You need only two hours if you already understand how to read ALPHABET.
You can read Hangeul after two hours of practice. The sounds of some letters may not be exactly the same as those of the English alphabet. While you can read Hangeul, you won't understand what the sentences mean, of course. However, it is the first step, and no one will know that you don't understand what you're reading. Cool! So, don't worry!
1. Structure of Hangeul
Hangeul consists of three elements: consonants, vowels, and final consonants. The final consonants (let's call it Batchim from now on) are the most interesting part and challenging part when learning Korean. This is important information, but don't worry. We will study it together here later as well.
There are six different shapes of Hangeul. The basic rule is that it must have at least one consonant and one vowel.
1) Consonant + Vowel (horizontally)
Examples: 가, 너, 댜, 려, 미, 배, 세, 얘, 졔
2) Consonant + Vowel (vertically)
Examples: 고, 누, 됴, 류, 므
3) Consonant + Vowel (mixed)
Examples: 과, 놰, 뒈, 뢰, 뭐, 뷔, 싀
4) No. 1 + (Batchim)
Examples: 갗, 넠, 댵, 렾, 밓
5) No. 2 + (Batchim)
Examples: 곡, 눈, 됻, 률, 믐
6) No. 3 + (Batchim)
Examples: 괍, 뇃, 뉑, 룆, 뭧, 뷬, 슅
2. Consonants
1) ㄱ [g]
Many textbooks say this pronunciation is [g] or [k]. Personally, and based on my previous experience, I believe this is not true. Yes, you will hear the [k] sound when Koreans say this consonant. However, Korean will catch the ㅋ sound instead of ㄱ if you say the [k] sound.
This is because that our ears perceive sounds differently depending on our mother tongue. Most native Korean speakers can understand your [k] sound for ㄱ, but not always. Moreover, it is really hard to change your initial pronunciation once you become comfortable with certain sounds.
2) ㄷ [d], ㅂ [b], ㅈ [j]
These three consonants are very similar to the ㄱ situation. Most textbooks teach you these as [d/t], [b/p], [j/ch]. Again, this is not true. They should be pronounced as [d], [b], and [j], respectively. ㅈ can be pronounced as a [z] sound if you find it difficult to say [j]. It is a different pronunciation, but better than [ch].
I explained that it could cause miscommunication. Let's consider an example. Imagine you are in a hospital and feel discomfort in your feet (발). You want to tell the doctor, "I have feet pain" (발이 아파요). However, you might accidentally say "팔이 아파요". Why? Because your textbook suggests pronouncing [p] for ㅂ when it is the first sound of a sentence. As a result, the doctor will examine your arm (팔), not your feet (발).
3) ㄹ [r] or [l]
This consonant can be pronounced as either. Korean does not have a distinct [r] sound, so both pronunciations should not cause confusion. However, [l] sounds more similar to the ㄹ sound. When producing the ㄹ sound, the tongue touches the middle of the roof of the mouth, not near the teeth, which is why it sounds slightly different from [l].
4) ㅇ [-]
This consonant does not have a sound of its own. I will provide more information about this when we learn about Batchim. Please bear with me a little longer.
You probably remember what I mentioned about the structure of Hangeul: it must have at least one consonant and one vowel. However, the Korean language also has vowel sound letters such as [a], [e], [i], [o], and [u]. You can use the ㅇ consonant when there is only a vowel sound, as in 아, 에, 이, 오, 우.
5) The remaining consonants have very similar sounds to the English alphabet.
ㄴ [n], ㅁ [m], ㅂ [b], ㅅ [s], ㅊ [ch], ㅋ [k], ㅌ [t], ㅍ [p], ㅎ [h]
The last consonant, ㅎ, is sometimes pronounced softer than its original sound, making it very faint. Many Koreans pronounce 전화 as [저놔] instead of [전화], or 은행 as [으냉] instead of [은행].
We have just covered two topics: how the Hangeul looks and the pronunciation of consonants.
Please try to memorise these pronunciations.
Next post will cover:
3. Vowels
4. Batchim
5. Practice
