Hear Korean vowels and consonant families
Listen to unfamiliar vowels and relaxed, airy and tense starts.
Vowels beyond English spelling
Korean has ten basic written vowel letters and additional combinations. A written distinction is not always a spoken distinction: many speakers pronounce ae and e alike. eo and eu each name a single vowel, not two syllables. Listen to their unrounded sound rather than reading the Latin hints as English.
Three consonant families
Korean distinguishes relaxed (lax), aspirated (airy) and tense stops and affricates. The three ga/ka/kka practice syllables below keep the vowel the same so you can hear the different starts. A doubled letter is one tense consonant, not two separately spoken syllables.
Hear the syllable, then the word
Letter cards use an example syllable rather than claiming to isolate a consonant perfectly. Voicing, breath and pitch can all contribute to a Korean consonant contrast. English g/k labels are only approximate. You will practise the contrasts in small groups after this overview.
From syllables to a word
Milk is two blocks read as one word. Listen to the whole word. There is no test here and no need to recognise the letters yet.
Introduction complete ✓
Hear Korean vowels and consonant families
Listen to unfamiliar vowels and relaxed, airy and tense starts.
You can return to these notes whenever you need. The letter lessons will explain and practise each idea in small steps.