Learn to read Korean in 15 minutes

[Czarownica]

I've just stumbled across this:

http://ryanestradadotcom.tumblr.com/post/20461267965/learn-to-read-korean-in-15-minutes

It looks pretty fun and actually helpful (it's suprisingly difficult to find a good hangul reading tutorial, let alone one that doesn't make it look like an impossible nightmare), I might try it later

[linguaholic]

Looks like a funny way to study the alphabet. I just started with Korean and I guess this can be of some help to me. Definitely gonna dig this. Thank you Czarownica 

[Czarownica]

Reporting from the battlefield: I can read hangul now! The comic I've posted is pretty useful (although the author simplified some readings, Korean doesn't sound exactly like that), but I've also found very helpful lessons here:

http://www.koreanwikiproject.com/wiki/index.php?title=Learn_hangeul

Talk To Me In Korean also has hangul lessons, but only two - they were supposed to make three more parts, but it never happened Too bad, because those two first videos were really helpful.

Also, it might be just my impression, but I think Korean sounds, just like Japanese sounds are more similar to some Polish sounds than to English sounds. The guy in one tutorial video made a big deal of how "ㅡ" is a special sound, because there's no sound like that in English and then he started to elaborate on how to put your lips and tongue to make this sound... and then I've heard it and realised that it sounds just like Polish "y".

...I guess I'll have to learn Korean now!

[linguaholic]

I think I am up for the challenge as well. Can you write Gangnam Style in Hangeul now ? :=))

[Czarownica]

Yes, actually, it's very easy! Well, almost, I made one mistake I've checked it with Google a while ago, though, and here's the correct version:

강 (gang) 남 (nam) 스(sy) 타 (ta) 일(ir)

I had problems with the first part, before I remembered that putting the circle in the bottom row makes the "ng" sound. I also had some doubts about this part: 일, but I assumed that it'll use ㄹ, because they don't really have l sound and I was right!

The part where I was wrong was 스, I didn't know that it's supposed to have ㅡ at the bottom and I put ㅇ there.. But putting a ㅇthere would add a "ng" sound, so in retrospect I must say I've been pretty stupid

[Netra]

Hey, that looks neat! I think I'm gonna give it a try. Thanks for sharing!

[BWL]

it certainly seems plausible, the Korean alphabet unlike the neighboring Chinese and Japanese writing systems, is extremely scientific and systematic and can be picked up in a matter if hours! Better than the years and years it takes to learn kanji / hanzi!

[Jellyfish]

I don't know of this works out but I guess I could try it. Never was eager to learn Korean but well.. women look good there so it might have some positive effects in the future.

[Czarownica]

OK, everybody, have some more resources!

As I've said, Talk To Me in Korean made two lovely videos for people learning hangul... Unfortunately, there were supposed to be three more videos that never got made, so you won't be able to learn entire hangul from those videos. Still, they are good, so check them out:

And here are some written lessons - no videos, but they do have a lot of audio files:

http://www.koreanwikiproject.com/wiki/index.php?title=Learn_hangeul

[linguaholic]

Yes, actually, it's very easy! Well, almost, I made one mistake I've checked it with Google a while ago, though, and here's the correct version:

강 (gang) 남 (nam) 스(sy) 타 (ta) 일(ir)

awesome Czarownica! I might go on a holiday in Korea in January, until then I will definitely need to be able to write Hangeul effortlessly Your post really inspired me.

[mh57]

Very interesting share. I'll have to look it over after work. Thanks!

[GetFresh]

Thanks for the link. I checked it out and it looks very interesting. It's not one of those boring straight up texts that we always see. Instead, this has pictures and various colors that look appealing to our eyes. I'm definitely going to try this out.

[BWL]

Whoever invented hangul (the historians say that it was King Sejong back in 1443) was a genius! The writing system is more systematic and logical than English and French, but does not require the hours and hours and hours of memorizing like Chinese hanzi.

I believed the original blueprints for the design of the alphabet which were written way back in the 15th century were discovered in the 1940s. They explained how the very shapes of the letters represent the tongue, lip and teeth positions when pronouncing the letters, so they served as a mnemonic aid as well. All this makes learning hangul much easier than other writing systems, so I understand why you can claim to learn to read Korean in 15 minutes! It's due to the logical and efficient structure of hangul rather than any special course!

[Meera]

Thanks for the link, Czarownica, it seems really helpful. I always thought Hangul was beautiful and I have always wanted to learn Korean.

[Jellyfish]

So. has someone tried this in the meantime and can make some report about it? Would not say that Korean is the language I definitvely have to learn now but it would be an interesting experiment.

[rgaz83]

Although I have a book on Korean around here somewhere, this method looks infinitely easier than what ever was used in the book. Actually, I'm not sure that the beginner book properly taught sounds at all, which is silly.

Thinking about it, I'd have to dig out the book - it may have needed a companion book/tape or something.

[Jellyfish]

I wonder why there are so many who want to learn that language. Is this because of some current trend or has it maybe something to do with the regions some of you come from?

[rgaz83]

I wonder why there are so many who want to learn that language. Is this because of some current trend or has it maybe something to do with the regions some of you come from?

I'm wondering if it's because it's Asian (and thus exotic to half the world) and also has an easy alphabet. You can't really say the same about Japanese and Chinese (though Japanese is probably more sensible to westerners).

Or it could just be because of Gangam Style.

[Miya]

I wonder why there are so many who want to learn that language. Is this because of some current trend or has it maybe something to do with the regions some of you come from?

It's probably due to the Kpop boom. Where I'm from, most people only want to learn Korean so they can watch and understand their favorite Korean drama.

Once the Kpop boom is over, the number of people who want to learn Korean should decrease (imo at least).

[Pink Glitter]

I've just stumbled across this:

http://ryanestradadotcom.tumblr.com/post/20461267965/learn-to-read-korean-in-15-minutes

It looks pretty fun and actually helpful (it's suprisingly difficult to find a good hangul reading tutorial, let alone one that doesn't make it look like an impossible nightmare), I might try it later

You have no idea how much i appreciate you're sharing this link. I do  pretty good job pick you the actual speaking of the language ,but when it comes to reading and writing hangu I am lost. This looks like it will be a great help.

[xxxxxx]

안녕 하세요!  (Annyeong haseyo!)... Hello!....Yes it is true the videos of "Talk to me in Korean" are a wonderful source to learn Hangeul. I also used their videos together with my studies here in Korea. Learning Korean language is not that easy and here in their country if you a spouse of a Korean you have to pass all the levels of their language if you will be living in their country for a long time. And you should learn seriously but once you know how to conjugate their words already then it will be easy for you to construct sentences and at the same time to have a conversations with them..Right now I may say that I learned halfway and thanks to my husband for also being there as my my actual teacher when it comes to the pronunciation of words and it really helped me a lot. 안녕히 계세요! (Annyeonghi kyeseyo!)...Good bye!

[elaineeramos]

I've just stumbled across this:

http://ryanestradadotcom.tumblr.com/post/20461267965/learn-to-read-korean-in-15-minutes

It looks pretty fun and actually helpful (it's suprisingly difficult to find a good hangul reading tutorial, let alone one that doesn't make it look like an impossible nightmare), I might try it later

Thank you for this link!

It seems to be an easy way to learn Hangeul. Also, it is in comic form, which is very entertaining. Who would have thought learning Hangeul will only take a couple of comic strip panels. Now, I will just memorize the characters.

[chigreyofthenorns]

Thanks for sharing this! I can read Hangul easily, and I learned how by watching videos on YouTube and enrolling in a Korean class here in the Philippines. My only problem is that even if I can read, I don't understand what I am saying. I'm worried that I might read something in Korean and find out that the meaning is bad. Hahaha.

Anyway, thanks for sharing again! 고마워 

[CeejayMode]

~delete~

[LearninKorean]

Thanks for linking to the TTMIK videos.  I have a ton of their audio podcasts downloaded to my phone to listen to when I'm out and about, but I always forget about all of the other great resources they have.