Meet Hangul.
Your first Korean letters.
Korean letters fit together like little building blocks. Let’s make your first one.
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A rough reading aid, not exact pronunciation. Hyphens separate syllables. Listen first, then try with hints hidden. “eu” is said with unrounded lips; “uh” only approximates ㅓ. Doubled consonants are tense, not extra syllables. Do not add a vowel after a final consonant.
Letters become a syllable
Hangul (한글), also written Hangeul, is the Korean alphabet. Instead of writing every letter separately in a row, Korean groups letters into syllable blocks. Each block begins with a consonant letter and contains a vowel. Some blocks also have a final consonant.
With a vertical vowel such as ㅏ, the vowel sits to the right: 가. With a horizontal vowel such as ㅗ, it sits below: 고. For a syllable beginning with a vowel sound, Korean uses a silent initial ㅇ: ㅇ + ㅏ = 아.
Start with six vowels
Tap a sound and repeat it. English spellings are rough guides, so give yourself time to hear the difference.
An open “ah” sound.
An open back vowel; English has no exact match.
A rounded “o”; keep it one steady sound.
A rounded “oo” sound.
An unrounded back vowel. Keep your lips relaxed.
An “ee” sound.
Build your first syllable.
Pick a starting consonant and a vowel. See how they fit.
ㄱ + ㅏ → 가
The letter hints are approximate. A consonant’s sound can change with its position and neighboring sounds.
Your first two-syllable words
나무
Sound hintnah-moo
namu
Tree
나 + 무. Two blocks, two syllables.
바다
Sound hintbah-dah
bada
Sea
바 + 다. Notice how each vowel sits to the right.
This is the first of nine Hangul lessons. Continue with the ten basic vowels, then practice all the basic consonants, more vowel shapes and final consonants. Use the practice room to build, read and copy what you learn.
Make yourself heard.
Listen once. Record yourself saying the phrase, then listen back.
나무, 바다
Sound hintnah-moo, bah-dah
Up to 20 seconds. Your recording stays in this page and is never uploaded by HangulHada.
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Read the ten basic vowels
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