Korean for Dummies (5 page)

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In this part . . .

If you’ve never been introduced to the Korean language

before now, this part is for you. You can become familiar with Korean pronunciation and get an overview of

basic Korean grammar. Try to go through Part I carefully

because it lays the foundation for understanding the rest

of the book.

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In This Chapter

Sounding off with Korean phonetics

Pronouncing the basic vowels and consonants

Working on sounding fluent

Practicing some Korean phrases

Using Korean gestures

Surprising a
woneomin
(
won-uh-min;
native speaker) of Korea by perfectly pronouncing a
mungu
(
moon-goo;
phrase or a
munjang
(
moon-jang;
sentence) of their language can be
jaemi
(
jae-mee;
fun). And the purpose of this chapter is to help you do exactly that. Here you will learn how to pronounce Korean and get a hang of a few common
haengdong
(
hang
-
dong;
gestures). It shouldn’t take long for you to begin fooling your Korean
chingudeul
(
chin-goo-deul;
friends) into thinking that you’ve secretly been spending time mastering the language.

Like
unjeon
(
oon-jun;
driving), riding a
jajeongeo
(
ja-juhn-guh;
bike) or tightrope
geotgi
(
gut-gee;
walking), the only way to get better at pronouncing Korean is by practicing. And the only way to fix your mistakes is by making them. So in this chapter, I introduce words like
chimdae
(
chim
-
dae;
bed),
angyeoung
(
an-gyoung;
eye glasses),
chitsol
(
chi-sol;
toothbrush)
,
and
keopi
(
kuh-pee;
coffee) so you can practice saying words throughout your daily routine, and also teach you some basic sentences and phrases so you can start communicating in Korean. The more Korean you incorporate into your daily routine and
daehwa
(
dae
-
hwa;
conversations) you have, the better your understanding of Korean will become. Try to get a Korean friend to work with you. Practicing accurate pronunciation will not only help you
deutgi
(
deut
-

gee;
listen) and
malhagi
(
mal-ha-gee;
speak), but it will also win you brownie points, as Koreans will think highly of you for taking the time to master the finer points of their native language.

In the following sections, I present the sounds in their Romanized alphabeti-cal order. Although it might take a while to get used to Korean sounds, there are no new concepts to learn such as tone or pitch.

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Getting the Basic Sounds

Korean, like English, is a phonetic
eoneo
(
un-uh;
language). Each character of the Korean
sseugi
(
sseu-gee;
writing) system represents a sound, be it a vowel or a consonant. Although Korean has its own writing system, Hangeul, learning Korean using Korean script will require that you learn various sound change rules. So instead throughout this book, I will Romanize (write the sounds of Korean out in English) Korean phonetics, or sounds, using the English alphabet.

The Romanization method that I have chosen is the revised Romanization of Korean approved by the Korean government in year 2000. Using Romanization, I will write out how the characters sound so you can jump into conversation immediately without learning these rules. In addition, I have also included the pronunciation of the Korean words in brackets with English translation.

If you have the time, I highly recommend that you learn the Korean script, Hangeul. Hangeul was developed in the mid 1400s by the King Sejong’s mandate to create a writing system that could easily be learned by commoners.

Today, almost all of Korea relies on Hangeul for written communication, and Romanization is used exclusively for foreigners. Learning Hangeul will give you access to a wealth of online resources, so if you want to learn Korean more effectively, make sure you eventually take the time to learn Korean script.

Pronounce Korean words as though you are British, Scottish, or Australian rather than an American. For example, pronounce
angyeong
as

ahn-gyoung
not
an-gyoung.
Pronounce the
an
as
ahn
rather than
an.

The Basic Vowel Sounds

Every Korean consonant must be accompanied by a vowel. Sometimes a

group of vowels can form a word, as in the case of
uyu
(
oo-yoo
) which means
milk,
and
yeoyu
(
yuh-yoo
) which means
leisure/ease.
You should have little difficulty pronouncing most of the vowels, but some will sound almost indis-tinguishable from one another, and some will simply be tricky to pronounce.

First, try going over the sounds listed in Table 1-1. Don’t worry if you have trouble figuring out how to pronounce some of the sounds. I go over how to distinguish and pronounce some of the trickier ones later in this chapter.

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Phonetically,
ae
and
e
are two different sounds. Hence, they should be distinguished as such, although their difference may be blurred by most native speakers in causal speech.

Table 1-1

Vowel Sounds

Vowel

English Word with the Sound

Korean Word with the Sound

a

ah-ha

jadongcha
(ja-dong-cha; car)

ae

hand

chaek
(chaek; book)

e

get

gagye
(ga-ge; store)

eo

uh

geoul
(guh-ool; mirror)

eu

gull

oneul
(o-neul; today)

i

eat

i
(ee; teeth)

o

so

chitsol
(chi-ssol; toothbrush)

oe

wet

hoesa
(hwae-sa; company, corporation)

u

boo

mul
(mool ; water)

ui

boy

uija
(ui-ja; chair)

wa

water

hwajangsil
(hwajang-shil; bathroom)

wae

wet

wae
(whae; why)

we

wet

wigyeyang
(we-gae-yang; stomach ulcer)

wi

we

wiheom
(wee-hum; danger)

wo

won

mwo
(mwo; what)

ya

yam

chiyak
(chi-yak; toothpaste)

yae

yesterday

yae
(yae; that person; informal)

ye

yeti

jipye
(jee-pae; dollar bills)

yeo

yuck

angyeong
(an-gyoung; eye glasses)

yo

yo

yokjo
(yog-jo; bathtub)

yu

you

hyusik
(hyoo-sheeg; rest)

In Korean, pronounce
a
as
ah
(like
spa
) as in British English instead of
ae
(like
day
) in U.S. English.

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Distinguishing among vowel sounds

Can Koreans tell the difference among the following three groups of sounds?

ae
(sounds like the
a
in hand),
e
(sounds like the
e
in get), and
oe
(sounds like the
o
in hope)

The answer is
ye
(
yae;
yes) and
aniyo
(
a-ni-yo;
no). If native Korean speakers were to
anjas
(
an-ja;
sit down) and split hairs over the
bareum
(
ba-reum;
pronunciation) of the three groups of sounds, they most likely could. But for the most part, especially in
maeil
(
mae-ill;
daily) conversation, they don’t. So do not worry if you cannot distinguish between the sounds
ae, e,
and
oe
, because most Koreans do not worry either. The only way to distinguish between them is when you see them written down. Therefore, just by hearing them, most Koreans cannot tell the difference between above sounds.

Try these examples:

wae
(sound like the
we
in
wet
)
waegeurae
(
wae-geu-rae;
what is it)
oe
(also sound like
we
in wet)
oetori
(
wae-to-ree;
alone)
yae
(sound like
ye
in yeah)
yaeya
(
yae-ya;
hey, kid)
ye
(sound like the
ye
in
yesterday
)
ye
(
yae;
yes) As you can see with the pronunciations written in brackets, above words are very difficult to distinguish just by hearing the words itself. It is more important to listen to the words used in sentences.

Pronouncing eu and ui

The
eu
sound does not exist in English. Fortunately, it isn’t that
eoryoepda
(
uh-ryup-da;
hard) to
baeuda
(
bae-oo-da;
learn). Imagine that a friend or a sibling has hit you hard in the
bae
(
bae;
stomach) and you’ve just had the wind knocked out of you. Most likely you’ll be clenching your
i
(
ee;
teeth) and groaning. Keep imagining the pain that you are in, but now focus on your groaning. Your teeth should be clenched tightly and your
mom
(
mohm;
body) should be tense. Now, try groaning a few times, and focus on the sound that you make. Keep your
ip
(
eep;
mouth) in the same position. Now try making a clear sound while keeping your mouth in that same shape.

The
ui
sound is a combination of the
eu
sound and the
i
sound. You start off with an
eu
sound, then quickly shift into an
i
sound. It might have been easier to remember if
ui
were written as
eui,
but I’d like you to learn standard Romanization so just keep this in mind.

By this point, you should have the
eu
and
ui
sounds down. I hope that wasn’t too painful.

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The Basic Consonant Sounds

Try saying the words
ski, gas,
and
kid.
You should notice that you let more air out when you pronounce
gas
than when you do
ski,
and again that you let even more air out when you say
kid
than you do when you say
gas.
Korean pronunciation relies heavily on how much air you let out when you pronounce consonants.

As you listen to the CD, try to focus on how much air is being let out for each letter.

Table 1-2 lists some basic consonant sounds. Please note that when a same consonant has two different sounds, I have
bolded
the consonant in question to differentiate between examples being used.
Note:
The revised form of Romanization no longer uses apostrophes.

Table 1-2

Consonant Sounds

Consonant

English Word with the Sound

Korean Word with the Sound

ch

chat

chimdae
(chimdae; bed)

h

hat

haneul
(ha-neul; sky)

j

chose

jigeum
(jee-geum; now)

jj

match

jeo jjok
(juh-jjok; that way)

k

cap

kal
(kal; knife)

k
,g

kooky

gukgi
(gook-gee; national flag)

k,
g

good

gilga
(geel-ga; roadside)

kk

ski

kkeut
(kkeut; end)

m

mom

meori
(muh-ree; head)

n

no

namu
(na-moo; tree)

ng

sung

sang
(sang; table)

p

pass

pal
(pal; arm)

b,
p

paper

japida
(ja-pee-da; get caught

b
, p

baby

babo
(ba-bo; dummy)

pp

happy

ppang
(ppang; bread)

r
, l

roll

ramyum
(ra-myun; instant noodle)

(continued)

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Table 1-2 (continued)

Consonant

English Word with the Sound

Korean Word with the Sound

s

so

sul
(sool; alcohol)

ss

boss

ssal
(ssal; rice)

t

tada

tada
(ta-da; to burn or to ride

[depends on the context])

t
, d

tone

datda
(dat-da; to close)

t,
d

ed

badak
(ba-dag; floor)

tt

star

ttokttok
(ttog-ttog; knock knock)

k, g
and
d, t
are read as
g
and
d
before a vowel, as in
gilga
(
geel-ga;
street)
,
gagu
(
ga-goo;
furniture)
, doldam
(dol-
dam;
stone wall) and
don
(
don;
money), and as
k
and
t
when followed by another consonant or form the final sound of a word, as in
dokdo
(
dok-do;
dokdo island),
yokjo
(
yog-jo;
bathtub),
chaek
(
chaeg;
books),
geotda
(
guht-da;
to walk) and
datda
(
dat-da;
to close).