How Korean letters pack into squares
Each square is one syllable. Learn sixteen letters, watch four squares being built, then take one apart again by finding the vowel first.
Korean lessons
Learn to read Korean.
We’ll take a square of Korean letters apart, read ten real words, and see how a sentence works.
Then you can try two short stories and see how much you understand.
13 core chapters · 4 optional references · Free, at your own pace
Starting from scratch
Start with the letters and how they pack into squares, then read ten real words before the full alphabet. The cards below let you try a greeting or look at a square first.
Start with the sounds →Try saying helloA first hello
A first hello
in Korean.
Start with hello, then say what something is. The pronunciation and English are there to help.
Try the lesson A reading-first approachSee how a square is built.
Korean letters pack into squares, one square to a syllable. See where each letter lands and how to take a square apart again.
See how the letters workChapter 1 of 17 · Explore the Korean path
Start here · Chapter 1 of 17
How this Korean path works
See how the Korean, the pronunciation and the English fit together, and try one square before anything else. The same approach carries through every chapter.
≈ 1 min of reading · Practise at your own pace
What’s in this chapter
- This path starts from no Korean and ends with a short story whose pronunciation and English begin hidden.
- Korean letters pack into square blocks; first you will see how to build one, then take one apart.
- Automatic romanizers get Korean wrong; every respelling here follows the sound, not the spelling.
- Books end sentences in 다
da; people speaking end them in 요 yo. The lesson teaches the book style and names the spoken one where a person is talking. - Stop after any checkpoint. The letter tables are for looking things up, not memorising.
This is short preparation for reading a book, not a grammar course. It teaches how a square of Korean letters comes apart into sounds, where the pieces of a sentence sit, and enough recurring words to get through a first page with help. You never have to type Korean or write a letter by hand.
forest
숲
sup
The large word is the spelling, sup the pronunciation guide, the English the meaning. At checkpoints, the last two stay hidden until you reveal them.
How to use a checkpoint
Look at the Korean first. Then reveal.
- 숲
One square, so one syllable. Three letters are packed into it.
Show answer +Hide answer −
숲sup “forest”. Say “sup”.
The chapters
What do you want to work on?
If you’re starting from scratch, follow the chapters in order. Otherwise, pick the bit you need. You can skip the reference pages and come back to them.
Why the spelling and the sound differ
Korean writes how a word is built, not how it is said. Learn the three changes that automatic romanizers get wrong, so a word you can spell is a word you can say.
Say hello, and say what something is
Say hello, and pick the right goodbye for who is walking away. Then learn the two Korean words for “is”: one glues onto a noun, the other says where something is.
Big, small, sad: describing words are verbs
A describing word is a verb: 크다 means “is big” and ends a sentence on its own. Learn eight of them, and the second shape each takes in front of a noun.
The verbs a story runs on, and how they show the past
Eleven verbs carry a short story. Learn the shape a book prints, the two endings that mark the past, and the order Korean writes a line of speech in.
Your first story, with the help beside it
Read On the Road one line at a time. The pronunciation and English stay visible while you follow who is going where, and who says which goodbye.
Come back to these chapters whenever you need them.All Korean chapters ↗