Korean is written with an alphabet called Hangul (한글). It was created in the fifteenth century so that ordinary people could read and write, and it is deliberately logical: the letters are not random shapes you have to memorise one by one, they are built from a handful of forms that echo the shape of the mouth and tongue.
1. Fourteen basic consonants
These are the consonant letters you will see most often. The romanisation is a guide to the sound, not a perfect spelling — read the right-hand column instead of trusting the letters.
| Letter | Romanised | Sounds like |
|---|---|---|
| ㄱ | g / k | between the g in go and a soft k |
| ㄴ | n | n in no |
| ㄷ | d / t | between the d in do and a soft t |
| ㄹ | r / l | a light tap — between r and l |
| ㅁ | m | m in moon |
| ㅂ | b / p | between the b in boy and a soft p |
| ㅅ | s | s in sun |
| ㅇ | — / ng | silent at the start of a block; “ng” at the end |
| ㅈ | j | a soft j, like the j in jam |
| ㅊ | ch | ch in chair |
| ㅋ | k | k with a puff of air |
| ㅌ | t | t with a puff of air |
| ㅍ | p | p with a puff of air |
| ㅎ | h | h in hello |
There are also five doubled consonants — ㄲ, ㄸ, ㅃ, ㅆ, ㅉ — usually romanised kk, tt, pp, ss, jj. They are pronounced with more tension, not simply louder. And five aspirated letters (ㅋ, ㅌ, ㅍ, ㅊ, plus ㅎ) carry a puff of air.
The letter ㄹ is not English r and not English l. It is a quick tap of the tongue behind the top teeth — closer to the tt in an American “butter” than to either letter. Practice it slowly before trying to speed up.
2. Ten basic vowels
Vowels are made from simple strokes. Learn these ten and you can read most beginner words.
| Letter | Romanised | Approximate sound |
|---|---|---|
| ㅏ | a | a in father |
| ㅑ | ya | y + a |
| ㅓ | eo | between uh and aw |
| ㅕ | yeo | y + eo |
| ㅗ | o | o in more, with rounded lips |
| ㅛ | yo | y + o |
| ㅜ | u | oo in moon |
| ㅠ | yu | y + u |
| ㅡ | eu | tight lips, a sound between oo and uh |
| ㅣ | i | ee in see |
Two romanisations to stop trusting: eo is not “ee-oh”, and eu is not “ee-you”. If you pronounce 서울 as “see-oh-ool”, nobody will recognise it. Listen to the word, repeat it, and let the spelling support the sound — not the other way round.
3. How syllable blocks are built
Korean is written in square-ish blocks, one block per syllable. A block always contains a consonant and a vowel, and may contain a final consonant underneath.
한
ㅎ (h) + ㅏ (a) + ㄴ (n) = han
The first syllable of 한국 — Korea
Read the block top-left first, then the vowel, then the bottom. Layout changes with the vowel shape: a vertical vowel sits to the right of the consonant, a horizontal vowel sits underneath it.
- 가 — consonant ㄱ + vertical vowel ㅏ, side by side
- 고 — consonant ㄱ + horizontal vowel ㅗ, stacked
- 강 — the same block with a final consonant ㅇ underneath
When a syllable begins with a vowel sound, the silent ㅇ holds the place of the consonant. That is why 이 is simply “i”, and why 안 ends with an “n” sound from the same letter that was silent at the start.
4. The final consonant (batchim)
A consonant at the bottom of a block is called batchim. Korean does not release every final consonant cleanly; most reduce to one of seven sounds: ㄱ, ㄴ, ㄷ, ㄹ, ㅁ, ㅂ, ㅇ. This is why 밥 sounds like “bap” with a closed mouth rather than an exploded “p”.
You do not need to master this on day one. Learn it as you meet words, and let a tutor correct you — batchim is far easier to hear than to read about.
5. Six words to read now
Cover the romanisation, read the Hangul out loud, then check yourself.
| Hangul | Romanised | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 안녕 | annyeong | hello / peace (casual) |
| 감사 | gamsa | thanks |
| 서울 | seoul | Seoul |
| 한국 | hanguk | Korea |
| 물 | mul | water |
| 밥 | bap | rice / a meal |
A realistic practice plan
One afternoon is enough to understand how Hangul works. It is not enough to read fluently — that takes a week or two of short daily practice.
- Read the tables above out loud once.
- Write your name in Hangul. Approximate it; it does not have to be a legal transliteration.
- Label five objects around your home with sticky notes in Hangul.
- Each day, read one shop sign or one word from a song lyric before translating it.
Common trap: learning to recognise letters silently. Reading Korean aloud is a physical skill. If you only ever read with your eyes, the sounds stay in your head — and speaking is where most learners need help.
If you want to hear the difference between ㅓ and ㅗ, or have someone check your batchim, that is exactly what a live class is for. See the classes or try a sample lesson first.