How to read Korean character

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by klysoo21
by klysoo21
                                    
                                              

                          1. Consonants

I will first start off with the consonants. Korean is very easy to learn to read if you are accustomed to English because each letter has a sound attached to it. You simply put all the sounds of the letters together and viola, you have your word.

ㄱ - G when at beginning or end, K between vowels. [IPA: k]
ㄴ - N. [IPA: n]
ㄷ - T when at beginning or end, D between vowels. [IPA: t]
ㄹ - L when at beginning or end, R between vowels. [IPA: r]
ㅁ - M. [IPA: m]
ㅂ - P when at beginning or end, B between vowels. [IPA: p]
ㅅ - S if none of the follow: Sh if followed by ㅣㅒㅑㅕㅠㅛㅖㅚ. T at the end of word. [IPA: s]
ㅇ - Silent at beginning, Ng at the end. [IPA: ŋ]
ㅈ - Ch at beginning, J between vowels, T at the end. [IPA: ʨ]
ㅊ - Ch at beginning(a little stronger than ㅈ), T at the end. [IPA: ʨʰ]
ㅋ - K as in king at beginning, K at the end. [IPA: kʰ]
ㅌ - T as in terrace at beginning, T at the end. [IPA: tʰ]
ㅍ - P as in popstar at beginning, P at the end. [IPA: pʰ]
ㅎ - H as in hello. [IPA: h]

There is also the possibility you might see the same consonant together with itself such as ㄲㄸㅉㅃㅆ. These are pronounced similar to their originals but have a little more added force behind them. Later on we will learn to pronounce them out loud.
                          2. Vowels

Next we will learn the vowels. There are a few more in Korean than in English but I feel that you really only need to learn half of them and you can know the other half. You'll see what I mean.

ㅏ - ah (as in father) [IPA: a]
ㅑ - yah (as in yard) [IPA: ja]
ㅓ - uh (as in buck) [IPA: ʌ]
ㅕ - yuh (as in yuck) [IPA: jʌ]
ㅗ - oh (as in mow) [IPA: o]
ㅛ - yoh (as in Yo-Yo) [IPA: jo]
ㅜ - oo (as in boot) [IPA: u]
ㅠ - yoo (as in ukulele) [IPA: ju ]
ㅡ - eu (as in book) [IPA: ɯ]
ㅣ - ee (as in bee) [IPA: i]
ㅐ - ae (as in bear) [IPA: ɛ]
ㅒ - yae (as yeah) [IPA: jɛ]
ㅔ - eh (as in meh) [IPA: e]
ㅖ - yeh (as in Yale) [IPA: je]

(Note: ㅔ and ㅐ are very similar in pronunciation but more on that later.)

                          Lets Excersise: decode the following:
                          미국 (Mi - Guk) = America
                          한국 (Han - Guk)= Korea
                          영어 (Yeong - Oh) = English
                          친구 (Chin - Gu)= Friend

                          ***got it? too easy!! pls comment or vote :) and suggest!