3. How to read and write Korean: Han-geul (2)

Miami Sunrise by Alex De Carvalho licenced by
CC BY 2.0 
 

Hello, everyone!
The spring break began, so what are you guys planning to?
I'm going to visit New York and Miami for this spring break.
I'm so excited :D
Maybe someone is gonna go back to home and chill out. Then, how about spending time reading my posts and learning Korean?


Todays topic is vowel.

ㅏ ㅑ ㅓ ㅕ ㅗ ㅛ ㅜ ㅠ ㅡ ㅣ

those have only one sound each, and they can be combined to express complicated sounds.
Followings are their sounds and examples. (Their names are same as their sounds)

ㅏ[a]
 This pronounciation is 'a' of 'car' 
 ex) 사랑(love) : sarang

ㅑ[ya]
 Like this, you can just add 'y' sound when vowels get one more stroke compared to former one.
 ex) 양말(socks) : yangmal

ㅓ [ʌ /eo]
 It sounds like awe
 ex) 서울(Seoul) : seoul

ㅕ[yeo]
 ex) 여름(summer) : yeorum

ㅗ[o]
This has to be British 'O'. No exception. lol
ex) 공(ball) : gong

ㅛ [yo]
ex) 요리(cooking) : yori

ㅜ [wu]
same as 'u' or 'oo' sound. ('u' of put, 'oo' of 'cartoon')
ex) 우산(umbrella) : wusan


ㅠ [yu]
ex) 유리(glass): yuri

ㅡ [eu]
ex) 지은(my name★): Jieun

ㅣ[i]
ex) 이빨(tooth): ippal

From here, combinations of vowels are.

ㅐ(ㅏ+ㅣ)
[æ]
ex) 애기(baby) : aegi

ㅔ(ㅓ+ㅣ)
[e]
Actually, ㅐ and ㅔ sounds are so similar that nobody tries to distinguish them. Some people says 'ㅐ(ae)' sounds longer than 'ㅔ[e]', though.
ex) 게(crab): ge

ㅒ (ㅑ+ㅣ)
[yae]
Actually, there are only three words that include this vowel, so you can just remeber words below. They are all informal pronouns.
ex) 걔[he/she(when he/she is not here)] : gae
      얘[he/she(when he/she is here)] : yae
      쟤[he/she(when he/she is over there)] : jae

ㅖ (ㅕ+ㅣ)
[ye]
ex) 세계(world): segye
     
ㅘ (ㅗ+ㅏ)
[wa]
Imagine you are saying 'o' and 'a' sequentially.
ex) 과일(fruit): gwail

ㅙ (ㅗ+ㅐ)
[wæ]
This vowel actually sounds same as 'ㅚ', 'ㅞ', the next vowels, so nobody care about their differnce. Only thing you have to care about is to write right vowel depending on words.
ex) 왜?(why?): wae?

ㅚ (ㅗ+ㅣ)
[oi]
It's technically 'oi' sound, but it would be more practical to pronounce this and 'ㅙ', 'ㅞ' as 'ue' sound. Only news anchors pronounce it as 'oi'.
ex) 괴물(monster): guemul

ㅞ (ㅜ+ㅔ)
[ue]
ex) 궤도(track): guedo

ㅟ (ㅜ+ㅣ)
[ui]
ex) 귀(ears): gui

ㅢ (ㅡ+ㅣ)
[eui]
Pronounce 'ㅡ' and 'ㅣ' together really fast .
ex) 의사(doctor): euisa
 

Finally, we looked through all of the consonants and vowels of Korean!

Can you make syllables and pronounce them now? 

Try to pronounce 맥도날드 and guess what means. If you have right answer and leave comment, I would buy you a cup of coffee. Lol. 

Sadly, no video today, but I will return with something more interesting next week :)

Hopefully you guys have fantastic spring break !!!!