There are 3 more videos of this kind. These will can be found in the premium learning center. Be sure to tell us what you think!

For those of you that already know Hangul:

How long did it take you to learn Hangul?
Was it easy? Hard?

thanks for your feeedback matthew The other 3 videos are already done. We just need to put a few finishing touches. They will be up on the site most likely by the end of the week

Hangul was the first thing I learned when I started with Korean. I bought a book called “Your first 100 words in Korean” it was very helpful….now it comes with a CD I think so it might be even more so now. It really didn’t take long at all, I was very happy with that.

You know, kanji help a lot while reading any random Japanese text - and you can get a general meaning of unknown compounds too!

Pity that nowadays hanja aren’t used that much in Korean as well .

i learned hangul when I was a kid, so I don’t really remember if it was hard or easy. But I do remember back in junior high school. A friend and I were bored in class. So i taught him how to read Hangul…. it literally took 1 period!

Back in New York, I always go to noraebang (karaoke) with my friends. I usually go with a lot of Koreans, but there are also a lot of non-Koreans as well. And all my non-Korean friends can read along at the noraebang when we’re singing Korean songs.

I’m 16 years old and 1/4 Korean and I’ve been wanting to learn Korean to understand part of my heritage. I was having problems understanding certain parts and thinking of giving up when I came across your site. Thank you Seol, Hyunwoo, and Keith! You guys are doing a great job!

P.S. To all of you who are having problems learning Hangul, don’t give up! It’s simple! It’s like working with the English alphabet: one sound for each symbol.

Matthew(매튜), Jimmy(지미), John(존), Jisho(지쇼), Steve(스티브), 지혜, Max(맥스) //

화이팅 to everyone, and thank you for all your support for KoreanClass101.com and your enthusiasm about learning Korean!! It really makes everyone working behind the scenes feel good about the work!!

Keith and Seol are doing a great job as you guys all know, and we’re doing our best to make this podcast really the best ever on the net, so don’t give up, and keep up your efforts!! And help us spread the word!!

코리안클래스101 화이팅!!!

I had a bizarre introduction to reading and writing hangeul. When I was thinking of coming to Korea to teach English, I was given the Korean Tourism Organization’s travel guide by a recruiter at a job fair. It included a basic explanation of hangeul. Being the language dork that I am, I noticed that I could read the place-names in the guide using the basic hangeul reading chart they gave. And that’s how I first learned to read hangeul!

I’m interested in how some people say it’s really easy to learn to read and write hangeul (”I did it in one afternoon!”), while others struggle for weeks to get the basics (”All the vowels look the same!”). While it is an intuitive language to read compared to some others, there are many little tricks along the way, from the beginner level (the differences between ㅅ, ㅈ, and ㅊ), to the more advanced levels (when ㅅgets read as a “t” sound, and when ㅂ gets read as an “m” sound).

I’m convinced it’s some quirk in our minds that makes the difference. I consider myself a language person, yet I had some sort of learning block whenever I would try to read ㄱ and ㄴ. I would constantly mix up their sounds, just like I often would with ㅗand ㅜ.

Good luck to everyone learning hangeul. It really is a cool writing system!

hmmm.. I guess when everyone says “Hangul is easy” I think they’re referring to the basics. It seems like everyone is having at least a little bit of trouble with phonetic changes. But I’m telling you folks!! When you start to read hangul at a fast pace, the phonetic changes will come naturally.

입니다 (ibnida) 3x fast = 임니다 (imnida)
같이 (gati) 3x fast = 기치 (gachi)

And please don’t forget to enter our “Hangul Day contest!” Last day is coming up soon!!

Hangul is so easy! I learned it like in an hour.

But I’m still confused with some of the sounds of some letters that are soooo simlilar, so i hope you guys explain those .

Here they are with some examples:

The Plain, Tense, and Aspirated Consonats

ㄱ, ㅋ, ㄲ
개, 깨
공, 콩

ㄷ, ㅌ, ㄸ
달, 탈, 딸

ㅂ, ㅍ, ㅃ
불, 풀, 뿔
발, 팔, 빨래

ㅅ, ㅆ
사다, 싸다

ㅈ, ㅊ, ㅉ
자다, 차다, 짜다

Please clarify this.

I really need help on this, ’cause i don’t know how to distiguish those words.

Jacqueline,

The way I understand it, they are very similar sounds. From speaking to my Korean co-workers, I understand that context plays a huge role in understanding what someone else says. So while it is important to understand the pronunciation difference between, say, 개 (dog) and 게 (crab), context is really important there. My co-workers told me that if the context isn’t clear, even native Korean speakers might have trouble understanding which word is being said.

Now, about the similar consonants…
The aspirated consonants are said with a small release of breath. The difference between ㄱ and ㅋ can be illustrated with the phrase “of course.” The first, non-aspirated one (ㄱ) is the “c” sound when you’re saying the phrase calmly. The second, aspirated consonant (ㅋ) is like if you’re angry or surprised, when you say “of COURSE!” The “C” sound gets louder, and that’s the sound you should aim for when you pronounce the ㅋ consonant.

As for double/tensed consonants… those are trickier, and I still can’t totally get those right! I understand that you’re suppose to produce those sounds while tensing your tongue and throat, and you can’t release any breath. Tricky!

한곡 친극 하그 식당 에 있었어요.
She was trying to explain those tricky Korean consonants, getting me to sound them out. My spittle all over the table (I think that was for ㅌ, and ㄸ) and I was hocking up phlegm like someone with tuberculosis (ㅋ) before she was satisfied with my pronunciation. I still don’t think I got it right though.
But for some reason when she speaks Korean, it sounds like a lovely melody, and nothing like when I speak it.

지혜 - Thanks for commenting. If you have any questions or comments, let us know! We’re always here to help.

wow~ manay comments!

I know some may feel Hangul is not easy at all-.-
But after a few hours of struggle(or a few days ^^)
you will find yourself who reads the signs and letters of streets!

I am one hundred percent sure that Hangul is a lot easier than Japanese or English

BTW, I hate Kanji-.-

[…] If you missed the first video, you can watch it over here […]

Hello everybody, I’m Kangmin from HUFLIT University (HCMC, Vietnam). I’m really into learning your language; but I have trouble with my Korean speaking skill b/c I have almost no any opportunities communication with Korean…What do you guys think I otta do to improve this skill? I’m looking forward to your reply
Yours friend,

Chào Kangmin!

Welcome to the site. Do you have Skype? It’s really useful for someone in a situation like you. Download Skype here: http://www.skype.com/intl/en/

And put your name down here:
http://www.koreanclass101.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=72&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc

Someone will popup to practice korean with you before you can say 누구에??

Chào!

tru dat!

hello! i would like to know the days in korean language? how do you say, moday, tuesday wednesday, thursday, friday, saturday and sunday?

khamsahamnida