This is a guide to learning the Korean Language separated into 3 levels. This product is good thru 3 hours from now. If not spoken to a Korean person by the expiration date, please refrigerate, review and try again within the freshness guarantee period. Failure to follow directions may result in tardive dyskenesia, clang associations and profuse diarrhea of the mouth. If tourette syndrome-like symptoms occur, please consult a dictionary.
The Basic Gist
Just like the English alphabet, the Korean alphabet is phonetic. The letters represent the sounds of consonants and vowels. The following are the consonants:
ㄱ(g), ㄴ(n), ㄷ(d), ㄹ(r or l; like a Spanish rr), ㅁ(m), ㅂ(b), ㅅ(s or sh when preceding an ee sound),
(ng at the end of a syllable; no sound at the beginning), ㅈ(j), ㅊ(ch), ㅋ(k), ㅌ(t), ㅍ(p), ㅎ(h)
The vowels are as follows:
ㅏ (‘ah’, as in hurrah) ㅑ(‘ya’, like yacht) ㅓ(‘aw’, as in saw) ㅕ(‘yaw’, as in yawn)’ ㅗ (‘oh’, as in most ) ㅛ (‘yo’, as in yo-yo) ㅜ (‘u’, as in blue) ㅠ (‘yu’, as in you) ㅡ (‘u’, as in sun) ㅣ(‘ee’, as in street) ㅐ (‘ay’, as in way); ㅒ (‘ya’, as in Yale) ㅔ(‘e’, as in pet and web) ㅖ (‘ye’ as in yes).
Those vowels can be combined to form complex vowels:
ㅘ (oh+aw =wah) ㅢ (u+ee = ui) ㅝ(oo+aw = wau)
ㅙ (oh+ay =way)
Put together the vowels and consonants to form syllables:
ㅁ(m)+ㅣ(ee)= 미 me ㄱ(g)+ㅏ(ah)= 가 gah ㄷ(d)+ㅗ(oh)+ㅇ(ng)= 동 dong
The Main Gist
Like many romance languages, there are two forms of the verb to be. 이다 is used to describe something or someone’s state of being, profession or nationality:
Familiar(to those younger than yourself): 나는 선 생님 이다 I am a teacher
Respectful (to anyone unfamiliar to you or older than you): 나는 캐나다 사람 이예요 I am Canadian.
Honorific (to others in formal situations): 저는 스물 일곱 살 입니다. I am twenty-seven years old
있다(pronounced ‘eet-dah’) is used to describe the presence or location of someone or something. It can also mean to have:
Familiar: 내 프렌치 호른 어디 있지? Where is my french horn?
Respectful: 우산이 두 개 있어요. There are two umbrellas.
Honorific: 버스 휴지가 있습니까? Do you have any toilet paper?
The phrase _____ 어디 있어요? is particularly useful. You can fill in the blank to ask Korean people the location of things. Here are a few important words you could insert to ask the question Where is …?:
경찰 서 – the police station 출입국 관리 사무소 – the immigration office 집 – your house
지하철 역 – the subway station 외국 식당 – a foreign restaurant 병원 – hospital 은행 – bank
If you can’t understand the answer, say ‘한번더’ (one more time) and watch his/her hands intently to see which way they point.
The Heavy Gist
Texting
You may get some rather strange texts from Korean friends. Fear not as they are abbreviations or emoticons. Here are a few of the most prominent:
ㅋㅋㅋ or ㅎㅎㅎ or 흑흑흑 (lol) ㅜㅡㅜ or ㅠㅡㅠ (I’m sad or crying) OTL (I am disappointed; a man kneeling with his head to the floor) 우씌 ==> (Do you want to die?) >ㅡ< (what you said displeases me) +_+ ← (I require something)
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The romanization of the Korean alphabet is of my own creation and follows no standard romanization patterns.
