Korean Lesson Notes 

 

 

1. Consonants  

 

ㄱ    [g]                 gloves

     ㄲ    [que]              queue (strong voiceless sound of ㄱ)

ㅋ    [k]                 cake

 

 

      ㄴ    [n]                 nice

      

 

ㄷ    [d]                 design

ㄸ    [th, dd]           think, thank (pronounce without sticking out the tongue)

ㅌ    [t]                  talent

 

 

ㄹ    [라(r), 갈(l)]       Ramen, love

 

ㅁ    [m]                mother

 

ㅂ    [b]                 boy

ㅃ    [bb]               the mixed sound of ㅂ [b] and ㅍ [p]

ㅍ    [p]                 pie (Korean doesn’t have f sound)

 

 

ㅅ    [s]                 street

ㅆ    [S]                            strong voiceless sound of ㅅ

 

 

ㅇ    [아ϕ (silent), 강 η (ng)]  aunt,  young

 

 

ㅈ    [j]                         job

ㅉ    [jj/tzh]                    the mixed sound of ㅈ [j] and ㅊ [ch]

ㅊ    [ch]                      church

 

 

ㅎ    [h]                        house

 

 

*** Korean doesn’t have the [f] [v] [z] [x] and [th] sounds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2) Vowels

     

        ♪Listen to the alphabet at www.icanspeakkorean.com.

 

 

ㅏ    [a]                 palm

 

ㅑ    [ya]                yacht

 

 

ㅓ    [uh, eo]          a cat

 

ㅕ    [yuh, yeo]        yawn

 

 

ㅗ    [o]                 oil

 

ㅛ    [yo]                yo-yo

 

 

ㅜ    [u]                 cookie

   

ㅠ    [yu]                you

 

 

ㅡ    [eu]               written

 

 

ㅣ    [i]                  feel

 

 

ㅐ    [ae]                command

 

ㅔ    [e]                 commend

 

 

ㅒ    [yae]              yay

 

ㅖ    [ye]                yes

 

 

ㅘ   [wa]                           combination of  ㅗ + ㅏ

pronounce ㅗ +ㅏat the same time

 

 

ㅟ   [wi]                           combination of  ㅜ + ㅣ

pronounce ㅜ + ㅣat the same time

 

 

ㅝ   [weo]                                    war

combination of  ㅜ + ㅓ

pronounce ㅜ + ㅓat the same time

 

 

ㅚ   [wae]                                    wedding

combination of ㅗ + ㅣ

*but it is pronounced as [wae]

 

 

ㅙ   [wae]                                    wedding

                   combination of  ㅗ + ㅐ

pronounce ㅗ + ㅐat the same time

           

 

ㅞ   [wae]                        wedding

                                    combination of  ㅜ + ㅔ

pronounce ㅜ + ㅔat the same time

 

 

ㅢ   [eui]                           combination of  ㅡ + ㅣ

pronounce ㅡ + ㅣat the same time

 

                      Pronunciation

 

• ㅐ[command] = ㅔ[commend] are pronounced almost the same.

 

• ㅒ[yay] =ㅖ[yes] are pronounced almost the same.

 

• ㅚ = ㅙ = ㅞ [wedding] are pronounced the same.

 

 

Let’s practice the consonants

Write the consonants five times in the table

ㄱ [g]
ㄲ [que]
ㅋ [k]
ㄴ [n]
ㄷ [d]
ㄸ [dd]
ㅌ [t]
ㄹ [r/l]
ㅁ [m]
ㅂ [b]
ㅃ [bb]
ㅍ [p]
ㅅ [s]
ㅆ [S]
ㅇ [ϕ/η]
ㅈ [j]
ㅉ [jj/tzh]
ㅊ [ch]
ㅎ [h]

Let’s practice the vowels

Write the vowles five times in the table

ㅏ[a]
ㅑ[ya]
ㅓ[eo]
ㅕ[yeo]
ㅗ[o]
ㅛ[yo]
ㅜ[u]
ㅠ[you]
ㅡ[eu]
ㅣ[i]
ㅐ[ae]
ㅔ[e]
ㅒ[yae]
ㅖ[ye]
ㅘ[wa]
ㅟ[wi]
ㅝ[war]
ㅚ[wae]
ㅙ[wae]
ㅞ[wae]
ㅢ[eui]

The Position of Consonants and Vowels

 

Vowels and consonants can’t stand alone and have to be combined. Consonants always come first.

 

 

 

1) CV combination (Basic form)

A CV combination is the most basic composition consisting of a consonant and a vowel. The position of a consonant depends on the vowel used. If a vowel has a vertical shape, a consonant is situated on the left side of the vowel. If a vowel has a horizontal shape, a consonant is situated above the vowel.

 

• Vowels: Vertical shape            ② Vowels: Horizontal shape

                                 

             baby                          milk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let’s practice the CV combination form

Write the CV combination form five times in the table

가[ga]
야[ya]
너[neo]
혀[hyeo]
소[so]
요[dyo]
무[mu]
유[yu]
그[geu]
비[bi]
개[gae]
네[ne]
얘[yae]
예[ye]
와[wa]
귀[gwi]
뭐[mwar]
외[wae]
왜[wae]
훼[hwae]
의[eui]