The Korean Alphabet:
Hangul (한글)

Why Hangul Is Your Best Friend

Hangul was invented in 1443 by King Sejong the Great, specifically designed to be easy to learn. Unlike Chinese characters, which take years to master, most people can read Hangul within a week. Each symbol represents a sound — no guessing.

Hangul is written in syllable blocks — groups of 2–3 letters stacked together to make one syllable sound. Once you know the letters, you can sound out any Korean word, even ones you've never seen before.

모음 (Moeum) — Vowels

Korean vowels are written as vertical or horizontal lines. They always need a consonant partner — the silent placeholder ㅇ — when they start a syllable.

👆 Click any card to reveal its romanization

Vowel Shape Logic

Vowels with a vertical stroke (아 야 어 여 이) go to the right of their consonant: 가 나 다

Vowels with a horizontal stroke (오 요 우 유 으) go below their consonant: 고 노 도

자음 (Jaeum) — Consonants

Korean consonants are shaped to visually represent how your mouth moves to make each sound. The shape of ㅁ (m) looks like closed lips. The shape of ㄴ (n) shows the tongue touching the roof of the mouth.

👆 Click any card to reveal its romanization

Aspirated consonants (extra breath)

Four consonants come in a "strong breath" version. Hold your hand in front of your mouth — you should feel a puff of air:

글자 (Geulja) — Building Syllables

Every Korean syllable is written as a square block. Letters stack together — never written in a row like English. There are two main block shapes:

쓰기 연습 — Trace These Characters

Print this page and trace each character 10 times. The first box shows a faint guide. Focus on stroke order — always top-to-bottom, left-to-right.

첫 번째 단어들 — Recognise These

Using only what you learned today, you can already read these words. Practise sounding them out — don't just memorise the romanization.