Lesson 4

Welcome back! This is the 4th lesson of "Learn to read, write and pronounce Korean". In this lesson you'll learn the rest of the basic Korean letters and you will continue to use your knowledge actively in writing.

The first new letter is the vowel U:
ㅜ
This is pronounced like the oo in boot.
Listen to it here. This vowel is also wider than it is tall, so it goes below the consonant rather than next to it.
Here are Korean words that contain this letter. As usual, move over the Korean words in order to see the solution.
두바이 city in the United Arab Emirates

사우디아라비아 country in the Middle East

불가리아 country in Eastern Europe

루마니아 another country in Eastern Europe

온두라스 country in Central America

우간다 country in Africa

수리남 country in South America

And try to write the following words:
Rwanda (Ruanda)

Burundi

Busan (second largest city in South Korea)

Brunei

Sudan

Ulsan (big city in Korea)


The next of the vowels you should learn is "eo".

It makes a sound like the u in jug. Listen to it here.
ㅓ
Try to translate these Korean words.
더블린 capital of Ireland

런던 capital of the United Kingdom

서울 capital of South Korea

서비스 military ____

보일러 part of a central heating system

엄마 mum

Now try to write down the following words in Korean:
Samsung (samseung)

Oregon

bus

virus (remember what happens to 'v' in Korean!)


Now we'll learn about the vowel E.

Since this vowel opens up really many new words, we'll use this for a big revision.
ㅔ
This is the Korean letter "E". It is pronounced as in bed.
Here are many words with this letter. First, practise reading:
봄베이 big city in India

게임 children like it

메일 letters

로메 capital of Togo

인도네시아 big country in South-East Asia

말레이시아 country near the previous country

레모네이드 refreshing drink

이스라엘 country in the Middle East

벨기에 multilingual country in Europe

덴버 capital of Colorado

방글라데시 small country near India

Second, practise writing:
Kobe

Lebanon

Senegal

Maine

Belarus

Grenada

Buenos Aires

Venezuela

El Salvador


Next I'd like you to meet the vowel AE:
ㅐ
This letter is pronounced like the "a" in land.
Words for practise:
마이애미 famous beach

댈러스 city in Texas

댄서 person who likes to move

랩 music style

앨라배마 sweet home

네바다 state known for gambling

And now write a few more:
Daegu

San Diego (another i after the e)

Maryland

Rhode Island


Second-to-last letter: hieut
ㅎ
Hieut is pronounced as an h. Listen to Hieut.
Some words with hieut:
바하마 popular holiday islands

헝가리 country in Europe

하라레 capital city of Zimbabwe

호놀룰루 city in Hawaii

햄버거 popular fast food

하우스 style of music

Practise writing Hieut:
Doha

Hanoi

Ohio

Shanghai


The very last basic letter left is Jieut:
ㅈ
This letter is pronounced like J in journalist or like
"CH" in chair.

Here's an example: Jieut.
Read the following:
나이지리아 country in Africa

이미지 picture

엔진 car part

메시지 something I have to tell you

로스앤젤레스 city on the west coast of the USA

조지아 state on the east coast of the USA

개라지 they repair cars

오랜지주스 drink

루이지애나 state on the Gulf of Mexico

버지니아 state for lovers

Soju (traditional Korean drink)

Abuja

Nanjing

Beijing

Daejeon

Niger (3 syllables)

Geneva


Congratulations, you now know all basic letters in Korean! In the next lessons, you will just learn about variations and combinations. They won't be harder than the previous lessons either, so just go on till you can read the Korean script fluently! You can start with the next lesson right now, if you like.