Learn to read Korean
A short, active path into reading Korean: take a syllable block apart, decode ten real words before the full alphabet, learn the sound changes automatic romanizers get wrong, and read a small story before opening your first book.
A new reading: try it before revealing help
- The pronunciation and the English begin hidden. Aim for the scene, not a perfect translation.
- The narration is in the past; the speech inside the quotation marks is not, and wears 요.
- 우리 집u-ri jip is “our house” and means “my house” — Korean says “we” where English says “my”.
- The last line is the moral, and it does not announce itself as one.
Every word here is a word you have met — the animals are Tika the bird and Dara the fox. Speech just wears spoken clothes: 슬프다seul-peu-da“is sad” turns up as 슬퍼요seul-peo-yo.
Tika and the tree
Read each line aloud, say what you think happened, then reveal.
- 옛날 옛적에 숲에 큰 나무가 있었다. 그 나무에 작은 새가 살았다.
The opening formula — and 그 is doing the job of “the”.
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yen-nal yet-jjeo-ge su-pe keun na-mu-ga i-sseot-tta. geu na-mu-e ja-geun sae-ga sa-rat-tta — “Once upon a time there was a big tree in the forest. A small bird lived in that tree.” - 새 이름은 티카였다. 티카는 노란 새였다.
The glued is-word, twice, in the past.
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sae i-reu-meun ti-ka-yeot-tta. ti-ka-neun no-ran sae-yeot-tta — “The bird’s name was Tika. Tika was a yellow bird.” - 어느 날 바람이 불었다. 그리고 큰 나무가 넘어졌다. 티카는 슬펐다.
바람ba-ram is the wind — and every verb here is in the past.
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eo-neu nal ba-ra-mi bu-reot-tta. geu-ri-go keun na-mu-ga neo-meo-jeot-tta. ti-ka-neun seul-peot-tta — “One day the wind blew. And the big tree fell over. Tika was sad.” - 그때 여우 다라가 티카를 보았다. “왜 슬퍼요?” 하고 다라가 물었다.
The quote is spoken to a person, so it wears 요.
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geu-ttae yeo-u da-ra-ga ti-ka-reul bo-at-tta. wae seul-peo-yo, ha-go da-ra-ga mu-reot-tta — “Then Dara the fox saw Tika. ‘Why are you sad?’ asked Dara.” - “내 나무가 넘어졌어요.” 하고 티카가 대답했다. 다라가 말했다. “우리 집에 가요. 내 집은 작아요. 하지만 좋은 집이에요.”
The spoken past inside the quote, the book past outside. 우리 says “our” and means “my”.
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nae na-mu-ga neo-meo-jeo-sseo-yo, ha-go ti-ka-ga dae-da-paet-tta. da-ra-ga mal-haet-tta. u-ri ji-be ga-yo. nae ji-beun ja-ga-yo. ha-ji-man jo-eun ji-bi-e-yo — “‘My tree fell over,’ answered Tika. Dara said: ‘Come to my house. My house is small. But it is a good house.’” - 그리고 티카는 다라와 갔다. 작은 친구가 좋은 친구다.
The second sentence is the moral, and it does not say so.
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geu-ri-go ti-ka-neun da-ra-wa gat-tta. ja-geun chin-gu-ga jo-eun chin-gu-da — “And Tika went with Dara. A small friend is a good friend.”