In part inspired by the Korean tradition of writing in Chinese, and in part because many Chinese characters were still used in Korean writing at the time, the new Korean alphabet is also written in syllable blocks. The Korean alphabet developed at a time when many scholars knew how to read and write in Chinese, which doesn't have a true alphabet, but rather characters that form whole syllables. The new alphabet solved this problem and made it possible for a much larger population to read and write. The Korean alphabet, Hangeul, was developed in 1443 in the court of King Sejong the Great.įor many generations Korean scholars had been using complicated Chinese characters to write in Korean, made more complicated by the fact that characters are ill-suited to Korean grammar. Let's start by discussing the Korean alphabet. We're very excited to have the chance to share this unique language with you! Along the way we will be sure to provide some helpful notes to explain some grammar and give you a glimpse into Korean culture. Welcome to the Korean for English speakers course! Hover over the words and you will see their translations. NOTE: You will sometimes be asked to translate a word or two here. Note that ‘ㅏ,’ ‘ㅓ,’ and ‘ㅣ’ are written to the side of the initial consonant while ‘ㅗ,’ ‘ㅜ,’ and ‘ㅡ’ are written beneath the initial consonant.ĭue to sound changes, 왜, 외, and 웨 sound the same in most modern Korean dialects. In the same way, you may just add an ㅇ to get the name of any other vowel. Their names are 아, 어, 오, 우, 으, and 이, respectively, where the letter ㅇ, or ieung, remains silent, acting as a place holder. We begin with the six basic vowels of Korean: ㅏ, ㅓ, Annyeonghaseyo!īoth letters and syllable blocks are written from left to right and from top to bottom. The Korean word for ‘hello,’ 안녕하세요, is composed of 12 letters organized into five syllable blocks. Each block represents a single syllable and consists of two to four letters. Unlike English, written Korean is organized into syllable blocks. Of course, it's not perfect, but in general it matches spoken Korean better than English does. The Korean script, Hangeul, may seem intimidating, but don't worry it's actually a lot like the alphabet we use in English, a small set of characters representing the sounds of the language. Welcome to the Korean for English speakers course! Hangeul
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