Reading Practice
Korean Alphabet 1
Course 1 · Chapter 10 · Reading Practice
읽기 — Putting It All Together
You know all 24 basic letters of Hangul and the final consonant. This last chapter gives you a method for reading any block, a big set of practice words made only from what you have learned, and a recap of the whole course.
A Method for Reading Any Block
- Find the vowel first. A long vertical stroke (ㅏ ㅑ ㅓ ㅕ ㅣ) is to the right of the initial; a long horizontal stroke (ㅗ ㅛ ㅜ ㅠ ㅡ) is below it.
- Read the initial consonant. A circle ㅇ at the start is silent. Remember the look-alikes: ㄴ ㄷ ㅌ, ㅁ ㅂ ㅍ, ㅅ ㅈ ㅊ, ㅇ ㅎ, ㄱ ㅋ.
- Check for a final consonant at the bottom, and use its final sound: k, n, t, l, m, p or ng (Chapter 9).
- Say the whole block, then the next, and join them.
Practice Set 1: Blocks
Read each block aloud, then check yourself.
| Block | Block | Block | Block |
|---|---|---|---|
| 거 | 효 | 츠 | 피 |
| 닥 | 물 | 밤 | 방 |
| 류 | 토 | 셔 | 산 |
Show answers
geo · hyo · cheu · pi
dak · mul · bam · bang
ryu · to · syeo · san
Practice Set 2: Words You Already Know
Every one of these appeared in an earlier chapter. Cover the right-hand column, read each aloud, then check.
| Word | Romanisation | English | From |
|---|---|---|---|
| 아이 | a-i | child | Chapter 1 |
| 나무 | na-mu | tree | Chapter 3 |
| 나라 | na-ra | country | Chapter 4 |
| 라디오 | ra-di-o | radio | Chapter 4 |
| 어머니 | eo-meo-ni | mother | Chapter 6 |
| 버스 | beo-seu | bus | Chapter 6 |
| 기차 | gi-cha | train | Chapter 7 |
| 커피 | keo-pi | coffee | Chapter 8 |
| 피아노 | pi-a-no | piano | Chapter 8 |
| 토마토 | to-ma-to | tomato | Chapter 8 |
| 밥 | bap | rice, a meal | Chapter 9 |
| 한글 | han-geul | Hangul | Chapter 9 |
Practice Set 3: Two New Words
These use only letters you know. Read them before you look at the answer.
| Word | Hint |
|---|---|
| 엄마 | ㅇ + ㅓ + ㅁ, then ㅁ + ㅏ |
| 학교 | ㅎ + ㅏ + ㄱ, then ㄱ + ㅛ |
Show answers
eom-ma ("mom") · hak-gyo ("school"). Both meanings come from a course listing found in a web search. The sound of 학교 is not exactly its spelling: the ㄱ at the end of 학 changes the sound of the next block, one of the sound changes the next course teaches. The romanisation hak-gyo is the plain spelling, not the exact sound.
What This Course Did Not Cover
- The five tense (doubled) consonants: ㄲ ㄸ ㅃ ㅆ ㅉ.
- The eleven compound vowels: ㅐ ㅒ ㅔ ㅖ ㅘ ㅙ ㅚ ㅝ ㅞ ㅟ ㅢ.
- The eleven consonant digraphs (double finals), such as ㄳ and ㄵ.
- Sound changes between syllables, and how Korean is written in rows and spaced.
- Stroke order, which this course left for a later stage.
With those, Wikipedia counts 51 letters in all. You now have the 24 basic letters, which are the core of the system.
Course Recap
| Chapter | What you learned |
|---|---|
| 1 | How Hangul was made; syllable blocks; ㅏ ㅣ ㅇ |
| 2 | Vowels that sit below: ㅗ ㅜ ㅡ |
| 3 | ㄱ ㄴ ㅁ |
| 4 | ㄷ ㄹ ㅂ |
| 5 | ㅅ ㅈ ㅎ |
| 6 | ㅓ ㅑ ㅕ |
| 7 | ㅛ ㅠ ㅊ |
| 8 | ㅋ ㅌ ㅍ; plain against aspirated |
| 9 | Final consonants: fourteen letters, seven sounds |
| 10 | Reading practice and what comes next |
Try It Yourself — 연습
Say each answer out loud first, then click to check.
1. Break 한글 into its two blocks and name every letter in each.
Show answer
한: ㅎ ㅏ ㄴ · 글: ㄱ ㅡ ㄹ
2. Read aloud and give the meaning: 나라 · 밥 · 기차 · 커피
Show answer
na-ra (country) · bap (rice, a meal) · gi-cha (train) · keo-pi (coffee)
3. Write in Hangul: geul · san · mul · ra-di-o
Show answer
글 · 산 · 물 · 라디오
4. Name the three look-alike pairs that differ by one extra line, and say what the extra line adds.
Show answer
ㄱ/ㅋ, ㄷ/ㅌ, ㅈ/ㅊ (and ㅂ/ㅍ is related). The extra line marks the aspirated sound, a stronger puff of air.
5. The final consonants ㄷ ㅅ ㅈ ㅊ ㅌ ㅎ all end in the same sound. Which?
Show answer
"t" (per Wikipedia's table; ㅎ is the one to check, see Chapter 9).
6. Why is reading block by block sometimes not exact?
Show answer
Because the sound of a letter can change next to the neighbouring block, as in 악마 [angma] or the linking of a final into a following vowel (밥을, ba-beul).