Lesson 1

1.    KOREAN LETTERS (한글)

The first step in learning a foreign language is knowing the letters used in a  country. Korean people use Korean letters to communicate, the letters are known as ‘hangeul’ (한글). Korean letters are divided into 4 subjects based on the writing method.

1.1 Basic Consonants (기본 자음)

The number of consonants in Korean is not as many as Latin letters, the amount is 8.

Image 1. Basic Consonants (기본 자음).

From the picture, we can see that there are four letters representing two different letters, the letters are ㄷ, ㄱ, ㅅ, andㄹ. The four letters have no specific reading rule, we just have to get used to listening to conversations in Korean so that we can understand how to pronounce  correctly.

1.2 Basic Vowels (기본 모음)

If there are basic consonants, there are basic vowels. Let's look at the Image 2 to find out the basic vowel letters.

Image 2. Basic Vowels (기본 모음)

1.3 How to Write a  Letter

How to write Korean letters can be divided based on the position of vowels. There are 6 types of writing in Korean Letters, this formula relates to the division of consonants and vowels based in Image 1 and Image 2. The purpose of the division of letters as described in the image  1 and 2 is to make it easier to memorize and understand the correct way of writing. The following examples are the 4 most basic types of writing Korean letters "한글":

1. Notice the numbers 1 and 3 in Image 3, the number is the sequence that will always be occupied by consonants.

2. Number 2 will always be occupied by vowels.

Image 3. Write "Hangeul"

The following is how to write the Korean letters "한글" which is presented in two different tables. In Table 1. the writing of syllables with 2 letters, it is called pattern 12. In Table 2. is writing syllables with 3 letters with pattern 123. The pattern presented in the two tables below is not the order presented in the Korean dictionary. The pattern presented in the table is only an illustration of true writing between horizontal vowels and vertical vowels. Because the level of difficulty in writing "Hangeul" is  only in consonants which are divided into two writing patterns.

Table 1. the writing of syllables with 2 letters

Vowels		Consonants
		ㅂ	ㄴ	ㅅ	ㅎ	ㄹ	ㅈ	ㄱ	ㅁ	ㄷ
horizontal	ㅏ	바	나	사	하	라	자	가	마	다
	ㅣ	비	니	시	히	리	지	기	미	디
	ㅓ	버	너	서	허	러	저	거	머	더
Vertical	ㅡ	브	느	스	흐	르	즈	그	므	드
	ㅜ	부	누	수	후	루	주	구	무	두
	ㅗ	보	노	소	호	로	조	고	모	도

Table 2. is writing syllables with 3 letters with pattern 123

consonants	Vowels
	Horizontal			Vertical
	ㅏ	ㅣ	ㅓ	ㅜ	ㅡ	ㅗ
ㅂ	밥	빕	법	붑	븝	봅
ㄷ	닫	딛	덛	둗	듣	돋
ㅈ	잦	짖	젖	줒	즞	좆
ㅅ	삿	싯	섯	숫	슷	솟
ㅎ	핳	힣	헣	훟	흫	홓
ㅁ	맘	밈	멈	뭄	믐	몸
ㄴ	난	닌	넌	눈	는	논
ㄱ	각	긱	걱	국	극	곡
ㄹ	랄	릴	럴	룰	를	롤

1.4 How to Pronounce Korean.

 Korean pronunciation and English are very different. The different pronunciation of Korean and English is very clear on pronunciation of vowels. Let see image 3 for details.

 

Image 4. How to Spell Korean Letters

1.5 Consonant Complex

This lesson has not ended in basic consonants and basic vowels, we will still continue to a more complicated level. The following are letters developed from basic consonants:

Table 3. Complex Complex.

Basic Consonants	Complex Consonants	Explanation
ㄷ	ㄸ (dd/tt)	The concept of changing consonants become more complex is the letter ㅂ,ㄷ, and ㄱlocated after ㄷ, thus causing the letter ㄷ  to spelled like “t” Example: 읻다 (idda) à 이따 (itta)
	ㅌ (th)	The concept of changing consonants become more complex is the letterㄷ + ㅎ are located next to each other. So that ㄷ is read thick and created a new letter, that is ㅌ. Example : 좋다 (johda) à 조타 (jotha) This letter is mostly used to write absorption words from foreign languages. Example : 텔레비전 (tellebijeon)
ㅂ	ㅃ (bb/pp)	The concept of changing consonants become more complex is the letter ㅂ,ㄷ, and ㄱlocated after ㅂ, thus causing the letter ㅂ  to spelled like “p” Example: 납부 (nabbu) à 나뿌 (nappu)
	ㅍ (ph)	The concept of changing consonants become more complex is the letterㄷ + ㅎ are located next to each other. So that ㄷ is read thick and created a new letter, that is ㅌ. Example : 입항 (ibhang) à 이팡 (iphang). This letter is mostly used to write absorption words from foreign languages. Example : 파인애플 (painaepeul)
ㅈ	ㅉ (jj)	The concept of changing consonants become more complex is the letter ㅂ,ㄷ, and ㄱlocated after ㅈ, thus causing the letter ㅈ to spelled like “jj” Example : 식중독 (sigjungdog) à 식쭝독 (sijjungdog)
	ㅊ (ch)	The concep of changing consonant become more complex is the letters ㅈ + ㅎ are combined, besides that the meeting between the letters ㅌ and 이 also makes the letter ㅈ have a thick sound so that it creates a new consonant ㅊ. Examples : 그렇지(geureohji) à 그러치 (geureochi) 같이 (gati) à가치 (gachi)
ㄱ	ㄲ (kk)	The concept of changing consonants become more complex is the letter ㅂ,ㄷ, and ㄱlocated after ㄱ, thus causing the letter ㄱ  to spelled like “k” Contoh : 끈적거리다 à 끈처꺼리다 (kkeunjeokkeorida)
	ㅋ (Kh)	The concept of changing consonants become more complex is the letterㄷ + ㅎ are located next to each other. So that ㄱ is read thick and created a new letter, that is ㅋ. Example : 협박하다 (hyeobbaghada) à 협바카다 (hyeobbakhada) This letter is mostly used to write absorption words from foreign languages. Example : 컴퓨터 (keompyuteo)
ㅅ	ㅆ	The concept of changing consonants become more complex is the letter ㅂ,ㄷ, ㄱ and ㅈlocated after ㅅ, thus causing the letter ㅅ to spelled like “t” Contoh : 목숨 (mogsum) à  모쑴 (mossum)

The letters developed from these basic consonants do not indicate a change in word meaning, because each word written in Korean has its own spelling or writing pattern that has been set in the Korean dictionary. The table only explains the history of the development of basic letters into complex letters. And not all words in Korean such as 폭동 is read or changed into complex letters such as the explanation above so that the writing or sound changes to 포똥, because both have different meanings. 폭동 means unrest and 포똥 means poultry. Once again, the complex consonants described in the table are the history of the creation of complex letters. So you don’t need to be confused how to read and write every word in Korean.

1.6 Complex Vowels

If there are complex consonant letters, vowels are also still being developed. This one vowel letter needs to be understood further because it has different sounds and different writing, so it must be examined carefully. The following is the development of vowels into more complex vowels:

Table 4. Complex Vowels

Basic Consonant	Change	Sounds	How to Pronounce
아 + 아	야	ya	Yard
오 + 아	와	wa	While
어 + 어	여	yeo	yolk
우 + 어	워	weo	Wonderful
우 + 우	유	yu	You
오 + 오	요	yo	Your
어 + 이	에	e	Egg
아 + 이	애	ae	Available
우 + 이	위	wi	Will
으 + 이	의	ye	all three letters have similar pronunciation.
여  + 이	예	ye
야  + 이	얘	yae
우 + 에	웨	we	Well When (both are very similar)
오 + 애	왜	wae

1.7 Patterns of Writing Words with 4 Composing Letters

Next, we will write a syllable using 4 letters. Let’s take a look at Image 5.

Image 5. Writing Syllables with 4 Letters.

1.8 Use of  “o”

After we know how to write syllables beginning with a consonant, the last part in this lesson we will learn how syllables are written beginning with vowels. Here is the examples:

Table 5. Writing Syllables begins with Vowels.  

two letters
이 : i	어 : eo	우 : u
아 : a	으 : eu	오 : o
three letters
안 : an	업 : eob	운 : un
입 : ib	음 : eum	옷 : ot

In the examples above, we can see that vowels cannot stand at the beginning of a word. This goes back to the principle of writing 1 2 (Image 3), where the order of 1 will always belong to the consonant and 2 will always belong to the vowel. Therefore, "ㅇ" will act as a substitute for consonants, without changing the pronunciation.

Besides being used for a substitute for the consonant at the beginning of the word, "ㅇ" also functions as a patent letter "ng" at the end of the syllable. Examples:

강  (kang): King                                 방 (bng) : room.

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INDONESIAN VERSION