EveryEduEnglishKorean
Why You Cannot Hear It Yet
Nine rules that stand between Korean spelling and Korean speech
You know the word, you have read it twenty times, and then a Korean says it and you catch nothing. That is not your ears. Korean is written in blocks and spoken in a stream, and nine rules cover almost everywhere the two part company. Seven daily lessons, one group of rules a day, each with dictation: the final consonant that slides across, the twenty-seven finals that make seven sounds, nasalisation, what ㄴ and ㄹ do to each other, tensing, the two faces of ㅎ, and a last day at full speed with nothing labelled. Every pronunciation printed in this course was checked against the same engine that drives the site, including the two places where that engine stops — and why.
- Lessons
- 7
- Days
- 7
- Minutes
- 118
- Quiz items
- 49
- To pass
- 80%
Curriculum
Each lesson opens when the one before it is passed at 80%.
Week 1 · Written one way, said another
- 1The final consonant moves houseLinking — why 한국어 is heard as 한구거Hear and write a word whose final consonant has slid into the next block.
- Twenty-seven finals, seven soundsWhy you cannot hear the difference between 옷, 옫 and 옺Say any final consonant correctly and know why spelling cannot be heard.
- The sound that goes up your noseNasalisation — 감사합니다 is said 감사함니다Predict what ㄱ, ㄷ and ㅂ become in front of ㄴ and ㅁ.
- Everything that happens around ㄹㄴ becomes ㄹ, ㄹ becomes ㄴ, and 독립 becomes 동닙Work out what ㄴ and ㄹ do to each other, in both directions.
- The sounds that come out hardTensing — 학교 is said 학꾜, and 먹다 is said 먹따Hear the tensed consonant after a held one, and stop trying to spell it.
- The two faces of ㅎIt either burns the consonant next to it, or disappearsPredict whether a ㅎ will aspirate the neighbour or vanish.
- Listening at real speedEvery rule of the week, in sentences nobody slowed down forTake a fast sentence apart into the rules you now know, and write it correctly.
Languages this course is written in
The lessons are explained in one language. Where a translation exists your screen uses it; where it does not, you see the original rather than a blank.