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South Korea is becoming an increasing popular destination for its vibrant culture and global business opportunities. Fortunately Korean Language is much easier to learn than most languages in Asia, and this blog post will show you the steps to master Korean language quickly. You can download this worksheet at the bottom of this page.
Table of Contents
- Create a Daily Practice
- Learn The Hangul Alphabet
- Five Common Korean Phrases
- Download Korean Language Apps
- Enroll in a Live Korean Class
Create a Daily Practice
The most important part of learning any new language is practice, so it is important that you enjoy the process. You only need five minutes a day to start practicing. After one week of practice you will find it easy to extend your studying for longer durations of time. Practice frequency is more important than total study volume, so you will see results faster if you study twice per day instead of squeezing seven hours into one day of the week. Here are some quick tips to create a fun learning experience:
- Write down the reasons you want to learn Korean to stay motivated
- Set specific goals and reward yourself for taking baby steps every day
- Pretend you have a new Korean Identity and express body language while you practice
- Connect with native speakers and teachers for feedback and accountability
- Enjoy Korean Language apps, music, dramas, podcasts and videos
- Purchase a physical Korean Language Textbook and flashcards
Learn the Hangul Alphabet
Hangul is the Korean writing system and it was designed for simple learning. Hangul is the first and most important step in learning Korean because it provides your foundation for many years of learning to come. Although Hangul can seem intimidating to learn, one week of practice will equip you with the confidence needed to learn countless Korean words and phrases. Lets get started with the Basics.
Hangul is made up of 10 vowels and 14 consonants. Each Korean syllable consists of one consonant and one vowel to form blocks that are pronounced from left to right and top to bottom. Here is a list of the vowels and consonants with before we pair them together. You should try to memorize the pronunciation and stroke order in your first week of practice.
14 Consonants:
ㄱ (g/k), ㄴ (n), ㄷ (d/t), ㄹ (r/l), ㅁ (m), ㅂ (b/p), ㅅ (s), ㅇ (ng), ㅈ (j/ch), ㅊ (ch), ㅋ (k), ㅌ (t), ㅍ (p), ㅎ (h)
10 Vowels:
ㅏ (a), ㅑ (ya), ㅓ (eo), ㅕ (yeo), ㅗ (o), ㅛ (yo), ㅜ (u), ㅠ (yu), ㅡ (eu), ㅣ (i)
To practice the pronunciation of the Hangul letters, we recommend using this online learning tool and watching Korean Hailey’s Youtube playlist. You can also learn more on our Hangul blog post coming soon. Above is a chart demonstrating the stroke order for the Hangul Letters.
Five Common Korean Phrases
Here are the five most basic Korean phrases. Notice how the words are created from blocks of Hangul characters. Use the previous section for help reading the Korean characters. To learn more Korean words you can watch this video and check out our more detailed article on Korean phrases coming soon.
- 안녕하세요 (Annyeonghaseyo) - Hello.
- 감사합니다 (Gamsahamnida) - Thank you.
- 미안합니다 (mianhamnida) - I’m Sorry
- 네 (Ne) - Yes.
- 아니요 (Aniyo) - No.
Download Korean Language Apps
Korean learning apps are a great supplement to your practice, but they should not replace your main course. There are dozens of apps you can use to learn Korean, but most of them are boring and designed poorly. We have carefully narrowed the list down to the top five apps that actually work. You can learn more about them on our article here.
In addition to apps, online resources such as websites, YouTube channels, and language learning forums can be valuable tools for learning Korean. They offer a wide range of materials, including grammar explanations, vocabulary lists, and practice exercises. Take advantage of these resources to supplement your learning and reinforce what you've already studied.
- LingoDeer - Best app for overall for quality
- Infinite Korean - Most Fun App
- Duolingo - Best App for Beginners
- Write Korean - Best App for Learning Hangul
- LearnKorean - Best App for Vocabulary
Enroll in a Live Korean Class
Although you can find many Korean language courses online. most of them will fall short when it comes to live interaction. For a complete study and practice of Korean, you need to be exposed to native speakers or teachers. Engaging with native speakers helps you absorb the language at a much faster rate, because humans have a huge part of their brain allocated to learning in relationships. A real tutor helps you learn much faster than an online course because tutors provide real-time feedback and pay attention to your needs.
The most powerful way to gain exposure to Korean language is to enroll in a study abroad program in South Korea or find real language learning partner in a local community. If these are not viable options you can still enjoy real classes on K-Talk Live. K-Talk live provides simple online classes with the best Korean teachers and textbooks. You can enroll in our classes here. For a more thorough roadmap of Korean Language you can check out our article, “Is Korean Hard to Learn?”
Checklist for Week 1
- Write down your goals and motivations
- Practice writing a few Hangul words
- Purchase a Korean Language Textbook
- Download a Korean Learning App
- Enroll in a Korean Language Class
- Find a Korean Movie to watch
Download this Worksheet:
