How to read and learn Korean Alphabet (hangul) in 10 minutes for beginners #1, by Yena | Your Korean Teacher on YouTube. 10 min 36 s.
- Video length
- 10 min 36 s
- Time to do it
- 10 minutes
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Steps
- 8
What you need
Steps
Write the 8 basic vowels across the top of a page: ㅏ, ㅑ, ㅓ, ㅕ, ㅜ, ㅠ, ㅡ, ㅣ. Copy each one by hand so your eye learns the shape.
Learn them in pairs. Adding a second short stroke gives the y sound: ㅏ becomes ㅑ, ㅓ becomes ㅕ, ㅜ becomes ㅠ.
Say each sound out loud. ㅏ is a as in father, ㅓ sits between uh and aw, ㅜ is oo, ㅡ is a relaxed eu, and ㅣ is ee.
Add the four e vowels: ㅐ, ㅒ, ㅔ, ㅖ. In modern Korean ㅐ and ㅔ sound almost the same, so do not strain to hear a difference.
Build the compound vowels by gluing two letters together. ㅗ plus ㅏ makes ㅘ, and ㅜ plus ㅓ makes ㅝ.
Finish the set with ㅙ, ㅚ, ㅞ, ㅟ and ㅢ. Read each one as the sum of its parts before you say it as a single sound.
Write every vowel five times in your notebook while saying it. The hand movement helps the shape stick.
Cover the romanization and read the symbols alone. Then point at random vowels and say them without checking the chart.
Tips and common mistakes
Drop romanization as soon as you can. It slows you down and hides sounds English does not have.
Do not worry about telling ㅐ and ㅔ apart. Most younger Korean speakers pronounce them the same.
Ten minutes a day beats one long session. Review the vowel chart before you start each new lesson.
Say the sounds aloud from the first minute. Silent reading makes the vowels much harder to remember.
Questions
How long does it take to learn the Korean vowels?
Most beginners can recognise and read all 21 vowels after one short lesson and a few days of review. Writing them by hand speeds this up.
Do I need to learn the consonants too?
Yes, eventually. Vowels alone cannot make words, so move on to the basic consonants next and then practise reading simple syllables.
Why do some vowels sound the same to me?
Korean has sounds that English does not, such as ㅓ and ㅡ, so your ear needs time. Listen to native speakers and repeat, and the differences will become clearer.
This guide was drafted from the video's details and general task knowledge. It has not been checked against the full video. Check the video and relevant product instructions before following a procedure. Report a correction.
