How to Speak Korean
Learn Hangeul, the Korean alphabet., Learn to count., Memorize simple vocabulary., Learn some basic conversational phrases., Understand the forms of polite speech., Study basic grammar., Work on your pronunciation., Don't be discouraged!
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Learn Hangeul
The alphabet is a good place to start when you're learning to speak Korean, especially if you hope to progress to reading and writing later on.
Korean has a fairly simple alphabet, although it may seem strange to most English speakers at first because it is completely different than the Roman alphabet.
Hangeul was created during the Joseon Dynasty in
1443.
Hangeul has 24 letters, consisting of 14 consonants and 10 vowels.
However, if you include 16 diphthongs and double consonants, there are 40 letters in total.Korean also uses around 3,000 Chinese characters, or Hanja, to represent words of Chinese origin.
Unlike Japanese Kanji, Korean Hanja are used in more limited contexts like academic writing, religious (Buddhist) texts, dictionaries, newspaper headlines, classical and pre-WWII Korean literature, and family names.
In North Korea, the use of Hanja is almost non-existent. -
Step 2: the Korean alphabet.
Knowing how to count is an essential skill in any language.
Counting in Korean can be tricky, as Koreans use two different sets of cardinal numbers, depending on the situation:
Korean and Sino-Korean, which originated from Chinese and has some of its characters.Use the Korean form for numbers of items (between 1 and 99) and age, e.g. 2 children, 5 bottles of beer, 27 years old.
Here's how to count to ten in the Korean form:
One = 하나 pronounced "hana" Two = 둘 pronounced "dool" Three = 셋 pronounced "se(t)"(" t" is not pronounced.
However, make sure to close the sound completely-somewhere between a 'se' and a 'set') Four = 넷 pronounced "ne(t)" Five = 다섯 pronounced "da-seo(t)" Six = 여섯 pronounced "yeoh-seo(t)" Seven = 일곱 pronounced "il-gop" Eight = 여덟 pronounced "yeoh-deohlb" Nine = 아홉 pronounced "ahop" Ten = 열 pronounced "yeohl" Use the Sino-Korean form for dates, money, addresses, phone numbers, and numbers above
100.
Here's how to count to ten in Sino-Korean:
One = 일 pronounced "il" Two = 이 pronounced "ee" Three = 삼 pronounced "sam" Four = 사 pronounced "sa" Five = 오 pronounced "oh" Six = 육 pronounced "yuk" Seven = 칠 pronounced "chil" Eight = 팔 pronounced "pal" Nine = 구 pronounced "gu" ( Mostly It is "ku") Ten = 십 pronounced "ship"
The wider the vocabulary you have at your disposal, the easier it is to speak a language fluently.
Familiarize yourself with as many simple, everyday Korean words as possible
- you'll be surprised at how quickly they build up! When you hear a word in English, think about how you would say it in Korean.
If you don't know what it is, jot it down and look it up later.
It's handy to keep a little notebook on you at all times for this purpose.
Attach little Korean labels to items around your house, such as the mirror, the coffee table and the sugar bowl.
You'll see the words so often that you'll learn them without realizing it! It is important to learn a word or phrase from ‘Korean to English’ as well as ‘English to Korean.’ That way you will remember how to say it, not just recognize it when you hear it. , By learning the basics of polite conversation, you'll very quickly be able to interact with Korean-speakers on a simple level.
Try learning the words/phrases for:
Hello = 안녕 pronounced "anyeong" (in a casual way) and "anyeong-haseyo" in a formal way.
Yes = 네 pronounced "ne" or "un" No = 아니요 pronounced "ani" or "aniyo" Thank you = 감사합니다 pronounced "kam-sa-ham-nee-da" My name is... = 저는 ___ 입니다 pronounced "joneun ___ imnida" How are you? = 어떠십니까? pronounced "otto-shim-nikka" Pleased to meet you = 만나서 반가워요 pronounced "mannaso bangawo-yo" or "mannaso bangawo" Goodbye when other party is staying = 안녕히 계세요 pronounced "an-nyounghi kye-sayo" Goodbye when other party or both of you are leaving = 안녕히 가세요 pronounced "an-nyounghi ka-seyo"
It is important to learn the difference between the degrees of formality in Korean speech.
Korean differs from English in that verb endings change depending on the age and rank of the person being addressed, as well as the social setting.
It is important to understand how speech formality functions, in order to properly navigate polite speech.
There are three major types in the degrees of formality:
Informal
- Used to address people of the same age or younger, especially among close friends.
Polite
- Used to address people older than the speaker, and in formal social situations.
Honorific
- Used in very formal settings such as on the news or in the army.
Rarely used in normal speech., In order to speak any language correctly, it is necessary to study the grammar particular to that language.
There are several distinct differences between English grammar and Korean grammar, for example:
Korean almost always uses the subject
- object
- verb order, and the verb always comes at the end of the sentence.
In Korean, it is pretty common to omit the subject of a sentence when the subject being referred to is known by both the readers and the speakers.
The subject of the sentence may be inferred from the context or may have been referred to in an earlier sentence.In Korean, adjectives function like verbs in that they can be altered and may take on different forms to indicate the tense of a sentence., Korean pronunciation is vastly different from English, and it takes a lot of practice to be able to pronounce words correctly.
One of the major mistakes English speakers make is to assume that the pronunciation of Romanized Korean letters is identical to the same letter's pronunciation when speaking English.
Unfortunately for language learners, this is not the case.
Beginners will have to relearn the correct Korean pronunciation of Romanized letters.
In English, whenever a word ends in a consonant, the speaker always makes a little sound after saying that last letter.
It is very faint and difficult to hear for a person with a ‘non-Korean ear’ to hear.
For example, when an English speaker says “ship” there is a tiny sound of breath following the ‘p’ when their mouth opens.
In Korean, they do not have that final ‘breath’ sound, as they just keep their mouths closed., If you're serious about learning to speak Korean, keep at it
- the satisfaction you'll get from mastering a second language will far outweigh the difficulties you encounter along the way.
Learning a new language takes time and practice, it won't happen overnight. -
Step 3: Learn to count.
-
Step 4: Memorize simple vocabulary.
-
Step 5: Learn some basic conversational phrases.
-
Step 6: Understand the forms of polite speech.
-
Step 7: Study basic grammar.
-
Step 8: Work on your pronunciation.
-
Step 9: Don't be discouraged!
Detailed Guide
The alphabet is a good place to start when you're learning to speak Korean, especially if you hope to progress to reading and writing later on.
Korean has a fairly simple alphabet, although it may seem strange to most English speakers at first because it is completely different than the Roman alphabet.
Hangeul was created during the Joseon Dynasty in
1443.
Hangeul has 24 letters, consisting of 14 consonants and 10 vowels.
However, if you include 16 diphthongs and double consonants, there are 40 letters in total.Korean also uses around 3,000 Chinese characters, or Hanja, to represent words of Chinese origin.
Unlike Japanese Kanji, Korean Hanja are used in more limited contexts like academic writing, religious (Buddhist) texts, dictionaries, newspaper headlines, classical and pre-WWII Korean literature, and family names.
In North Korea, the use of Hanja is almost non-existent.
Knowing how to count is an essential skill in any language.
Counting in Korean can be tricky, as Koreans use two different sets of cardinal numbers, depending on the situation:
Korean and Sino-Korean, which originated from Chinese and has some of its characters.Use the Korean form for numbers of items (between 1 and 99) and age, e.g. 2 children, 5 bottles of beer, 27 years old.
Here's how to count to ten in the Korean form:
One = 하나 pronounced "hana" Two = 둘 pronounced "dool" Three = 셋 pronounced "se(t)"(" t" is not pronounced.
However, make sure to close the sound completely-somewhere between a 'se' and a 'set') Four = 넷 pronounced "ne(t)" Five = 다섯 pronounced "da-seo(t)" Six = 여섯 pronounced "yeoh-seo(t)" Seven = 일곱 pronounced "il-gop" Eight = 여덟 pronounced "yeoh-deohlb" Nine = 아홉 pronounced "ahop" Ten = 열 pronounced "yeohl" Use the Sino-Korean form for dates, money, addresses, phone numbers, and numbers above
100.
Here's how to count to ten in Sino-Korean:
One = 일 pronounced "il" Two = 이 pronounced "ee" Three = 삼 pronounced "sam" Four = 사 pronounced "sa" Five = 오 pronounced "oh" Six = 육 pronounced "yuk" Seven = 칠 pronounced "chil" Eight = 팔 pronounced "pal" Nine = 구 pronounced "gu" ( Mostly It is "ku") Ten = 십 pronounced "ship"
The wider the vocabulary you have at your disposal, the easier it is to speak a language fluently.
Familiarize yourself with as many simple, everyday Korean words as possible
- you'll be surprised at how quickly they build up! When you hear a word in English, think about how you would say it in Korean.
If you don't know what it is, jot it down and look it up later.
It's handy to keep a little notebook on you at all times for this purpose.
Attach little Korean labels to items around your house, such as the mirror, the coffee table and the sugar bowl.
You'll see the words so often that you'll learn them without realizing it! It is important to learn a word or phrase from ‘Korean to English’ as well as ‘English to Korean.’ That way you will remember how to say it, not just recognize it when you hear it. , By learning the basics of polite conversation, you'll very quickly be able to interact with Korean-speakers on a simple level.
Try learning the words/phrases for:
Hello = 안녕 pronounced "anyeong" (in a casual way) and "anyeong-haseyo" in a formal way.
Yes = 네 pronounced "ne" or "un" No = 아니요 pronounced "ani" or "aniyo" Thank you = 감사합니다 pronounced "kam-sa-ham-nee-da" My name is... = 저는 ___ 입니다 pronounced "joneun ___ imnida" How are you? = 어떠십니까? pronounced "otto-shim-nikka" Pleased to meet you = 만나서 반가워요 pronounced "mannaso bangawo-yo" or "mannaso bangawo" Goodbye when other party is staying = 안녕히 계세요 pronounced "an-nyounghi kye-sayo" Goodbye when other party or both of you are leaving = 안녕히 가세요 pronounced "an-nyounghi ka-seyo"
It is important to learn the difference between the degrees of formality in Korean speech.
Korean differs from English in that verb endings change depending on the age and rank of the person being addressed, as well as the social setting.
It is important to understand how speech formality functions, in order to properly navigate polite speech.
There are three major types in the degrees of formality:
Informal
- Used to address people of the same age or younger, especially among close friends.
Polite
- Used to address people older than the speaker, and in formal social situations.
Honorific
- Used in very formal settings such as on the news or in the army.
Rarely used in normal speech., In order to speak any language correctly, it is necessary to study the grammar particular to that language.
There are several distinct differences between English grammar and Korean grammar, for example:
Korean almost always uses the subject
- object
- verb order, and the verb always comes at the end of the sentence.
In Korean, it is pretty common to omit the subject of a sentence when the subject being referred to is known by both the readers and the speakers.
The subject of the sentence may be inferred from the context or may have been referred to in an earlier sentence.In Korean, adjectives function like verbs in that they can be altered and may take on different forms to indicate the tense of a sentence., Korean pronunciation is vastly different from English, and it takes a lot of practice to be able to pronounce words correctly.
One of the major mistakes English speakers make is to assume that the pronunciation of Romanized Korean letters is identical to the same letter's pronunciation when speaking English.
Unfortunately for language learners, this is not the case.
Beginners will have to relearn the correct Korean pronunciation of Romanized letters.
In English, whenever a word ends in a consonant, the speaker always makes a little sound after saying that last letter.
It is very faint and difficult to hear for a person with a ‘non-Korean ear’ to hear.
For example, when an English speaker says “ship” there is a tiny sound of breath following the ‘p’ when their mouth opens.
In Korean, they do not have that final ‘breath’ sound, as they just keep their mouths closed., If you're serious about learning to speak Korean, keep at it
- the satisfaction you'll get from mastering a second language will far outweigh the difficulties you encounter along the way.
Learning a new language takes time and practice, it won't happen overnight.
About the Author
Carolyn Kennedy
Creates helpful guides on pet care to inspire and educate readers.
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