Welcome to Simply Korea 101!
If you are starting to learn Korean, the first thing you need to understand is Hangul (한글), the Korean writing system.
The good news is that Hangul is much more systematic than it may look at first. You don’t need to memorize thousands of characters. Once you understand how Hangul works, you can begin reading Korean words step by step.
What Is Hangul?
Hangul (한글) is the writing system used to write the Korean language.
Hangul was created during the reign of King Sejong and was officially presented in 1446 with Hunminjeongeum, a document explaining the new writing system.
Unlike Chinese characters, Hangul is not a system where each character represents a whole word or idea. Hangul is a phonemic writing system, meaning its letters represent sounds.
How Is Hangul Organized?
The modern Korean alphabet has 24 basic letters:
14 consonants + 10 vowels
That’s the first thing you should remember!
Consonants — 자음
ㄱ ㄴ ㄷ ㄹ ㅁ ㅂ ㅅ ㅇ ㅈ ㅊ ㅋ ㅌ ㅍ ㅎ
Vowels — 모음
ㅏ ㅑ ㅓ ㅕ ㅗ ㅛ ㅜ ㅠ ㅡ ㅣ
Consonants + Vowels = Korean Syllables
This is one of the most important things to understand about Hangul.
Korean letters are usually grouped together into syllable blocks.
For example:
ㄱ + ㅏ = 가
ㄴ + ㅏ = 나
ㄷ + ㅏ = 다
Instead of writing:
ㄱㅏ ㄴㅏ ㄷㅏ
Korean writes them as:
가 나 다
Why Does Hangul Look Like a Square?
At first, Korean words may look like little squares or blocks.
But each block is actually made up of individual letters.
For example:
한
This one syllable is made from:
ㅎ + ㅏ + ㄴ = 한
Another example:
국
ㄱ + ㅜ + ㄱ = 국
So:
한국
is made from:
한 + 국
한국 = Korea
Hangul Has a Clever Design
One fascinating feature of Hangul is that some consonant shapes were designed based on the shape or position of the speech organs used to pronounce them.
For example:
ㄴ represents the shape of the tongue touching the upper gum area.
ㅁ represents the shape of the lips.
ㅅ represents the shape of the teeth.
ㅇ was designed based on the shape of the throat.
This is one reason Hangul is considered a remarkably systematic writing system.
The Basic Structure of a Korean Syllable
A Korean syllable can contain:
Initial consonant + vowel + optional final consonant
For example:
가
ㄱ + ㅏ
한
ㅎ + ㅏ + ㄴ
밥
ㅂ + ㅏ + ㅂ
The final consonant at the bottom is called Batchim (받침).
We will learn about Batchim in a later lesson.
Hangul Is Easier Than It Looks
You don’t need to learn everything at once.
Start with:
1. Basic consonants
2. Basic vowels
3. Syllable blocks
4. Batchim
Once you understand these four things, you can start reading simple Korean words.
✏️ Your First Korean Reading Practice
Try reading these:
가 — ga
→ 가
나 — na
→ 나
다 — da
→ 다
한 — han
→ 한
국 — guk
→ 국
And finally:
한국 — Hanguk
→ Korea — 한국
Congratulations! 🎉
You have just started learning how to read Korean.
Download the Korean Audio File
Next Lesson
The 14 Basic Korean Consonants: ㄱ ㄴ ㄷ ㄹ…
In the next lesson, we’ll learn each Korean consonant, its name, pronunciation, and an easy way to remember it.
Let’s discover Korea, one word, one dish, and one story at a time.
— Ayla