Lessons for everyone, everywhere
Alphabet
I guess this is where we start. Koreans have an alphabet as well.
Consonants
*Some letters are formed by two consonants next to each other- weird?
ㅂ - B ㅃ - BB [ pronounced as P] ㅍ - P
ㄷ - D ㄸ - DD [ pronounced as T] ㅌ - T
ㄱ - G ㄲ - GG [ pronounced as K] ㅋ - K
ㅈ - J ㅉ - JJ [ pronounced as CH] ㅊ - CH
ㄹ - R/L - *when found at the beginning of a syllable, it is pronounced R
*when found at the end of a syllable, it is pronounced L
ㅅ - S/SH *when followed by the vowel " I " , it is pronounced SH
ㅇ - NG / mute [ as in Pong] - *when found at the beginning of a syllable, it is MUTE
*when found at the end of a syllable, it is pronounced NG
ㅎ - H
ㅁ - M
ㄴ - N
!!! Keep an eye on the next lessons to learn all the tricks for mastering the alphabet.
Vowels
* Same as consonants, vowels are special too. Sometimes, by just adding one stroke to the way you write them, you change the sound of them. They follow a pattern though. Let's see if you get it.
ㅏ- A ㅑ - YA
ㅗ - O ㅛ - YO *Koreans have two O's and two E's- no difference in pronouncing them.
ㅓ - O ㅕ - YO
ㅐ - E ( pronounced as in Elephant) ㅒ - YE
ㅔ - E ㅖ - YE
ㅜ - U ( pronounced as in Moon) ㅠ - YU
ㅣ - I ( pronounced as in Incident)
ㅡ - Uh ( pronounced as in " Euh, that is disgusting " - exactly the sound you make in that situation )
Don't worry, you will get an audio clip at the end of this lesson so you can hear us pronouncing the alphabet for you
Sound combinations
Now, of course it had to get a little bit more difficult. Koreans love to make it all extra fancy.
Some vowels, combined, can create new sounds. Trust me though, it is kind of logic.
ㅗ [ O ] + ㅏ [A]- WA
ㅗ [O] + ㅐ [E] - WE (pronounced as in Where)
ㅗ [O] +ㅣ[I] - WE ( pronounced as in Where again)
ㅜ [U]+ ㅓ [O] - WO
ㅜ [U]+ ㅔ [E]- WE (pronounced as in Where once again)
ㅜ [U] + ㅣ[I] - WI (pronounce as in We)
ㅡ [Uh] + ㅣ[I] - Uhi ? *now this is weird but imagine you are in disgust and exclaim "Euhhh" and then throw a random "Ee" at the end.
We know how confusing this all can get so we have inserted a little audio clip of us pronouncing all of the letters and combinations for you. Follow it through and repeat!
!!!Now it is time for you to take a break! Go, write down the alphabet and learn it. Korean can only be learned once you know how to read it. From here onwards , there is very little Romanization present in our lessons as this is the key to success.