Lessons for English speakers
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.
13 core sections · ≈ 36 min + 4 optional lookups · ≈ 57 min with everything
14
Once upon a time, and the words that join sentences up
≈ 2 min
What you'll learn
- Every Korean story opens with the same formula: 옛날 옛적에yen-nal yet-jjeo-ge“once upon a time”.
- Korean does not usually join reasons with a word for “because”: an ending glues onto the verb of the reason — 아서 / 어서a-seo / eo-seo — and the reason comes first.
- So a sentence that opens with what feels like a fragment is the reason; the main clause is coming.
The words that hold a story together
| English | Korean | English | Korean |
|---|---|---|---|
| once upon a time | 옛날 옛적에yen-nal yet-jjeo-ge | one day | 어느 날eo-neu nal |
| and, and then | 그리고geu-ri-go | but | 하지만ha-ji-man |
| then, at that moment | 그때geu-ttae | with, and | 와 / 과wa / gwa |
옛날 옛적에 is “old days, old times” — spelled with ㅅ, said with an n, rule two. 와wa glues to a noun: 다라와da-ra-wa“with Dara”.
verb + 아서 / 어서 = because of that
배가 고프다bae-ga go-peu-da“is hungry”
배가 고파서bae-ga go-pa-seo“being hungry, so…”
the hunger idiom, which both readings use: literally “the stomach is hungry” — 배bae“stomach” carries the subject tag
작다jak-tta“is small”
작아서ja-ga-seo“being small, so…”
no separate word for “because”: the ending glues onto the verb of the reason
I 나는na-neun am going 간다gan-da because I am hungry 배가 고파서bae-ga go-pa-seo.
배가 고파서 나는 간다.
bae-ga go-pa-seo na-neun gan-da
English ends with the reason; Korean opens with it. When a sentence opens with what feels like a fragment, do not reread it — the main clause is coming.
Joined-up sentences
- 어느 날 여우가 왔다. 그리고 새를 보았다.
The second sentence has no subject of its own, so ask who the first was about.
Show answer +Hide answer −
eo-neu nal yeo-u-ga wat-tta. geu-ri-go sae-reul bo-at-tta — “One day a fox came. And it saw a bird.” - 배가 고파서 곰이 숲에 갔다.
The sentence opens with the reason.
Show answer +Hide answer −
bae-ga go-pa-seo go-mi su-pe gat-tta — “The bear went to the forest because it was hungry.”