한글
Read Korean in a few days
Hangul was designed in 1443 by King Sejong so anyone could learn to read quickly. It has 24 basic letters — 14 consonants and 10 vowels — that stack into one block per syllable. Tap any card to hear it.
모음
Vowels
Vowels are built from a dot and lines: a vertical line (ㅣ), a horizontal line (ㅡ), and short strokes. An extra stroke adds a “y” sound: ㅏ a → ㅑ ya.
자음
Consonants
ㄱ g/k, ㄷ d/t, ㅂ b/p and ㅈ j sound softer at the start of a word and voiced between vowels. The ones with an extra stroke (ㅋ ㅌ ㅍ ㅊ) come with a strong puff of air.
된소리
Tense (double) consonants
Doubling a letter makes it tense: tighten your throat, no puff of air, a little higher pitch. Think of the “k” in “sky”, not “key”.
이중 모음
Combined vowels
These are two vowels glided together. Good news: in everyday Seoul speech ㅐ and ㅔ sound the same, and so do ㅙ, ㅞ and ㅚ.
글자 블록
How letters stack into blocks
Every syllable is one square block, read top-left to bottom-right. A block always starts with a consonant — if the syllable starts with a vowel sound, the silent ㅇ holds the spot (아, 오, 이).
Consonant + tall vowel
Vowels with a long vertical line (ㅏ ㅑ ㅓ ㅕ ㅣ) sit to the right.
Consonant + flat vowel
Vowels with a long horizontal line (ㅗ ㅛ ㅜ ㅠ ㅡ) sit underneath.
Add an end consonant
An optional final consonant (받침, batchim) always goes at the bottom.
받침
Only 7 end sounds
Lots of letters can sit at the bottom of a block, but they all end up as one of just seven sounds — and the end sound is never released (no puff after it).
읽어 보세요
Try reading these
Sound each one out block by block, then tap to check yourself.
퀴즈
Quick check
Can you hear which letter it is?
8 quick rounds: listen, then tap the letter you heard.
Can you read these? You're ready for pronunciation.
Next: pronunciation →