Korean made simple a beginner s guide to learning the korean language by billy go

KoreanMadeSimple:Abeginner’sguidetotheKoreanlanguage
Volume1,Edition1



Writtenby:BillyGo
Editedby:MichelleChongandWooseokLim
Publishedby:GO!BillyKorean

Coverandinsideillustrationsby:HeeJinPark(heejinbakes.tumblr.com)
Hangulletterblocksby:SarahHaEunJeong(esperes.weebly.com)

Copyright2014GO!BillyKorean

Allrightsreserved

eBookEdition,LicenseNotes
Thisebookislicensedforyourpersonalenjoymentonly.Thisebook
maynotbere-soldorgivenawaytootherpeople.Ifyouwouldliketo
sharethisbookwithanotherperson,pleasepurchaseanadditional
copyforeachrecipient.Ifyou’rereadingthisbookanddidnot
purchaseit,oritwasnotpurchasedforyouruseonly,thenplease
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Thankyouforrespectingthehardworkofthisauthor.





DEDICATION

Thisbookisdedicatedtoyou,thelearner.Ifitweren’tforpeoplelike
youwhoareinterestedinlearningtheKoreanlanguage,thisbook
wouldnotexist.ThankyouforbeinginterestedinKorean,andforyour
supportinpurchasingthisbook.Myonlyhopeisthatthisbookwill
serveasastrong,firststeptowardyourpersonallanguagelearning
goals–whateverthosegoalsmaybe.Goodluckinyourstudies.





TABLEOFCONTENTS

Preface
IntroductiontoHangul
MoreHangul
IntroductiontoSoundChanges
Chapter1:SayingHello
Chapter2:LikesandDislikes
Chapter3:SimpleSentences
Chapter4:WantingandNotWanting
Chapter5:Verbs
Chapter6:MoreVerbs
Chapter7:AskingQuestions
Chapter8:MoreQuestions
Chapter9:Adjectives
Chapter10:MoreAdjectives
Chapter11:Colors
Chapter12:Numbers

Chapter13:MoreNumbers
Chapter14:NegativeSentences
Chapter15:KoreanMarkers
Chapter16:TellingTime
Chapter17:Shopping
Chapter18:Relationships
Chapter19:InformalKorean
Chapter20:PastTense
AnswerKeys
AppendixA.–TypinginKorean
AppendixB.–HangulChartandNamesofLetters
AppendixC.–SoundChangeRules
InformalKoreanConversations
SpecialThanks


Glossary





Preface

Soyou’vedecidedtolearnKorean!Icongratulateyouonyour
decision,andwelcomeyouonyournewjourney.Asforme,Ifirst
learnedKoreanwhilelivinginKoreain2005.Uponreturninghome,I
chosetomajorinKoreanatmyuniversityin2008,andit’sbeen
nonstopfuneversince.I’mhappywithmydecisiontopursueKorean
educationasacareer,andhopetobeabletohelpmanyotherssee

theirKoreanabilitiesimproveaswestudythiswonderfullanguage
togetherhereinthisbook.



WhattoExpect

Thisbookwasdesignedwithyou,thelearner,inmind.Assuch,I’m
assumingthatyouhaveneverstudiedKoreanbefore,andwillbegin
teachingfromtheverybasicofbasics,workingourwayupfromthere.

Firsttimelanguagelearners,Koreanbeginners,andcuriousmindsofall
ages–yes,eventhoseofyouwhomaythink"I’mtoooldtolearna
language"–wereinmythoughtswhilewritingthisbook.Thisbook


wasdesignedspecificallyforyou.

Ifyou’vealreadystudiedsomeKoreanbefore,that’sgreat!Don’t
worry.Ihaveyouinmindaswell.Inadditiontocoveringthebasics,I
alwaysmakesuretoaddinalittlemoreineachchapter.Throughmy
personalandacademicstudiesoftheKoreanlanguage,I’mfindingthe
majorityofresourcesoutthereforteachingKoreanoftenfailto
presentconceptsintheircorrectforms–toputitsimply,Ifindlotsof
mistakesinKoreanbeingtaughtinothertextbooksandonwebsites.
Assuch,it’slikelythatyou’lllearnsomethingnewthroughthisbook,
evenifyou’vealreadystudiedKoreanbeforeuptoanylevel.

Conceptsarelaidoutintheirsimplestwaypossibleatfirst,forthe
beginner."AdvancedNotes"sprinkledthroughouteachchapteradd

informationthatbeginningKoreancoursesmightnotteachatfirst,but
arestillimportant.Sometimesthesewillevencontainadvanced-level
materialifIfeelthatit’ssomethingthatevenbeginnersshouldknow.
"CultureNotes"willdeepenyourunderstandingoftheKorean
language,becauseyoucan’tspeakKoreanwellwithoutknowinga
thingortwoaboutKoreanculture.Ididn’tevenknowwhereKoreawas
onamapbeforeIstartedstudyingthelanguage(Notetoself:North
andSouthKoreaareverydifferent!).

DonotexpecttobespeakingfluentKoreanbytheendofthisbook.
Thereissimplytoomuchthatneedstobecoveredbeforeyouwillbe
abletoconverseinKoreanwithoutanydifficulties.However,Ipromise
thatifyoufollowthisbookwellandpracticewhatyoulearn,youwill
beabletogainquiteanextensiveintroductoryknowledgeofthe
Koreanlanguagethroughthisbook.And,youwillbeabletofillinthe
gapsthatmostKoreanlearnersfacelateronintheirstudies.

AndI’llbetherethewholeway,holdingyourhandthrougheachlesson
–figuratively,ofcourse.I’mnotreallygoingtoholdyourhandthe
wholetime(I’msorry,butthat’sjustcreepy).



HowtoUseThisBook

Thisbookbuildsuponitselfwitheachchapter.Irecommendthatyou
takeyourtimegoingthrougheachlesson,inorder.Don’tmoveonto
thenextsectionuntilyoufeelcomfortablewiththelastone.Each
lessonbuildsuponknowledgelearnedfromthepreviousone,so
skippingalessoncouldleadtoproblemsunderstandingconceptsin

laterlessons;thisnegativeresultwouldobviouslycompoundthemore
lessonsyouskip.Inshort,doallofthelessonsandalloftheexercises
inorder,oratleastdoallofthelessonsifyou’reinarushandfeel
confidentenoughtoskipthePracticesections.

IfthisisyourfirsttimelearningKorean,Irecommendreadingeach
"CultureNotes"section,butskippingthe"AdvancedNotes"sections,
asthesearenotdesignedforfirsttimelearners.Ifthisisn’tyourfirst
timestudyingKorean,Irecommendreadingtheadditional"Advanced
Notes"ineachchapter.Inaddition,ifyou’vealreadyreadthisbook
oncebefore,Iwouldalsorecommendreadingthe"AdvancedNotes"
sectionsonyoursecondtimethrough.

Asyoucompleteeachchapter,referfrequentlytothevocabularylists
inthebackofthechapter,ortheGlossaryinthebackofthisbookas
necessary.Ifyouarehavingtroubleunderstandingasentence,or
creatingasentenceforthePracticesections,itmightonlybedueto
notknowingtheappropriatevocabularyword.
Takenotesalongthewayasyoucompleteeachchapter.Practice
reading,writing,andspeakingasmuchaspossible.Ifyouhaveafriend
whocanspeakKorean,practicespeakingandlisteningfrequently.

Inaddition,ifyounoticeagrammarformyouarenotfamiliarwith,I
wouldrecommendproceedingthroughthebookmoreslowly.This
bookbuildsuponitself,soifyouhavemissedsomething,andifitdoes
notappearinthechapteryouarecurrentlyreading,itmayhavebeen


skippedfromapreviouschapter.Thereisnoneedtorushthroughthe
basicsoftheKoreanlanguage.Itwilltaketimetobecomefamiliarwith

usingtheKoreanalphabet,andtobecomeusedtohearingthesounds
ofthelanguage–thisisnormal.Onceyouhavelearnedthebasics,it
willbecomemucheasier,andfaster,tomoveforwardandacquirenew
concepts.

HowtoStudyKorean

I’mnottheauthorityonhowyourbrainwilllearnthislanguagethe
best,butIdohaveafewsuggestions.Trysomeofthem,andusewhat
worksforyou.

1.Quizyourselffrequentlyonwordsyouarelearning,orhave
somebodyelsequizyou.

2.Forceyourselftocreatesentencesusingthewordsandgrammar
formsthatyouarelearning.

3.IfyouarefortunateenoughtoliveinanareawithmanyKoreans
(suchasinKorea,oramajorcity),makefriendsandpracticespeaking
thelanguageasmuchaspossible.

4.Keeparegularstudyschedule.Evenifyouonlyhave30minutesa
day,5daysaweek,sticktoit.30minutesadayfor5daysisbetter
thanstudying150minutesatonce.Shorter,frequentstudyisalso
easiertomanageifyouhaveabusyschedule.

5.Writevocabularywordsyoulearnonstickynotes,andplacethem
overthingsandplacesthattheycorrespondto.Forexample,youcan
writetheKoreanwordfor"pencil"onyourfavoritepencil,ortheword
for"friend"onyourbestfriend’sforehead.

6.Grammarismoreimportantthanvocabulary.Abeginnerwitha


strongunderstandingofbasicKoreangrammarwillsoundworlds
betterthanawalkingdictionarythatcan’tconstructacoherent
sentence.

7.BrushUpYourEnglishGrammar.

"ThisisaKoreanbook!WhydoIhavetolearnEnglishgrammar?"
ManyconceptsinKoreanaremucheasiertoexplainandunderstandif
youhaveabasicgraspofEnglishgrammar.Couldyoulearnthatthe
Koreanword사과meant"apple"inEnglish,withoutknowingtheEnglish
word"apple"beforehand?Assuch,you’llneedtobefamiliarwith
wordssuchasverb,adjective,noun,andothers,inordertobetter
learntheKoreanlanguage.HereareafewEnglishconceptsIuseinthis
bookwhichyoushouldbeatleastfamiliarwithbeforestarting:

Subject/Object/Noun/Adjective/Adverb/Verb

I’llalsobecoveringnecessarygrammarwordsastheycomeup
throughoutthebook,butknowingwhattheyareinadvancewillhelp
makeconceptseasiertodigestoncewegetthere.

WelcometoKoreanandKorea

Toeveryonewho’slearningfortheirfirsttime,welcome!Toeveryone
else,welcomeback!Beforewediveintothelanguage,it’simportantto
firstknowafewthingsaboutthecountrythatspeaksit.

KoreaislocatedtothewestofJapan,anditsharesaborderwiththe
easternpartofChina.

Originally,Koreawasonecountry,buttheendoftheKoreanWarin
1953resultedinthetwosidesseparatingintoNorthKoreaandSouth
Korea."Why?"Toputitsimply,NorthKoreaandSouthKoreahad
someseriousdisagreementsthatledtotheKoreanWarstartinginthe
firstplace.

BothNorthKoreansandSouthKoreansspeakthesameKorean
language,butdecadesofbeingdividedfromeachothercaused
separatedialectstoemerge,andthewayeachcountryspokethesame
languagebegantobecomemoredifferent.Forcomparison,youcan
thinkofNorthKoreanspeechtoSouthKoreanspeechasbeingwhat
BritishEnglishistoAmericanEnglish;peoplefrombothcountriescan


understandeachotherfine,buthavetheirowndistinctdifferencesin
pronunciation,andvocabulary.

Forthisbook(andlikemostotherKoreanlanguagebooks),wewillbe
learningtheKoreanlanguageasspokeninSouthKorea.Butbeforewe
diveintoKorean,let’sstartbylearningalittlebitaboutthecountryof
SouthKorea.

•Fullname:대한민국(shortenedto한국)

•Population:50million

•Currentcapital:Seoul

•Language:Korean–ofcourse!

Koreasharesalotofitshistorywithitsneighbor,China.Alarge
portionoftheKoreanvocabularyoriginallycamefromChineseaswell,
althoughthesoundsofthesewordswerechangedastheywere
broughtintoKorea.Still,althoughKoreahasadoptedmuchofits
vocabularyfromChinese,andsomeofitsgrammarfromJapanese,itis
unrelatedtoeitherlanguages;Koreaniscompletelyuniquefromany
otherlanguage.Thismakesitevenmoreinteresting.

We’llbelearningtospeakKoreanthroughthisbook,aswellasread
andwriteit.Ifyoucan’tyetreadorwriteKorean,noworries!We’llbe
coveringeverythingaboutthewrittenlanguageinthenextfew
sections.

Approximately80millionpeoplespeakKoreannativelyworldwide.
Includingnon-nativespeakers,andpeoplecurrentlylearningtospeak
Korean(suchasyourself),thatnumberismuchlarger.

KoreanSentenceStructure



TheKoreanlanguageworksdifferentlyfromotherlanguages.For
comparison,let’stakealookatasimplesentenceinEnglish:

"Ikickedtheball."

TheEnglishlanguageusesaS.V.O.sentencestructure–Subject,Verb,
andObject.Thismeansthatthesubjectcomesfirst("I"),followedby
theverb("kicked"),andthentheobject("theball").

However,theKoreanlanguageusesaS.O.V.sentencestructure–
Subject,Object,andVerb.

Here’sthesamesentencewrittenagain,butusingKoreansentence
structure:

"Iballkicked."
저는공을찼습니다.

You’llseeinfuturelessonshowsentencestructureworks,andit’snot
thatcomplicatedonceyou’vepracticedwithit.AsImentioned,there
areover80millionpeoplespeakingKoreancurrently,andI’msurethat
youcanlearnitaswell.

WhyKorean?
ButwhyareyoulearningKorean?

•Business?
•Travel?
•Makingfriends?
•Dating?
•Forfun?
•"BecauseIcan,that’swhy."

AllofthesearegreatreasonstostudyKorean.Nomatteryourreason,
you’vetrulychosenafun,interesting,andusefullanguage.Ihopethat
thisbookwillhelpyoureachyourowngoalsforlearningKorean.

NoteAboutthe니다Form

IfthisisyourfirsttimelearningKoreanandyouhaveneverheardof
the니다formbefore,youcanfeelfreetoskipthissectionandbegin
learningtheKoreanalphabet.Iwouldliketodiscussmyusageofthe
니다forminthisbook.

ThisbookhasbeendesignedtohelppeopletolearntheKorean
languageclearlyandcorrectly,includingpropergrammarrules,andis
notaphrasebook.Assuch,I’vechosentointroducethe니다form(a
verypolitewayofspeaking)firstandforemostinthisbook,andonly
introducethe요form(usedforthemajorityofinformalspeaking)
towardtheend,beginningwithChapter19.

Asadisclaimer,the니다formisnotcommonlyusedinreal,regular
Koreanconversations.Thisisbecauseitisaformalform,andisused
mostoftenforformalandbusinesssituations.Ialsodiscussthisin
detail,includingwhentousethe니다form,inChapter19.Inaddition,
the니다formcansoundawkwardwhenusedtofriendsortopeople
whoareyoungerthanthespeaker.Regardless,Ifeltitwasbestto
introduceitfirstforseveralreasons.

However,the니다formhasseveraladvantagesoverthe요formfor

firsttimestudentsoftheKoreanlanguage.

1.It’ssimplertolearn,helpingtoeasethelearnerintoKorean,tosave
mentalresourcesforfocusingonadjustingtotheKoreanalphabetand
grammar.

2.It’sbettertobetoopolitethantoberude.



3.StudentswhohavejustbegunstudyingKoreanwilllikelynotbeable
toholdafullconversation,soknowingthe요formisunnecessaryfor
introductoryconcepts.

WhilesomestudentsofKoreanwhohavealreadypassedthebasics
mayseethe니다formasuseless,orcounterproductivetolearning
Korean,Istronglybelievethatitisnot,anddecidedtostructurethe
bookinthiswayafterintenselycomparingtheoptions.

Whilestudyingthe요formfirstcanhelptoadjustthelearnerto
conjugatingandusingit,ithasitsownshareofproblemsthatIfeel
outweighsitsbenefits–atleastinthebeginning.

1.Itrequiresknowledgeofseveralrulesinordertoconjugate.Thiscan
beintimidatingtofirsttimelearners.

2.Althoughitisnotrudeinitself,whenusedinsituationswhere
formalityisrequired,the요formcansoundrude.

3.Itshouldnotbeusedtoaskquestionstopeoplewhoareolder.As

such,thelearnermustalsolearnhonorificgrammarandvocabularyin
ordertoproperlyspeakusingthe요form.

Nevertheless,Iunderstandtheimportanceofknowingthe요formin
ordertoholdarealconversationinKorean.Althoughitisintroduced
late(Chapter19),Ihaveincludedeveryconversationfromevery
chapterre-writtenusingthe요forminthebackofthisbook,for
practiceandalsoforstudy.

Myultimategoalisforthisbooktogiveyouacomprehensive
introductiontotheKoreanlanguage–consideritasolidstonestepup
atallmountain.Ihopethatyoucantrustmymethodslongenoughto
beabletotakeoveronyourown.



Goodluckinyourlanguagelearning,andfeelfreetocontactmewith
anyquestionsorcommentsatanytime(justpleasedon’tcallmelate
atnightwhenI’msleeping).





IntroductiontoHangul

WhatisHangul?

"Hangul"isthenameofthewritingsystemusedallthroughoutKorea,
bothinSouthKoreaandinNorthKorea.Specifically,it’sanalphabet,

meaningthatit’smadeupofconsonantsandvowels,justlikethe
Englishlanguage.

Beforethe1500sinKorea,therewasnowayofwritingtheKorean
language.Instead,wealthyandeducatedKoreanswouldsimplylearn
Chineseiftheywantedtoreadandwrite.BecausetheChinese
languagecouldonlybestudiedbythosewithmoneyandprestige,the
majorityofKoreawasunfortunatelyilliterate.Butallofthischanged
withthecreationoftheKoreanalphabet,knownasHangul.

HangulwasintroducedtoKoreain1446byKingSejong(세종대왕),whoalso
happenstobeoneofthemostfamouspeopleinallofKoreanhistory.
ThiseventwasextremelyimportantinthedevelopmentoftheKorean
language,andallowedeventhepoorestKoreantoreadandwritedue
toHangul’ssimplicity.



DoINeedtoLearnHangul?



Theshortansweris"yes."Thelonganswerisalso"yes."Theonlytruly
reliablewayofwritingandreadingtheKoreanlanguageisthrough
Hangul.AlthoughtherearewaysofusingtheEnglishalphabettospell
Koreanwords,noneoftheseareperfect,andallhavetheirflaws–
Hangulistheonlytruewayoflearningtocorrectlyreadandwrite
Korean.

ThereareseveralsystemsavailableforwritingtheKoreanlanguage

withtheEnglishalphabet,andyetnoneofthemcancorrectlycapture
thesound,spelling,andmeaningoftheoriginalwordwrittenatthe
sametime.

Forexample,taketheKoreanword독립문("IndependenceGate").
Dependingonwhichsystemyouareusing,itcouldbewrittenas
Dongnimmun,Toklipmun,orevenDog-Rib-Moon,amongseveral
others.Whileonesystemmightpreservetheactualsoundoftheword
(Dongnimmun),itlosestheoriginalspellingintheprocess.Adifferent
systemmaypreservetheoriginalspelling(Toklipmun),butlosesthe
actualsound.Andwhileanothersystemmaypreservetheoriginal
spellingandtheoriginalsound(Dog-Rib-Moon),itlookscompletely
silly.Inshort,thereisnosubstituteforlearningtoreadandwrite
Hangul.

HangulisanAlphabet

Fortunatelyforyou,Hangulissimple.AsImentioned,it’sanalphabet.
Assuch,youonlyneedtolearnthelettersinordertobeableto
constructeverysoundpossibleintheKoreanlanguage.

AlthoughHangulmightlooklikecomplexsymbols,suchasChinese,
eachsyllableiscomposedofsimpleconsonantsandvowels.Thereare
10uniquevowelsand14basicconsonantsinHangul,makingatotalof
24letters(contrastthiswithEnglishwhichhas26letters).Justlikein
English,consonantscombinewithvowelstoformsyllables,andwords.



Syllablesarewrittenoneletteratatime,andlettersarewrittenin

orderfromlefttoright,andtoptobottom.

Eachsyllableiswrittenasasingleblock.Forexample,theword한글
("Hangul")ismadeupoftwoseparateblocks,whichareactually
separatesyllables–한and글.Thefirstsyllable,한,ismadeofthree
letters(ㅎ,ㅏ,andㄴ).Thesecondsyllable,글,isalsomadeofthree
letters(ㄱ,ㅡ,andㄹ).Althoughwehaven’tlearnedwhattheseletters
meanyet,fornowtakenotethatletters–vowelsandconsonants–
combinetoformblocksofsyllables.Thesesyllablesthencombineto
formwordsandsentences.

I’llbewithyouthroughourentireprocessoflearningHangulandthe
Koreanlanguageinthisbook.Takeyourtimewiththeselessons,and
learneachnewletteraswellasyoucan.HavingasolidgraspofHangul
willgreatlyhelpyoulateronwiththelessons,aswellaswithyourown
personalgoalsofmasteringtheKoreanlanguage.

BasicConsonantsandVowels

Beforewestartcoveringallofthedifferentletters,let’sfirsttakealook
atthebasicstructureofHangul.Tobegin,we’lltakealookatthree
consonantsandonevowel.We’lllearnhowtocombineconsonantswith
vowelstocreateourfirstsyllables.



Type:Consonant
Pronunciation:Thisissimilartoa"k"or"g."However,itisnotstrong
likea"k"in"kite,"norisitstronglikea"g"in"great."It’sabitsofter,
andsomewherebetweena"k"anda"g."Tokeepthingssimple,let’s

callita"g."

NumberofStrokes:1
StrokeOrder:Startingfromthetopleft,drawasinglelinetotheright,
andwithoutliftingyourwritinginstrument,curvedown.

WhatisStrokeOrder?

Beforegoinganyfurther,let’stakeamomenttotalkaboutstroke
order.EveryletterinKoreanhasacertainorderinwhichitmustbe
drawn.Thinkofstrokeorderlikefollowingarecipe;althoughyouknow
whattheendresultshouldbe,youhavetomakesureyougetthereby
addingingredientsintherightorder.Havingproperstrokeorderis
essentialtoproducinggood,legibleKoreanletters.Incorrectstroke
ordercaneasilyresultintheletterlookinglikesomethingelse–take
mywordonthisfornow.

Itismucheasiertolearnproperstrokeorderinthebeginningthanto
trytofixitlater.Takecaretopracticeproperstrokeorderfromthe
beginningandyouwillthankmelater.

Sinceit’sdifficulttocomparetheKoreanalphabetwithEnglishsounds
(suchasintheaboveletterㄱ),allsoundsinthisbookwillbe
comparedtoAmericanEnglishasitisthemostwidelytaughtandused
versionofEnglishinternationally.

Type:Vowel
Pronunciation:Thisissimilartoan"a,"asintheword"law"or"car."
Youcanalsothinkofitasthe"ah"soundyoumightsaywhenyou’ve
realizedsomething.



NumberofStrokes:2
StrokeOrder:Startingfromthetop,drawasinglelinedown.Then
drawasecond,shorterlinebeginningfromthemiddleofthefirst,
goingtotheright.



Type:Consonant
Pronunciation:Thisissimilartoan"n,"suchasintheword"now."

NumberofStrokes:1
StrokeOrder:Startingfromthetop,drawalinedown,andwithout
liftingyourwritinginstrument,continuedrawingtotheright.



Type:Consonant
Pronunciation:Thisissimilartoa"t"or"d."However,itisnotstrong
likea"t"in"ten,"norisitstronglikea"d"in"dog."It’sabitsofter,
andsomewherebetweena"t"anda"d."Tokeepthingssimple,let’s
callita"d."

NumberofStrokes:2

StrokeOrder:Startingfromthetopleft,drawasinglelinetotheright.
Startasecondlinefromtheleftendofthefirstline,movingdownthen
right,justlikeyoudidearlierwhendrawingㄴ.

MakingSyllables



Nowthatwe’vegotafewconsonantsandavoweltoworkwith,let’s
trymakingsomesyllables.Rememberthatasyllable,justlikeinEnglish,
consistsofatleastonevowelandatleastoneconsonant.

Trytoseewhatthefollowingsyllableswillsoundlike,beforereading
theirexplanations.Youcandothisbycoveringtherightsideofthe
pageasyoucompleteeachone.

ㄱ+ㅏ=?
Answer:"ga"
ㄴ+ㅏ=?
Answer:"na"
ㄷ+ㅏ=?
Answer:"da"

Rememberthatㄱisnotastrong"k"orastrong"g,"andㄷisnota
strong"t"orastrong"d."Thesesoundsaresofter,andsomewhere
betweenthesetwosounds.

Asyoucanalreadysee,manysoundsinKoreandonothaveexact
Englishequivalents.Thisiswhyit’sbesttolearnKoreanthrough
Hangul,insteadofthroughwritingthelanguagewithEnglishor

anotherwritingsystem.BeingabletopronounceHangulcorrectlywill
greatlyimproveyouroverallKoreanpronunciation.

ButsyllablesinHangularen’twrittenlike"ㄱ+ㅏ,"soweneedto
learntheproperwaytowritethem.RememberthatHangulusesblocks
ofsyllablestocreatewords.Theseblocksareformedinafewways.
Let’stakealookatwhattheaboveexampleswouldlooklikewrittenin
Hangulasrealsyllableblocks.

가/나/다



Eachofthesesyllableblockscontainsatleastoneconsonantandat
leastonevowel.Sincetheseareourfirstbasicsyllables,theyeach
containonlyoneconsonantandonlyonevowel.Lateronwe’lllearn
howtomakemorecomplexsyllablesusingmoreletters.

Noticealsohoweachoftheseiswritten–theconsonantisontheleft,
andthevowelisontheright.Thisisduetothevowelthatweused.
Thevowelthatisusedinaconsonantwilldeterminethewaythata
syllableblockiswritten.Forverticalvowels,suchasㅏintheabove
examples,here’stheblockformusedtowritethem.



Forblockformsrepresentedinthisbook,"C"representsaconsonant
and"V"representsavowel.

Let’sre-writeourfirstexample(ㄱ+ㅏ)asarealsyllableusingthe

aboveblockform.



Thisiswhatweget,butitlooksabitawkward,kindoflikearobot
wroteit.Tomakeitmorenatural,theㄱisstretchedoutlongerto
makeitmatchclosertotheheightoftheㅏ.Here’showitwillbe
written:




AndjustasEnglishwillhavedifferentwaysofwritingthealphabet
(differentstylesorfonts),Koreanwilltoo.Thisisanotherreasonwhy
it’simportanttolearntherightstrokeorder.Aslongasyouknowthe
correctstrokeorderforaletter,youwillbeabletoreadHangulwritten
inanypossiblestyle.

Beforemovingon,practicewritingafewsyllablesonyourown.

Type:Consonant
Pronunciation:Thisispronouncedlikean"m,"asintheword"mother."

NumberofStrokes:3
StrokeOrder:Startingfromthetopleft,drawasinglelinedown.Start
asecondlinefromthetopofthefirstline,goingtotherightandthen
downwardlikedrawingaㄱ.Startthethirdlinefromthebottomofthe
firstline,goingtotherightandconnectingwiththesecondline.

Beespeciallycarefulwiththestrokeorderonㅁ,asdrawingitthe
wrongorder(orjustdrawingasquare)caneasilycauseittoappearas
adifferentletter(ㅇ,whichwewilllearnsoon).




Type:Consonant
Pronunciation:Thisissimilartoa"p"or"b."However,itisnotstrong
likea"p"in"park,"norisitstronglikea"b"in"bat."It’sabitsofter,
andsomewherebetweena"p"anda"b."Tokeepthingssimple,let’s
callita"b."

NumberofStrokes:4
StrokeOrder:Startingfromthetopleft,drawasinglelinedown.Start
asecondlineparalleltothefirst,fromthetop,alsogoingdown.Starta
thirdlinefromthemiddleofthefirstline,goingtotherightand
connectingtothemiddleofthesecondline.Startafourthlinefrom
thebottomofthefirstline,goingtotherightandconnectingtothe

bottomofthesecondline.



Type:Consonant
Pronunciation:Thisispronouncedlike"s,"suchasintheword"snake."

NumberofStrokes:2
StrokeOrder:Startingfromthetop,drawaslightlycurvedlinedown
sidewaysandtotheleft.Startasecondline,alsoslightlycurved,from
thetopofthefirstline,goingsidewaysandtotheright.Bothlines
shouldcurveinward.



Type:Consonant