Basic Characters
The Korean alphabet, unlike the Chinese and Japanese alphabet system, is not extremely complex. The basics can therefore be learned in a matter of hours, though mastery will obviously take significant practice. Much like English, Korean requires accurate spacing of fully formed words when they are placed within a sentence. In English spacing can mean the difference between "nowhere" and "now here"; the same can be said for Korean. While you look through the lesson you may notice that the Hangul consonant and vowel pronunciations do not completely match that of the English language, and making the correct choice in the pronunciation of a word can sometimes be one of the most difficult challenges for an English person to master.
Consonants: There are 14 consonants and 5 double consonants. The consonants are listed in the picture below. The double consonants are made up of 5 of the individual doubling of these 5 consonants: ㅂ,ㅈ,ㄷ,ㄱ,ㅅ. When these 5 consonants are doubled they appear as such: ㅃ, ㅉ, ㄸ, ㄲ, ㅆ.
Vowels: There are 10 main vowels and 11 complex vowels. Don't be to scared by the number of complex vowels; many of the vowels can be easily learned after you are familiar with basic vowels. The complex vowels, unlike the consonants, are not simply the same thing doubled over. The complex vowels consist of a combination of two basic vowels to create a new formation. For example: ㅐ, ㅔ, ㅒ, ㅖ, etc.
**PLEASE NOTE**
EACH SYLLABLE IS MADE OF THE BASIC/COMPLEX CHARACTERS IN THE PICTURES.
The "ㅇ"makes a "ng" sound when placed at the end of the syllable (for example: 강 is pronounced "kang") but is silent when used in the beginning of the syllable (for example: 안 is pronounced "ahn"). This will be mentioned in greater detail further in the lessons.
Consonants: There are 14 consonants and 5 double consonants. The consonants are listed in the picture below. The double consonants are made up of 5 of the individual doubling of these 5 consonants: ㅂ,ㅈ,ㄷ,ㄱ,ㅅ. When these 5 consonants are doubled they appear as such: ㅃ, ㅉ, ㄸ, ㄲ, ㅆ.
Vowels: There are 10 main vowels and 11 complex vowels. Don't be to scared by the number of complex vowels; many of the vowels can be easily learned after you are familiar with basic vowels. The complex vowels, unlike the consonants, are not simply the same thing doubled over. The complex vowels consist of a combination of two basic vowels to create a new formation. For example: ㅐ, ㅔ, ㅒ, ㅖ, etc.
**PLEASE NOTE**
EACH SYLLABLE IS MADE OF THE BASIC/COMPLEX CHARACTERS IN THE PICTURES.
The "ㅇ"makes a "ng" sound when placed at the end of the syllable (for example: 강 is pronounced "kang") but is silent when used in the beginning of the syllable (for example: 안 is pronounced "ahn"). This will be mentioned in greater detail further in the lessons.