🎓 Hangul for Absolute Beginners: Read Korean in Minutes!

Korean is written using its unique alphabet called Hangul (한글). Designed in the 15th century by King Sejong the Great, Hangul is logical, scientific, and easy to learn — making it a perfect starting point for any Korean learner. In this post, you’ll discover how to read Hangul step by step.

📘 Table of Contents

• 1. What Is Hangul?
• 2. Structure of Korean Letters
• 3. Basic Vowels
• 4. Basic Consonants
• 5. How to Read Syllables
• 6. Practice Examples
• 7. Did You Know?
• 8. Want to Learn More Korean?

🔤 1. What Is Hangul?

Hangul is the Korean writing system composed of 14 basic consonants and 10 basic vowels. Unlike Chinese characters, Hangul is phonetic — each letter represents a sound.

📐 2. Structure of Korean Letters

Korean letters are grouped into blocks, each representing one syllable. Each block typically includes:

• 1 consonant + 1 vowel (e.g., 가 = ㄱ + ㅏ)
• Or 1 consonant + 1 vowel + 1 final consonant (e.g., 강 = ㄱ + ㅏ + ㅇ)

🟣 3. Basic Vowels

Here are 10 simple vowels:

Vowel	Pronunciation	Romanization
ㅏ	Like "a" in "father"	a
ㅓ	Like "uh"	eo
ㅗ	Like "o" in "go"	o
ㅜ	Like "oo" in "boot"	u
ㅡ	Unrounded "eu" sound	eu
ㅣ	Like "ee" in "see"	i
ㅐ	Like "e" in "met"	ae
ㅔ	Like "e" in "bed"	e
ㅚ	Like "we"	oe
ㅟ	Like "wi" in "week"	wi

🟠 4. Basic Consonants

There are 14 basic consonants. Here are a few key ones:

Consonant	Sound	Romanization
ㄱ	g/k	g
ㄴ	n	n
ㄷ	d/t	d
ㄹ	r/l	r/l
ㅁ	m	m
ㅂ	b/p	b
ㅅ	s	s
ㅇ	ng or silent	ng/-
ㅈ	j	j

🔁 5. How to Read Syllables

Let’s try reading these:

• 가 (ga): ㄱ + ㅏ
• 고 (go): ㄱ + ㅗ
• 감 (gam): ㄱ + ㅏ + ㅁ
• 밥 (bap): ㅂ + ㅏ + ㅂ

Just group the sounds together smoothly, and you’ve got it!

✍️ 6. Practice Examples

Here are a few easy Korean words:

사랑 (sarang) – Love
한국 (hanguk) – Korea
친구 (chingu) – Friend
밥 (bap) – Rice / Meal
고마워 (gomawo) – Thanks (casual)

💡 7. Did You Know?

Hangul was once banned during Japanese colonization (1910–1945), but Koreans secretly taught and used it to protect their identity. Today, Hangul Day is a national holiday celebrated on October 9th in South Korea.

🎓 8. Want to Learn More Korean?

👉 Book a Korean lesson with me on italki to build your skills from the alphabet all the way to full conversations.

📚 More Hangul Learning Resources:
🔗 HowToStudyKorean – Hangul Basics

🔗 Talk To Me In Korean – Level 1

It’s amazing how a few shapes can open up a whole new world. I hope this post helped you take your first steps with Hangul. Let’s keep exploring Korean together — check out more posts for grammar, culture, and language tips! 😊