So, you feel like you are beginning to see how Korean and Hangul are? Are you ready for more?
ㅂ
This is a common character. It will have a light “b” or “p” sound. 바 pa 밥 bap. 반 ban. At the end of a word, it will have a very light, almost unheard sound.
ㅁ
This is a very easy character. It sounds just like an “m” sound. As simple as that. What do you think 마 would sound like? If you said ma, that’s right!
ㅇ
I think you are ready for a very commonly used character. It has two sounds.
⚫One sound, is no sound!
It makes no sound at all when it is the first consonant in the syllable. It is as simple as that. It is more like a place holder since all Korean syllables must start with a consonant.
⚫When it falls at the end of a syllable, it sounds like a light “ng” sound in “running”.
It is that ng sound in the back of your throat, but do not emphasis the “g” part of it. So the two sounds? No sound at the beginning of a syllable, “ng” sound at the end. Simple.
Let's learn two more, and then have a little practice.
ㅓ
This is an “o” sound. It is hard to explain, but try this. Say the letter O. Make it really really long and say it slow. Notice where your mouth starts to close in? This sound is the sound before that. The beginning of the O sound.
Let’s look at this in a different way...
Shape your mouth as if you were to say the ‘o’ in ‘go’. Now make a sound like aw, as in awe, pawl, bawl, and law.
This vowel will always be placed to the right of the first consonant, never underneath.
ㅗ
This is another “o” sound. They sound very similar. The best I can do is say this may be more like the other side of saying O, as with the experiment before. The part toward the end in O is more like this.
Or, think of it this way. ㅗ is like the ‘o’ in go, row, bow, and low.
They are very similar. Some people will be able to hear the difference if they have a good ear. Many non native speakers have the problem hearing the difference though at first.
So, for those who cannot hear the difference, When spelling and learning Korean, try to think of these are learning to spell.
In English you can’t always know how to spell a word, you must learn it properly. It is the same way in Korean. When words with an O sound comes up, just learn how it is spelled and leave it at that because they sound so similar.
This vowel will always appear underneath the first consonant, never to the right of it.
Let’s try a few more practice words to read. So far we have covered (in order): ㅎ, ㅏ, ㄴ, ㄱ, ㅡ, ㄹ, ㅂ, ㅁ, ㅇ, ㅓ, ㅗ
