Korean course · Hangul · 8 short videos
Watch these videos in the app박쌤 안녕하세요! I'm Park-ssaem, your Korean teacher.
박쌤 About 80 million people speak Korean, in South Korea, North Korea and all over the world.
박쌤 Korean has its own alphabet: Hangul, 한글.
박쌤 It's not like Chinese, with thousands of characters. Hangul has only 24 basic letters.
박쌤 King Sejong created it in 1443, so that everyone could learn to read.
박쌤 Most learners can read it after a few days. So can you. Let's start!
박쌤 In English, letters go in a line: H, A, N.
박쌤 In Korean, letters are stacked into a block. One block = one syllable.
박쌤 ㅎ (h) + ㅏ (a) + ㄴ (n) = 한 (han).
박쌤 ㄱ (g) + ㅡ (eu) + ㄹ (l) = 글 (geul).
박쌤 한 + 글 = 한글: two blocks, two syllables. Han-geul.
박쌤 The rule: a block always starts with a consonant, then a vowel. Sometimes there's a third letter at the bottom.
박쌤 You read a block left to right, then top to bottom.
박쌤 Hangul has two families: vowels and consonants.
박쌤 Vowels are lines: one long line plus a short stroke. ㅏ ㅓ ㅣ are tall. ㅗ ㅜ ㅡ are flat.
박쌤 With a tall vowel, the consonant goes on the left: 아. With a flat vowel, the consonant goes on top: 오.
박쌤 Consonants draw your mouth. ㄱ: the back of your tongue goes up. ㄴ: the tip of your tongue touches behind your teeth. ㅁ: your closed lips, a little box.
박쌤 Learn the shape, and you can guess the sound. Smart king!
박쌤 Under the Korean words, you'll see Latin letters: 한글 → hangeul. That's romanization.
박쌤 It helps you during the first weeks. But careful: “eo” is ONE sound, close to the “u” in “cup”, never “e” plus “o”. “eu” is ONE sound too.
박쌤 At A2, the romanization disappears. By then, you'll read Hangul faster than Latin letters.
박쌤 My best advice: always listen, then repeat out loud. Your ears are your best teacher.
Meet Seo-jun. He's 7, and he's learning with you!
서준 할머니, 저 못 읽어요… halmeoni, jeo mot ilgeoyo… Grandma, I can't read…
할머니 괜찮아! 한글은 쉬워. gwaenchana! hangeureun swiwo. It's OK! Hangul is easy.
서준 진짜요? jinjjayo? Really?
할머니 그럼! 세종대왕이 쉽게 만들었어. geureom! sejongdaewangi swipge mandeureosseo. Of course! King Sejong made it easy.
하은 서준아, 누나랑 같이 배우자! seojuna, nunarang gachi baeuja! Seo-jun, let's learn together!
서준 좋아요! joayo! OK!
5 words you can use today, no reading needed!
안녕하세요 annyeonghaseyo hello. Morning, noon and night, with a small bow.
감사합니다 gamsahamnida thank you.
네 ne yes.
아니요 aniyo no.
죄송합니다 joesonghamnida I'm sorry.
Can you hear your 5 words?
하은 안녕하세요! annyeonghaseyo! Hello!
손님 안녕하세요. 이거 주세요. annyeonghaseyo. igeo juseyo. Hello. This, please.
하은 네! 봉투 필요하세요? ne! bongtu piryohaseyo? Sure! Do you need a bag?
손님 아니요. 감사합니다! aniyo. gamsahamnida! No. Thank you!
하은 감사합니다! 안녕히 가세요! gamsahamnida! annyeonghi gaseyo! Thank you! Goodbye!
Ready for your first letters? 5 questions!
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