The way hangul write is by stacking the letters into little blocks for each syllable. So. for example, HANGUL have two syllables, which are HAN and GUL. So, Instead of writing it as ‘ᄒㅏᄂᄀㅡᄅ’ you write it as ‘한글’. Or if you try to write you name down (I’ll use my name as example) ‘KARAMINA SAMULO’ and we try to break the syllables (KA-RA-MI-NA SA-MU-LO) it’ll turn like this : 가라미나 사무로. 

Another thing to remember when you write hangul, vowel cannot stand by themselves. So if a word starts with a vowel, you need to add a silent character or ‘ng’ (ㅇ) in front of the vowel. So for example (I'm using my name again), INA, and we break the word into syllables, I-NA, it will turns to be ‘이나’. 

Usually in one block, there will be 2 letters (1 consonant + 1 vowel) or 3 letters (1 consonant + 1 vowel + 1 consonant). However, don’t be surprised if you see 4 letters in one block because it is possible (but don’t worry, it’s pretty uncommon to find). 

Click here if you’d like to have a little exercise to write hangul 

BONUS : Hangul for Daily Life

Watching Korean drama could be the best option for you to learn Korean language by yourself. But you could also probably pick up some words from this table below (thanks to 90 days Korean for the list!) if you want to start talking a word or two with Korean language :)

Feel free to leave me a message if you would like to know more about Korean language and how to write Hangul.

Culture

Probably the most well known culture from Korea is their music (known as K-Pop). While K-Pop probably expand around Asia earlier than other continents, Gangnam Style by Psy probably one of the key of K-Pop to finally enter Europe and other continents such as America, Australia and Africa. Nowadays, many K-Pop artists starts to expand their promotion to Europe as well, especially in the UK. G-Dragon is the latest Korean Artist that came to have solo concert in London and Birmingham, with Hyukoh coming on the last weekend of October (if you’re interested to attend their concert, click here for more information and ticket sales). Even though there is no sites that could give the latest update of K-Pop concert in the UK (which become a hassle since you don’t know who’s coming and when, and you probably missed it), United K-Pop probably one of the UK website that could give a little bit updates and post some discussions regarding Korean culture and music. 

While this site created by K-Pop fans, Korean Culture Centre is the official site and organisation, affiliated with Korean Government to promote Korean culture in the UK. Korean events such as Korean Music Festival, Korean Film Festival and also K-Pop Academy are being held regularly to gives people who lives in the UK a chance to know more about Korean (not just limited to the music, but also the history and the culture in general). Their office building are open for everyone so feel free to give the place a visit here.  

Cuisine

As mentioned before, it’s not hard to find Korean restaurant from the budget level restaurant to a fancy one. It’s also not hard to find Korean supermarket around, even though I’d like you to suggest to go to New Malden if you want to feel the Korean vibe while enjoying their cuisine, and probably get some souvenirs from their wide range of shops, too! 

New Malden, or known as Korean Town, located in Southwest London. This suburb has turned into one of the most dense Korean population in Europe after the ambassador of South Korea lives in this area in 1950 and slowly turn this area into one of the biggest Korean Community with around 20,000 Koreans lives there, including 600 North Koreans in it. So it is not a shocked if you can find some pieces of resemblance of Gangnam in South Korea, where the centre of restaurant and entertainment is (pretty much like Soho in London).

Back to traditional food from Korea, just like typical Asian countries, South Korea is no different. Their main meal most likely include rice on it (which probably unusual for British people to eat rice). But what distinguish Korean food with other Asian Countries is right on spot when people try Korean food and Compare it with Japanese or Chinese food, even with similar shape or look, the taste could be different. The easiest example, is between Kimbap from Korea and Makizushi from Japan. While it’s looks identically the same, the taste is totally different, which is not hard for people to know the difference between them once they eat. 

The taste difference with other Asian foods seems to be welcome by non Asian countries, especially by people in the UK. This could be seen by how many Korean restaurants all around UK, even in central of London itself. Here are the list of Korean Restaurant located in London that I’d love to recommend

1.   Seoul Bakery (£) Probably the cheapest place of Korean food you could ever get. With £10, you can easily get a portion of Kimbap + Ramen + Mandu each. Located near Tottenham Court Road, it’s pretty central and simply accessible with everyone. But you need to be careful to missed it as the place is really small (compare with buildings that surrounds it). But again, I don’t think you will miss it, as people always queue outside the restaurant so it’ll be easily spotted. My personal favourite is their beef kimbap. (you should try it if you have a chance to). This place is quite unique as they let their visitors to decorate their walls (aka write something on the wall about their experiences with the restaurant or Korea in general). Plus, they also sell some Korean snacks, albums, merchandises and magazines, too! So it’s like a one stop shop where you can get your food and souvenirs from the same place!

(note: they only accept cash so make sure to bring your cash with you)

2. Wing Wing (£/££) Another favourite place to eat of mine. Located near Russell Square, this place always crowded with students as it’s also closed to Bedford, where several universities such as UCL, SOAS, UAL, and others located (and I used to live right across this place too, so I almost go there everyday at that time haha). This place is well known with their chicken wings, inspired by a combination of chicken and beer (what Korean usually eat and drink for snack), they sell 6 wings with fries and drink for £7. And you can get 2 pint of beer for £5. I personally have tried all of their foods and there’s nothing that I don’t like so it’s a tough call to say which one is my favourite. You will have options of what kind of flavours for your wings, and the same for your fries. Since I love to eat rice, I usually get their seafood with rice, then a meal of wings, plus a banana caramel sweet bun (it’s a lot and I never can finish it myself since it’s probably a portion of 2-3) and it only cost me £20 to get all those food!

(note: you will enjoy K-Pop music video being played in their big TVs on both sides of the place and it’s a cozy place to hang out with your friends, too!)

3.   Bibimbap (££) I’m a rice person (yes, I’m Asian that’s why!) and this restaurant could be one of my favourite as they’re specialized with Bibimbap. With a range price around £7 to £13 for each portion of Bibimbap, they give a wide range of choices of it. You can also create your own bibimbap here! From choosing the what kind of rice, topping that would you like to put in (might be useful for picky eater), and what kind of egg you would like to have in it. They also have a delicious soup to eat along with your bibimbap as well! I usually get beef bibimbap with seafood soup + drink which cost me £25 in total. This place still considerably small, but they quite a lot of seat so even if you need to queue, you’re not going to wait more than 15 minutes (usually). 

(note: If you’re old enough to drink, get your bibimbap with soju might be a good idea ;))

4. Kimchi Village (££/£££) Calling all meat lovers here! Yes, the heaven of Korean BBQ as you can eat as much as you want here (aka Buffet). Located in New Malden, with a range of price around £10 to £20, which is considerably cheap for a buffet restaurant, I suggest you to book your table to avoid disappointment as you might need to queue for at least half an hour if you didn’t book your table before you come here. Not only the meat, they also gives you unlimited fried food and rice as well! Though you need to pay if you want to get a beer (LOL!). 

(Note :While there is a lot of Korean BBQ in New Malden, this place probably the cheapest but still provides you a good quality of food. But if you would like to try a BBQ restaurant with Korean vibe inside the restaurant, you could go to BBQ restaurant nearby. You're in Korean Town anyways, so I could say most of their foods are authentic (or at least cooked by Korean who know exactly how the taste is))

5. Kimchee (£££)

Last but not least Korean Restaurant that you could visit. This probably the fanciest Korean restaurant in London. So you will always spot people with dress and suit come here for lunch and dinner. Their restaurant is stunning, with a very beautiful decoration, probably that’s why this place is a little bit more expensive than the other restaurants. Their food is not bad, though! They have a wide range of Korean food, from Bibimbap, Grilled meat, Soup, Fried Foods, and more. I personally always get a Beef Bibimbap and Grilled Beef Tongue, plus drink and spend around £25 in this restaurant. Don’t get it wrong, even though the price is higher than other Korean restaurants, this place still crowded at Lunch and Dinner time, and you probably need to wait for at least 30 minutes if you don’t book at table during this hour. 

(note: probably the best place to have a date with your partner while still enjoying Korean cuisine though ;)

Feel free to leave me a message if you would like to know more about Korean Culture and Cuisine in London!