How to Read Korean Characters

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How to Read Korean Characters

Updated October 18, 2012
5 minute read

Learning Hanggeul is like a walk in the park. In a lot of ways it is easier to learn compared to other languages, but it takes some time to master the meanings of each word. Though like the old adage, "before learning how to run, you need to learn how to crawl and then walk".

So here's how to learn Hanggeul easily first by reading. 

This is the complete chart of Hanggeul for each set (vowels and consonants)

 

                       "G/K" sound*

                       "N" sound

                       "D/T" sound*

                       "R/L" sound*

                       "M" sound

                       "B" sound

                       "S/T" sound*

                       "Vowel/NG" sound

                       "J" sound

                       "Ch" sound

                       "K" sound

                      "T" sound

                       "P" sound

                       "H" sound 

                       "A" sound 

                       "YA" sound 

                       "EO" sound 

                       "YEO" sound 

                       "OH" sound 

                       "YOH" sound 

                       "OO" sound 

                       "YOO" sound 

                       "EU" sound 

                       "II" sound 

* Notes: The following sounds with asterisks can be changed from the former to the latter depending on the placement of the said letter, since the korean writing structure has like three to four letters placeable in one syllable and all. Usually the dominant sound is the former, and that is usually placed on the top of the syllabical bracket, other than that when the consonant is placed at the bottom, it creates an altered sound that comes in the latter letters.

Here are some examples of how Korean syllables can be formed

Clearly words like Hello can be formed like this... "안녕�세요"

So now, you can grab a dictionary and learn how to start reading out Hanggeul.