Learning Korean

Korean is like English.
There are consonants (ㄱㄴㄷㄹㅁㅂㅅㅇㅈㅊㅋㅌㅍㅎ)
And there are vowels (ㅏㅑㅓㅕㅗㅛㅜㅠㅡㅣ)
All you have to know is how to stick the sounds together and you can read it!
It's that simple, but getting to know the vocab and words, is hell like most other languages.


* credits: thinkzone.wlonk.com


Here are just the basics:
ㄱ= g,k (as in gull)
ㄴ= n (as in noodles)
ㄷ= d (as in dose)
ㄹ= l/r (as in arigatou-haha didnt know an english word that sounds like it) ~ relax ~
ㅁ= m ( as in movies)
ㅂ= b (as in bus)
ㅅ= (as in solve, or shake)--it'll make sense later.
ㅇ= its invisible, it goes with whatever vowel its next to., but when used at the bottom, it is pronounced ng (as in hung)
ㅈ= j (as in janice-me :D)
ㅊ= ch (as in choice)
ㅋ= k (as in coke)
ㅌ= t (as in tape)
ㅍ= p (as in pill)
ㅎ= h (as in horse)

but theres more, there are double consanants,,,, yay...... D: ~ usually emphasis on the related letter sound ~
ㄲ- gg/kk (as in gum.. kinda, with more prounounciation on the gg)
ㄸ- dd (as in ... i cant think of any!! o.O just emphasize the d)
ㅃ- bb (when justin timberlake says dirty pop, it sounds like the pop in dirty pop)
ㅆ- ss (as in soup)
ㅉ- jj (i cant think of any for this one either, just emphasize the j so it kinda sound like ch but with--like chinese zhang ziyi, the ziyi in zhang ziyi)

Now to the VOWEL...
ㅏ- ah (as in olive, or soemthing or apple with a british accent-lol i cant explaingood)
ㅑ- yah (as in yahoo)
ㅓ- uh (as in undo)
ㅕ- yuh (as in yuck)
ㅗ - oh (as in oh)
ㅛ - yoh (as in yo!~)
ㅜ - ooh (as in google)
ㅠ - yu (as in you)
ㅡ - eu (as in would)
ㅣ- ee (as in teeth)

Now to the double vowel: ~ these are what kill me, reason I can't spell correctly lol - di_jb ~
ㅔ- eh (as in shed)
ㅐ- eh (as in shed also)
ㅒ- yeh (as in shed also) ~ edited by di_jb ~
ㅖ- yeh or sometimes eh (is in myeh, or just meh O.O)
ㅚ- weh
ㅙ- weh also
ㅟ- wi (as in nitendo wii)
ㅢ- ui (as it eui chul? lol i dont know another one) ~ try to sound out "uh" and "ee" together really fast ~

so for example:
to read this-- 안녕하세요

ㅇ + ㅏ+ ㄴ = ah (since the ㅇis invisible pronounce the vowel only) + n = ahn
ㄴ + ㅕ + ㅇ= n + yuh + ng = nyung
ㅎ + ㅏ = h + ah = hah
ㅅ + ㅐ = s + eh = seh
ㅇ + ㅛ = yo (again, since ㅇ is invisible if on the top, then just the vowel pronunciation)= yo

all together combines ahn nyung hah seh yo.
thats how you pronounce it (not romanticized)

get it??

im too lazy to get to the ㅄ , etc. but this is probably hard enough to some people.
have fun D: lol

~ inserted image of characters ~

thank that was very useful, i try from youtube on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zI3Pw3ffMw but it was a bit too slow.

~ added as hyperlink ~

Nice, skittlos Very easy to understand..and I like the way you explained how to pronounce the "eui" sound...that's the most difficult dipthong for most non-native speakers.

skittlos, thanks a bunch..
how about teach us the eager-to-learn-korean something like...
i luv u or how r u or other basic everyday conversation..
rite now i basically crawling @ zkorean .... hangul is soo hard..huhuhu

lol good thread! i learned basic writing in learnkorean.com, and it was quite simple to be honest.

the only thing i need now is how to type in korean. my pc can read korean bcoz of a software called NJSTAR which enables me to read korean writing. but to write korean...i still dont know how! and it pains me coz it'll be a waste of what i learned.

about the usage of 'o' as in yuck.. i'm still quite confused on how to type it down. i pronounced hyun bin as hee-yoon-bean. but after learning hangeul then i realized it's supposed to be hee-yeon-bean. same goes to jun ji-hyun.

is it always been like that or what? nowadays i refer to him as hyeonbin rather than hyunbin, so as not to confuse myself.

hmmmm....the first thing that i like about korean is their pronunciation...
hehehe i just like i even went on skul korean language...for this..lol
yahhh..i learned a lot specially writing ...and speaking as well...but still hard to understand if your already talking to a korean people...ill be posting some languages that i learned.with meaning.. muawh
saranghamnida ....everyone..

before i know there's websites about learning korean,
i studied korean characters all by myself..not a single help from anyone,anything,nothing~..but then.
i improve korean..after i found some websites and forum like this..~~ anyway..thanks
here's where i learn a lil bit korean..
www.zkorean.com

i should contribute some too

http://www.learnkoreanlanguage.com/learn-korean-beginners.html

i found it to be really simple, but practice is the most important thing. after mastering the basics, try reading some korean lyrics of those korean songs u like. it helps, really! i started out with Kim Dong-Wan's Handkerchief.

Lesson 1 Hangul Alphabet System

(1092 total words in this text)

Vowels : -

ㅏ = "a"

ㅑ = "ya"

ㅓ = "eo"

ㅕ = "yeo"

ㅗ = "o"

ㅛ = "yo"

ㅜ = "oo" or "u"

ㅠ = "yoo" or "yu"

ㅡ = "eu"

ㅣ = "i"


Consonants : -


ㄱ = "g" or "k"

ㄴ = "n"

ㄷ = "d" or "t"

ㄹ = " r " or " l "

ㅁ = "m"

ㅂ = "b" or "p"

ㅅ = "s"

ㅇ = - (no sound)

ㅈ = " ch "

ㅊ = " ch' " *

ㅋ = " g' " or " k' " *

ㅌ = " d' " *

ㅍ = " p' " *

ㅎ = " h "


* Note that " ' " means the letter is aspirated, i.e a sharp sound.


Word Construction using the Vowels and Consonants.

ex 1)
ㅎ + ㅏ + ㄴ = 한 (han)
h a n

ㄱ + ㅜ + ㄱ = 국 (guk)
g u k

한국 pronounced HanGuk meaning Korea.

ex 2)
ㅇ + ㅓ + ㅁ = 엄 (um)
- u m

ㅁ + ㅏ = 마 (ma)
m a

엄마 pronounced umma meaning Mom.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There's a total of 15 introductory lessons at the following link. I'll try to update each lesson on a weekly basis. Hopefully input some of my thoughts as a Korean-American to try to better understand the lesson. Feel free to post your questions on any of the material; there are many more fluent Korean speakers than myself and we can all help answer your questions.

http://www.learn-korean.net/

hi sorry for the late post.

goodmorning - jo un ah chim

formal hello - ahn young ha seyo / ahn young ha shim ni kka
casual hello - ahn young

goodbye - ahn young hee ga sehyo (to person who's leaving)
goodbye - ahn young hee gae sae yo (to person who is staying, for example if you leave someone's home)
casual goodbye - jar ga

goodnight - annyonghi jumushipsiyo
casual goodnight - jar ja

my name is ____ - juh nun ____ imnida

hello (PHONE) - yeobo sehyo?

Do you speak English? - young uh ha sehyo?

excuse me! - shil leh hamnida..

welcome(please come in) - uh suh o ship shio

yes! - neh / or yeh

no! - aniyo

thank you - kamsa hamnida / gamsa hamnida

i am sorry - mian hamnida / mian haeyo

these are basic greetings..


~edited and separated the romanized wording to indicate syllables - di_jb ~

A friend just asked me what these common terms meant that you hear frequently on Korean dramas so here goes.

COMMON PERSONAL TITLES

chingu = friend
ahjussi = mister (used to call men who are over 30 or look like they are)
ahjumma = mrs (used to call women who are older than 30 or look like they are)
ahgassi = miss (used to refer to younger girls who are not likely married.)

seon bae = senior (how you refer to your senior in specific fields like school and work...)
hoo bae = junior (how you refer to your juniors from school, work...)

oppa = older brother, this is what girls say. (also typically what gf's call their bf)
hyung = older brother, what guys say
noona = older sister (what guys call their older sisters)
unni = older sister (what girls call their older sisters)

appa = dad
ahbuhji = father (more formal)
umma = mom
uhmuhni = mother (more formal)

hara buhji = grandfather
harmuhni = grandmother

gomo = aunt from father's side of family (father's sisters)
immo = aunt from mother's side of family (mom's sisters)

sahm choon = uncle (literally means 3rd "sahm" relative just outside immediate family)
weh sahm choon = uncle (mom's brother, weh refers to mom's family)

sah choon = cousin (literally means 4th "sah" relative
chin chuk = relatives (uncles, aunts, cousins...)

Hey found this great site from a friend. If you want to learn the Korean alphabet in a fun game manner, then click this link.

It gives you a Korean letter, and 5 English sounds to choose from. See how many you can get right. I got 100%

http://www.aeriagloris.com/LearnKorean/

and dont forget the switched subject verb tense.

in the english language sentences go by the verb then the subject:
for example:

V S
I went to the mall.

but in korea, we use the subject first then the verb:
for example:

S V
The mall i went to.


---
i like food -좋아 밥 [[incorrect]]
food i like- 밥 좋아 [[correct]]

i want to eat watermelons. [x] 먹고 싶어 수박.
watermelons i want to eat [o] 수박 먹고 싶어.

where is the restroom? [x] 어디에 있어요 화장실?
restroom where is it? [o] 화장실 어디에 있어요?

Here's some random notes I was forced to take by my dad a few years back xD Note that you have to be able to read Korean characters to understand them :3
They are completely random, and I had to take them when my dad realized how horrible my Korean was.

When reading this, remember that Korean sentence structures are SOV, meaning the subject comes first, then the object, and then the verb. Of course, additional particles and stuff are added, which is mainly what these notes are about.

-To ask if someone is someone, aka “Are you Sang-ri?” it would be “산리 이세요?”

-’nun’ and ‘eun’ are added respectively to nouns when they are first mentioned in a conversation. They are switched back to the topic marker ‘i’ after that. ‘nun’ is added to nouns that end in vowels, and ‘eun’ in consonants. Example —> “I” at the beginning of a paragraph is “나는”, and later on, it is “나가”.

-When you want to say “A is not B” using the words “I am not a teacher”, you say “처는 송생님이 아니에요”.

-”Where is it?” is written as “학교가 오디에요?” Answering it, you must use “isseoyo”. To answer the question from before, you should say: “학교가 고기 있어요.”

-Subject particles “이, 가” follow the following rules: 가 is placed after a noun that ends in a vowel. 이 is placed after a noun that ends in a consonant. These particles are meant to be put after a noun when it indicates “a [noun], the [noun], or is a [noun].” When 가 is attached after “너,나,처, 누구”, it is converted to “네가, 내가, 체가, 누가”.

-Subject particles “을, 를” follow the following rules: 을 is placed after a noun that ends in a consonant. 를 is placed after a noun that ends in a vowel. These particles are meant to be put after a noun when it indicates the “object” of a verb. For example, when you say “I drink a cup of coffee”, it would be “커피를 마십니다”. It indicates that the coffee, which is your “object” is the objective of the verb “to drink/drink”.

-Subject particles “는, 은” is used when comparing or contrasting two nouns. For example, if you say “The bus is slow. However, the subway train is fast.” you would say in Korean “버스가 느립니다. 지하철은 빠릅니다.” Here, you can see that those particles mean “however”, which is a form of comparing the speed between the two types of transportation.

-The particle “에” is usually located after a place. It’s equivalent to the English words “to, from, in, or at, etc.” Technically speaking, it can be called a word you insert after a preposition, except the range of prepositions is less than English. An example of this particle in the sentence “The milk is in the shop.” would be: 우유가 가게에 있어요. Literally, this is “Milk shop is”. You can see that 에 is placed after the place, which is “shop”.

This particle is also used after a number word. It is similar to “per, and, a, or by”. The sentence: I read 20 pages per hour. We can easily tell that ‘per hour’ will be the phrase that has the particle after it because it is the “per” word in the sentence. In Korean, this sentence would be 한 시간에 20페이지를 읽습니다. Literally, this says: 1 hour per 20 pages read.

random phrases, amaze your friends:
갑지기 고구마가 먹고싶다.
kap-ja-ki ko-ku-ma-ga muk-go-ship-da
suddenly i want to eat sweet potatos.

우아 너 진짜 웃긴다. 농담인건 알지?
ooh-ah nuh jin-jjah ooht-kin-da. nong-dam-een-khun al-ji?
wow your really funny. you know its a joke right?

im really board as you can see. lol use it whenever you want.

안녕- 다음에 더 많은 것을 적을께
미안 아직도 이런 것을 못 읽으면. ㅋㅋㅋ
그냥 나 한테 이렇게 답장 해 주면 돼 -> 우아 너 진짜 웃긴다. 농담인건 알지?