Korean language is the language of East Asia which is spoken by more than 75 million people all over the world. The Korean language is divided into two parts the north and the south Korean.
The North Korean language is built on Pyongan dialect and the south Korean language is based on the Seoul dialect. There are many more things in the Korean language that you need to know.
If you want to learn the Korean language and want to know about the language then read this article to the conclusion to know the fastest way to learn Korean language.
- Why is it Important to Learn Korean?
- Korean Alphabets
- How to Learn the Korean Language?
- 1: Learn Hangul
- 2: Learn Counting
- 3: Build Vocabulary
- 4: Konglish
- 5: Engage Yourself with the Korean Language
- 6: Discover Learning Style
- 7: Watch and Listen Korean
- 8: Korean Grammar
- 9: Use Flashcards
- 10: Exchange Language
- Conclusion
Why is it Important to Learn Korean?
Korean language is increasing among people because of the economy of South Korean and the growing Asian culture. The Seoul dialect is mostly used rather than the Pyongan dialect.
Here is the list of why to learn the Korean Language:
- It is the 17th widely spoken language
- Korean alphabet (Hangeul) can be easily learn
- Verb forms are not changed according to the subject i.e. singular and plural
- No perception of gender (noun)
- Scientific and logical rules of pronunciation
- No specific accent to learn
Korean Alphabets
The current name for the Korean alphabet is called Hangeul (or Hangul). There is a total of 24 letters in the Korean alphabet: 14 are consonants and the remaining 10 are vowels. The letters all together are combined into syllable blocks.
Some of the Korean alphabets that sound similar are:
- ‘ㅅ’ sound ‘s’
- ㄴ’ sound ‘n’
- ‘ㅏ’ sound ‘a’
If all the alphabets are put together like ‘산’ than it will pronounce ‘san’. It does not require to use all the alphabets to make a meaning full word, it makes a self-contained block.
Korean Consonants
- ㄱ= k
- ㄷ= d
- ㅁ= m
- ㄴ= n
- ㅈ= j
- ㄹ=r/l*
- ㅅ= s
- ㅂ= b
- ㅎ= h
Korean Vowel
- ㅏ = a
- ㅡ = eu
- ㅓ = eo
- ㅣ = i
- ㅗ = o
- ㅜ = u
Korean languages are made up of three different types of words:
- Words that are built on Chinese character
- Based on the English
- Are pure Korean
How to Learn the Korean Language?
Well, that are many ways from which you can learn the Korean language either you can take the help of the language learning app such as Pimsleur, Fluentu, Duolingo, and others or you can go through the below-given tip for the fastest way to learn the Korean language.
1: Learn Hangul
The easiest way to learn any new language is to start with the alphabet. The Hangul characters seem unapproachable at the beginning but the alphabets are not that difficult to learn.
Hangul is based on the phonetic language that means it sounds exactly that why it is written. It is straightforward and easy.
2: Learn Counting
As you are learning Hangul character, you can also learn counting numbers in Korean side by side. Here is the list of numbers from one to ten in Korean:
- One = 하나 pronounced as “hana”
- Two = 둘 pronounced as “dul”
- Three = 셋 pronounced as “se(t)”
- Four = 넷 pronounced as “ne(t)”
- Five = 다섯 pronounced as “da-seo(t)”
- Six = 여섯 pronounced as “yeo-seo(t)”
- Seven = 일곱 pronounced as “il-gob”
- Eight = 여덟 pronounced as “yeo-deolb”
- Nine = 아홉 pronounced as “ahob”
- Ten = 열 pronounced as “yeol”
3: Build Vocabulary
Once that you know Hangul than get ready to build vocabulary. Starts with basics like numbers, basic phrases, days of the week, name of dishes and other things that you willing to include in learning the Korean language.
When you start to learn new words, note them in a book. This way you can revise the words to keep in mind. After knowing the simple vocabulary jump to the next level step by step and don’t forget the previous one.
4: Konglish
Konglish is the makeup of Korean + English. There are many words in Korean that sound the same as English having similar meaning only the accent is different.
The Korean words with Same meaning as English:
- 컵 (kuhp) = cup
- 초콜릿 (cho-kol-lit) = chocolate
- 택시 (tek-shi) = taxi
- 스무디 (soo-moo-thee) = smoothie
- 카페 (ka-peh) = café
- 카메라 (ka-meh-ra) = camera
- 인터넷 (in-tuh-net) = internet
Korean words that sound like English but with a different meaning:
- 밴드 (band) = band-aid
- 에어컨 (air-con) = air conditioner
- 헬스 (health) = health club, gym
- 노트 (note) = notebook
When you search for common words the Konglish you will be surprised to know how much the Korean language is known to you already.
5: Engage Yourself with the Korean Language
This is one of the fastest ways to learn Korean. Engage yourself does not mean that you need to keep learning and practicing the language. I mean that surround yourself like change the language settings in Korean.
Though it will be difficult for you to recognize the words first then you will get habituated with it. This will build curiosity in you to know what that word means. Make use of flashcards in Korean to learn the Korean language fast.
6: Discover Learning Style
The most important tip on how to learn the Korean language is to recognize the learning style. The main style for learning a language:
- Visual
- Kinesthetic
- Audio
It depends on you that which learning style you choose. You can mix all the three style that makes the learning fast and fluent.
7: Watch and Listen Korean
This is an interesting way to learn the Korean language. You can watch Korean movies or tv shows with both English and Korean subtitles. This will not only entertain you but also you can understand what is going on in the movie.
Listening to Korean music is another way to learn Korean fast. When you will listen to music you will try to sing along with it which will improve the pronunciation as well as the accent.
8: Korean Grammar
Learning Korean Grammar is easy you need not bother about pronouns because they are hardly used. You can quickly jump into conjugation; the verbs are based on various factors such as politeness and tense.
The verb changes but in a predictable way. Though there are limited consonants so it is easy to learn verbs. Here is an example of verb conjugation in the present tense.
- he eats- 먹어요
- I eat – 먹어요
- they eat – 먹어요
- you eat – 먹어요
- she eats – 먹어요
- we eat – 먹어요
If you didn’t notice then look at the words carefully that all look alike. Korean grammar is so straightforward that you make fast progress to learn Korean grammar before you get into the complex stage of the Korean language.
9: Use Flashcards
Flashcards are the best study material to learn a language that helps you to recall what you have learned previously and you get a practice of those words or phrases.
When you learn a new word write in down with images so that whenever you look at the flashcard you can easily remember what the word means just by looking at the image. This will help you learn Korean fast.
10: Exchange Language
Exchanging language is an interesting and fun way to learn a language. Either you can meet the person with whom you want to exchange the Korean language or you can chat online.
Or you can take the help of Skype, italki or any other chatting site that provides language exchange through which you can clear your doubts while learning Korean and get fluent in it.
Conclusion
Korean language is both easy and tricky to learn. Easy because some of the alphabet’s meaning and the way they sound are similar to those of English. Tricky because when it comes to the writing part you need to remember every single detail.
If you really want the fastest way to learn Korean then go through this blog and get to know the tips on how to learn Korean easily and also know basic things about the Korean language.
So, what are you waiting for? Get on board to begin the journey towards learning the Korean language.