Hangul - The Korean Alphabet for BeginnersKorean words

*Hangul - the Korean alphabet* Hangul is the only alphabet used in Korean, it contains 40 unique letters (21 vowels and 19 consonants). All Korean words are made up of syllable blocks, each block can contain from 2 to 4 letters. When reading Korean literature, or watching the news, you can sometimes encounter Chinese characters ("한자"), but they are used rarely, so you don´t have to worry too much for now, because over 99% of Korean text is written in Hangul "한글".

*basic character block* Syllable blocks must begin with a consonant. Alternatively, o is silent when it is in the first position of a syllable block. For now, let's look at some basic vowels, starting with two-letter syllable blocks. "ㅣ"From the letter, TEE**

*Vowels in words* You have learned the first basic vowels, now we can make words, using only vowels.

*Consonants in Hangul* Consonants in syllable blocks are always found on the 1st, 3rd, or 4th positions (vowels on the 2nd position only)! Let´s learn the basic consonants ㄱ,ㄴ,ㄷ,ㄹ,ㅁ,ㅂ,ㅅ,ㅇ,ㅈ,ㅎ. The first one is "ㄱ", read as K in KEY, or G in GAME. The letter "ㄴ", read as N in NICE. The letter "ㄷ", read as T in TODAY, or D in DAD. The letter "ㄹ", which will be explained on a different card! The letter "ㅁ" is pronounced M, as in MAGIC. The letter "ㅂ" is pronounced B, as in BEER, or P, as in PRETTY. The letter"ㅈ" is read as J in JACK, or CH in CHANGE. The letter "ㅅ", also explained more on a different card. The consonant "ㅇ" is a bit tricky, and will be explained later.

*letter d* The letter "ㄹ"is read as an approximate R (not often used in English). For example, it can be found in TORTILLA in Spanish or L in LEAF. R - Makes an R sound when ar comes before a vowel ( "다리"-leg). L - if two letters r are found consecutively Both "달러"produce the L sound (-dollar).** *

*The letter ㅅ* The letter "ㅅ", is read as S in SWEET. When it precedes the vowel "ㅣ", it makes a SH (sure) sound.

*The letter ㅇ* The "ㅇ" consonant makes no sound when in the 1st position of a syllable block ("아이"), but is pronounced -ng, when on the 3rd position ("강","상","빵")

*Advanced vowels, three-syllable words* Now you can learn more advanced collections! Pay attention to your pronunciation, because some vowels can sound very similar! The letter "에", read as E in EVERY. The letter "애", read as A in BABY.

*Vowel practise* Did you memorize all the new vowels? Let´s slowly start using some words with three-letter syllable blocks! These can be written in two ways : Like the word 강, with the vowel next to the 1st consonant, and 3rd below, or like the word 공, with the vowel below the 1st consonant, and again, the 3rd below.

*Advanced consonants* Good job! Now, let´s learn more of the consonants. They sound similar to some that we already know, but are accompanied by a CH or H sound at the end! The letter "ㅎ" is pronounced like H in HAPPY. The letter "ㅋ" is pronounced similar to C in CRAFT. The letter "ㅌ" is pronounced similar to T in TIME. The letter "ㅊ" is pronounced similar to CH in CHANGE. The letter "ㅍ" is pronounced similar to P in PASSION. Imagine you are making an additional CH sound at the end, when attempting to pronounce these consonants!

*Consonant practise* Alright, now pay close attention to the pronunciation of the following words!

*Compound vowels* Next up are compound vowels, they are always made up of two different vowels! Usually, these are pronounced similarly to the two vowels put together, but there are exceptions. ㅗ + ㅏ = "ㅘ", pronounced "wah" ㅗ + ㅣ = "ㅚ", pronounced "weh" ㅗ + ㅐ = "ㅙ", pronounced "wae" ㅜ + ㅓ = "ㅝ" pronounced "wuh" ㅜ + ㅔ = "ㅞ" pronounced "weh" ㅜ + ㅣ = "ㅟ" pronounced "wee" ㅡ + ㅣ = "ㅢ" pronounced "eui" Pay close attention to the vowels forming the compound!

*Compound vowels practice* Let's practice our new knowledge of compound vowels in some words!

*Double consonants* As the final type of letters in Hangul, we must look into double consonants. We can write these as two of the same consonant, but smaller and next to each other. You can best learn their pronunciation by listening to words which contain these double consonants. ㄷ → ㄸ ㄱ → ㄲ ㅈ → ㅉ ㅂ → ㅃ ㅅ → ㅆ

*Four-letter syllable blocks* Lastly, let's view and learn some words, which contain four-letter syllable blocks! These are the rarest but still are used often enough for us to learn them now.

*Good job, you made it through~* Good job on learning the basics of Hangul! Be sure to continue with other Beginner and Easy materials for basic Korean grammar!