Skip to main content

Posts

Is ㄹ pronounced as L or R?

This is probably one of the most common questions that beginners ask when learning 한글. Just like every beginner learners, I went through this as well which is why I decided to study pronunciation rules too. I created this post to help clear up any confusion. When ㄹ is located at the beginning of a word, it sounds more like an R. Example: 라디오 (ra-di-o), 레슨 (re-seun), 로맨틱 (ro-man-tik) When ㄹ is located between two vowels, it sounds like an R. Example: 다리 (da-ri), 사랑 (sa-rang), 어렵다 (eo-ryeob-dda), 모르다 (mo-reu-da), 노력 (no-ryeok), 매력 (mae-ryeok) When ㄹ is located at the end of a word, it’s pronounced more like an L. Example: 딸 (ddal), 아들 (a-deul), 월 (weol), 달 (dal), 칼 (khal), 연필 (yeon-pil), 교실 (gyo-sil) When ㄹ is followed by a consonant or followed by another ㄹ, it sounds like L. Example: 딸기 (ddal-gi), 힘들다 (him-deul-da), 몰라 (mol-la), 살자 (sal-ja), 고릴라 (go-ril-la) When ㄹ comes after any consonant except ㄴ, ㄹ is pronounced as N. Example: 생리 (saeng-ni), 국립 (gung-nip), 능력 (neung-nyeok) When ㄹ co...
Recent posts

Study tips- Reading

Reading is one of the four main language skills (the others are speaking, writing, and listening). How can you boost skills in this area? Just do it! The best way to become a better reader is to read! Practice as much as you can. Honestly, I think one of the hardest parts of doing good, effective reading practice is finding something that suits your level. A good guideline to go by is  something that you can mostly (perhaps 70~80%) understand . If you’re reading something and can just breeze through it, chances are it is below your level. While that can be good for maintaining your current level, it won’t really help you progress. On the other hand,  choosing something too hard will  have you running for a dictionary every few words. That will  break up your flow and will ultimately be more frustrating  than useful. Don’t dive into the dictionary That brings me to my next point…  avoid the urge to grab the dictionary  every time you see a new word! “Bu...

How to learn a language when you don’t know where to start

  General Plan: Weeks 1 and 2: Purpose: Learn the fundamentals sentence construction Learn how to spell and count Start building a phrase stockpile with basic greetings The Alphabet Numbers 1 - 100 Subject Pronouns Common Greetings Conjugate the Two Most Important Verbs: to be and to have Basic Definite and Indefinite Articles Weeks 3 and 4: Purpose: Learn essential vocabulary for the day-to-day Start conjugating regular verbs Days of the Week and Months of the Year How to tell the time How to talk about the weather Family Vocabulary Present Tense Conjugations Verbs Weeks 5 and 6: Purpose: Warm up with the last of the day-to-day vocabulary Add more complex types of sentences to your grammar Colours House vocabulary How to ask questions Present Tense Conjugations Verbs Forming negatives Weeks 7 and 8: Purpose: Learn how to navigate basic situations in a region of your target language country Finish memorising regular conjugation rules Food Vocabulary and Ordering at Restaurants Mone...

General Rules of Verb Conjugation in Korean

→ Action verbs and Descriptive verbs In English, words are like “pretty,” “big,” and “important” are categorized as adjectives, whereas words like “to add,” “to jump,” “to study” are categorized as verbs. However, most Korean equivalents of English adjectives are originally in the infinitive form and are treated like verbs, therefore they must be conjugated to be used in the “modifier” format, which works similarly to English adjectives. For example, “비싸다” is a descriptive verb (adjective in the infinitive form) that would translate to “to be expensive.” To use it as an adjective, you need to conjugate it to the adjective form, 비싼 (present tense), 비쌀 (future tense), or 비쌌던 (past tense). In English, this kind of difference is expressed through tense change of the “be” verb, but in Korean, the conjugation of the verb itself can contain the role of the “be” verb. Examples 크다 = to be big (descriptive verb) 큰 = big (base adjective form) 크다 = to grow (action verb) 큰 = that which has grown; ...

How to remember Korean alphabet (Hangul) easily

  In this post I will share tips on how to remember Korean alphabet (Hangul) easily. Sometimes I hear Korean beginner learners say it is difficult to memorize all the Korean letters. I was quite surprised when I heard that because to me it was   easy as a breeze . I will give you that there are a couple dozen of them in total but there are tricks and techniques to memorize all of them without much hassle. First on the consonants. you only have to remember the basic ones including ㄱ,ㄴ,ㄷ,ㄹ,ㅁ,ㅂ,ㅅ,ㅇ,ㅈ,ㅎ The below ones are just stronger versions of some of the above consonants ㅋ => ㄱ ㅊ => ㅈ ㅍ => ㅂ ㅌ => ㄷ They look very similar with their counterparts so it is very easy to remember. And then we have the double consonants 쌍자음 Again they are simply another variation of their single counterparts so it shouldn’t be difficult to remember either. ㄲ => ㄱ ㄸ => ㄷ ㅃ => ㅂ ㅆ => ㅅ ㅉ => ㅈ So it all boils down to memorizing only 10 consonants. Now we come to vowels....

What To Expect When Studying Korean

So you’ve decided to study Korean! That’s awesome! But let me just give you a cautionary warning. Despite what you may have been told by numerous language learning websites that are attempting to sell you their services, Korean is not easy. I have studied lots of languages for years and I can assure you, Korean is easily the hardest. At least it is in my opinion. Why? Well, I will give you exactly the answer to that and what you should expect while embarking on the journey filled with blood, sweat and tears towards fluency in Korean. Speaking Language vs Writing Language  Korean has an incredibly simple writing system, but don’t let that lure you into a false sense of security. While the writing system is notoriously easy, there’s a catch- it is essentially a separate language. In written Korean, certain words and conjugations are used in lieu of the ones used in spoken conversation. The conjugations may not be that difficult to remember, but remembering which words are only used f...

Google Classroom

 안녕하세요 여러분! Hello everyone! I am back with good news. I have created a google classroom. I am posting homeworks there. So, if you want to learn more about Korean Language, you can join to this invite link: https://classroom.google.com/c/MjQ1ODYyMzg4MDI4?cjc=wbygd6z If you have any questions, you can ask in the comments:)