Hangul is the Korean alphabet. It was invented by King Sejong during the Joseon Dynasty. It contains 19 consonants and 21 vowels. First, we’ll learn about 10 basic vowels.
-Vowels-
10 Basic vowels
ㅏ ㅑ ㅓ ㅕ ㅗ ㅛ ㅜ ㅠ ㅡ ㅣ
| ㅏ [ah] | ㅑ [yah] | ㅓ [uh] | ㅕ [yuh] | ㅗ [o] |
| ㅛ ‘yo’ | ㅜ [wo] | ㅠ [you] | ㅡ [eu] | ㅣ [ee] |
ㅓ, ㅕ, ㅡ are significant korean prounuciations and others are similar with vowels in English.
It’ll show you the pronunciation first, and then repeat after the audio.
Pronunciation ‘ ㅏ ‘
Pronunciation ‘ ㅑ ‘
Pronunciation ‘ ㅓ ‘
Audio makes double sounds of ㅓ.
It doesn’t sound like [o] or [eo]. Don’t maek your lips small and narrow like when you pronounce [o].
Here’s difference between [o] and ㅓ.
Pronunciation ‘ ㅕ ‘
Pronunciation ‘ ㅗ ‘
Pronunciation ‘ ㅛ ‘
Pronunciation ‘ ㅜ’
Pronunciation ‘ ㅠ ‘
Pronunciation ‘ ㅡ ‘
Here’s a tip for prounucing ‘ ㅡ ‘. Make awkward smile first. and then try to say [ah]. Don’t make any tention of your lips and tougue.
Pronunciation ‘ ㅣ ‘
Please repeat each vowels more than 10 times!
Basically, If there are two mini-bars (like ㅑ, ㅕ, ㅛ, ㅠ) in a vowel, they sounds like Y.
<Quiz Time>
Q1. Choose the right alphabet.
1 ㅏ 2 ㅓ 3 ㅡ 4 ㅣ
Q2. How do you prounce this alphabet? ‘ ㅕ ‘
A.
B.
C.
D.
–
Answers
Q1: 3.ㅡ
Q2: B.ㅕ