Korean is read from left to
right and up to down. Notice how the "n" and "l" in the Hangul above are placed
below the begining of the syllable. Korean is then read by syllables, which are
grouped into words. These syllables use 2 to 5 (mostly 2 or 3) letters.
Syllables always start with a consonant. Starting out is a little difficult, but
with a little practice Hangul is much easier to read than the romanization of
Korean words. Korean words rarely consist of more than 2 or 3 simple syllables,
unlike the English language.
To the right is a chart of
all of the 'normal' consonants found in Hangul. These sounds are fairly easy to
obtain. In general consonants are pronounced much softer when in the middle of
the word (especially between two vowels). The silent 'o' (ng) begins words that
start with a vowel sound.The program, 'Reading Korean', demonstrates each sound
of the above consonants. These sounds are the basics of Korean!! A student
should master the consonants above before reading further.
1. When followed with a vowel, both consonants are read/spoken. Fortunately, Korean does not use these types of combinations very often.Some
examples of these complex consonants are:
'How to read' Korean is easy. However, speaking and listening to Korean can
be very difficult. Below are some notes to watch for when conversing with native
Koreans or other (maybe more advance) students of Korean. The Korean language lends itself to be more personal than the English
language. Korean usually don't say "Hello." Instead, questions such as "Have you
eaten lunch?", "Where are you going?", "Did you sleep well?" are asked. Be aware
that these questions will come immediately and it takes time to get accostumed
to which questions are coming at which times. Once a student is familiar with
the language, conversing becomes much easier. No matter how the questions are
phrased, being able to recognize what is being asked of oneself and being able
to answer, is most important. Korean speech has little variation is accents and pitch when compared to
other languages. Stresses of the language also vary from region to region. The
general rule is to evenly stress Korean phrases and sentence. When
reading/speaking interrogatives, the end of the sentence is raised just as in
English.
Double Consonants:
The double consonants (see
the chart on the left) can be described as 'stopped' consonants. When speaking
these consonants, the breath is paused and tension is built up. However, the
consonants are not exploded. Instead, they stress the vowel that follows. Again
listen to the expamples in 'Reading Korean'. Three of these double consonants do
not end syllables, which is indicated by '-'.
Complex Consonants:
Many syllables end with
two consonants (see chart on left). There are two simple rules for reading this
phenomnon:
2. When
follwed by a consonant or used at the end of word, only the first or second is
read/spoken (depending on the word).
Korean Vowels...
Single Vowels
Hangul contains 10 basic
vowel sounds all of which are fairly easy to pronounce and remember. They are
generally spelled (and pronouced) with the silent 'o' as the intial consonant.
Again, vowels should be much easier to learn than the consonants.
Dipthongs (vowel combinations)
The main problem with
dipthongs is that they can be quite difficult to distinguish between each other.
Being able to generalize the sounds at the begining is the key to learning these
syllables. Looking at the chart above, how different is the first and third
syllable? Not much. Confusing (or blending) the two sounds does not cause much
confusion for the listener. However, they are different and an effort to make
some distinction is necessary.
When writing the dipthongs, the consonant (here 'o') is
written followed by the vowel sounds from left to right.
How Korean is Spoken