Note: This page was recently updated on Friday 27th of February 2015
We want to first congratulate you on your decision to learn to read Korean, otherwise known as Hangul. Being able to read Korean is exceptionally rewarding especially if you are living or decide to visit Korea.
Other Visitors Frequently Visit The Following Pages:
- How To Learn Korean Letters
- Learn Korean Numbers
- Understanding Korean Culture
- Simple Tips About The Korean Alphabet
- Learn To Speak Korean Fast
- Adjectives In Korean
- Learn Korean Phrases
The Korean script is different than learning Japanese or Chinese, despite what many may think. In fact, it is much easier to learn than other Asian languages.
With only twenty four letters including some simple combining variations, learning just a handful of letters each day can go a long way in merely a few weeks, as opposed to learning Chinese or Japanese which can take a few years to master. Start to learn to read Korean by following these steps:
First you must understand that Korean letters and characters are written in a square box side by side to each other. Also, each character is represented by a single syllable. For example, “kah” is one syllable, whereas “rakah” is represented by two characters.
Let’s begin with the Bieup letter, or consonant pronounced either p or b. ==> ㅂ
Combine this letter with a vowel (Ah sound similar to “father”) ㅏto give you 바. As you can see, both characters are written next to one another. This is pronounced as “bah”
The next Korean letter to learn is the Nieun, or the n. ==> ㄴ
Just like we did with the above example, combine the Nieun letter with an Ah sound to give you a “nah” 나 .
Now let’s put them together: 바나나 is ba-na-na. “Banana”.
Another tip is that each syllable in Hangul must begin with a consonant. This makes it fairly easy to quickly identify both the beginning and ending of Korean syllables.
Now the syllables that begin with a vowel aren’t actually pronounced. Take for example the Korean greeting known as “annyong”. The “an” at the beginning of “annyong”, contains an O character, before the Nieun and looks like this ==> 안 .
If you are able to get through these basic examples, then you will be able to learn to read Korean fluently in a short amount of time. Next you will want to continue practicing combination characters to form Korean phrases. Practice makes perfect, so the more letters and characters you learn, the more words you will be able to put together.
Keep in mind the above links that can take you to the various articles of this website to help you in different areas of this unique language. You can learn how to distinguish between the Korean characters, numbers, alphabet, and simple phrases. Furthermore, there are opportunities for you to understand more about this fascinating culture.
Hope you enjoyed this article and good luck on your quest to learning how to read Korean!
Learn To Read Korean – http://9gag.com/gag/3968335
Good Reads Site: Korean Books – http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/korean-books