Korean A1/Beginner - Lesson #1 - February 28th 2018
Disclaimer: Everything that will be posted here is taken from my Korean Beginner’s class. If you see any mistakes, please let me know. Enjoy!
Our teacher started the first class asking us a few questions.
How do you say “Korean” in Korean? A: 한글 (han-geul).
Who created the Korean language? A: 세종대왕 (se-jong-dae-wang), which means The Great King Se Jong.
How many vowels and consonants are there in Korean? A: Vowels - 21 Consonants - 19
How do you say “South Korea” in Korean? A: 대한민국 (dae-han-min-gug), which means something like The Great Republic of Korea or 한국 (han-gug).
And how do you say “North Korea” in Korean? A: 북한 (buk-han).
After this, she showed us the right ways to write in Korean:
You start writing from left to right, starting up and going downwards. You should use this order for reading as well.
On this day we learned 6 vowels and 4 consonants.
Note: I am using the romanizations that you will most often see out there on the internet.
아 - a (sounds like the a in cactus)
어 - eo (sounds like the o in off)
오 - o (sounds like the o in word)
우 - u/oo (sounds like the oo in school)
으 - eu (sounds like the e in site)
이 - i/ee (sounds like i in list)
Attention! When there is no consonant sound before a vowel, that vowel must be preceded by the consonant ㅇ which becomes silent. Ex.: 아니 (a-ni)
ㅁ - m (souns like the m in mother)
ㄴ - n (sounds like the n in note)
ㄹ - l/r (if this consonant is at the end of the syllable and is followed by either a consonant or nothing at all, it sounds like l; if it is followed by a vowel, it sounds very similar to a soft r but not quite like it. The most similar sound I have heard in English is of the double dd when you wadda fast.)
ㅇ - silent/ng (when this consonant is at the beginning of a syllable, it is silent. If it comes at the end of the syllable, it sounds like the ng in anger)
This vocab is very random and serves to practice some of the consonants and vowels we just learned.
어머 - expression of suprise
누나 - older sister (for boys)
아우 - younger brother (it is rarely used nowadays, only some of the eldest use it)
안녕히가세요 - goodbye, go in peace (listener is leaving)
안녕히계세요 - goodbye, stay in peace (listener is staying)
Note: If you see any mistake, please let me know!
Thank you and see you soon!
