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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

The script

2 sections
4

What the spelling does not tell you

≈ 3 min
What you'll learn
  • Korean spelling writes how a word is built, not how it is said. Every respelling here follows the sound.
  • Only seven sounds ever close a syllable, and a consonant right after a closed syllable comes out tense: 있다it-tta“there is”.
  • Rule one: a closing consonant slides into a following square that starts with the silent ㅇ.
  • Rule two: before ㄴ or ㅁ, a closing k, t, p becomes ng, n, m.
  • Rule three: ㅎ fades between vowels and burns into a neighbouring consonant.
  • The tense kk / tt / pp and the vowel ㅓeo need your mouth, not a respelling — instructions below.

Korean spelling is conservative: it writes the word the way it is built, not the way it comes out of a mouth. Three rules cover nearly all of the difference, and every automatic romanizer gets them wrong.

First: only seven sounds ever close a syllable

숲
숲sup“forest”
the puffed ㅍ comes out as a plain p. The seven: k, n, t, l, m, p, ng — whatever letter is written on the floor. And a consonant right after a closed syllable goes tense and hard: 있다it-tta“there is”. You will see that -tta constantly in the respellings; the Korean spelling does not show it

Rule one: the bottom letter slides right

물이
물이mu-ri“the water”
the next square starts with the silent ㅇ, so it has no consonant of its own — the ㄹ slides into the empty seat
집에
집에ji-be“in the house”
Korean glues words to their endings constantly, so this fires in nearly every sentence — it is what makes letter-by-letter romanizers useless

Rule two: k becomes ng, t becomes n, p becomes m

먹는다
먹는다meong-neun-da“eats”
ㄴ and ㅁ send air through the nose, and a stopped consonant in front of them turns nasal to match
옛날
옛날yen-nal“the old days”
the first word of every Korean fairy tale
감사합니다
감사합니다gam-sa-ham-ni-da“thank you”
the formal 합니다체ham-ni-da-che style — named once, then set aside

Rule three: ㅎ fades, or sets fire to its neighbour

좋다
좋다jo-ta“is good”
h plus d makes one puffed t
미안해요
미안해요mi-a-nae-yo“sorry”
between vowels the ㅎ evaporates — and the n slides across, rule one at the same time

Say it, do not spell it

Work out how each is said before revealing. The words you already know.

  1. 숲에

    Rule one: the letter underneath 숲 has an empty seat waiting.

    Show answer +
    숲에su-pe“to the forest”. Not “sup-e”.
  2. 집이

    Rule one again.

    Show answer +
    집이ji-bi“the house”
  3. 옛날

    Rule two: a t cannot stand in front of an n.

    Show answer +
    옛날yen-nal“the old days”. Nobody says “yet-nal”.