How to learn to speak and write in the Korean language?

Korean is an East Asian language spoken by approximately 77 million people, of which 5.6 million regards it as their heritage language. It is the official and national language of both Koreas: North Korea and South Korea, with different standardized official forms used in each country. Goryeo is considered to be the first Korean dynasty known to Western nations, and the English word “Korean” is derived from it. Modern Korean is understood to have descended from the Middle Korean, that emerged from the Old Korean, which itself, culminated from the Proto-Koreanic language, that is suggested to have its linguistic homeland somewhere in Manchuria. Korean is the 13th most widely spoken language of the 3000 languages currently in use. It is a recognised minority language in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture and Changbai Korean Autonomous County of Jilin Province, China. It is also spoken in parts of Sakhalin, Russia and Central Asia. Korean people in the former USSR refer to themselves as Koryo-saram and/or Koryo-in and call the language Koryo-mal. Korean is classified as a language isolate by both historical and contemporary linguists.

Starting with the basics

In Korean, there are no grammatical cases at all. They instead depend on a scheme known as Postpositions (KR: 조사). Postpositions, also known as particles, are suffixes that are added to the end of pronouns and nouns. Unlike many other Asian languages, it is not a tonal language. 

Korean has a similar writing system to Chinese and a similar grammar to Japanese. The Korean writing system is simple and logical, and learning the Korean alphabet (also called Hangul) takes less than an hour. In Korean, there is no such thing as gender. Nouns in Korean are neither masculine nor feminine; they should be regarded as “neutral.” This is true for both adjectives and nouns. Korean follows Subject-Verb-Object or S-V-O sentence structure. The Korean alphabet consists of 24 letters with 14 consonants and 10 vowels. 

Learn to count. Knowing how to count is an essential skill in any language. 

Memorize simple vocabulary. The wider the vocabulary you have at your disposal, the easier it is to speak a language fluently. Familiarize yourself with as many simple, everyday Korean words and phrases as possible to help you start your first conversation.

Learn via the Immersion approach. Attach little Korean labels to objects in your house. This way, you’ll remember the words better by associating them with the object directly rather than translating them from English to Korean! 

Study the basic grammar. In order to speak any language correctly, it is necessary to study the grammar particular to that language. Korean grammar can appear quite daunting initially but once you get the hang of the grammar you’ll find that Korean is a very direct and expressive language! Read through the noun, verbs thoroughly.

Don’t be discouraged! Learning a new language takes time and practice. It won’t happen overnight. 

Find a native speaker. One of the best ways to improve your new language skills is to practice speaking with a native speaker, who will be able to correct any grammar or pronunciation mistakes and can introduce you to more informal or colloquial forms of speech that you won’t find in a textbook. Find a native Korean speaker in and around your neighbourhood you could also look for one online on websites such as Hello Talk, Tandem, Languagepartners, Conversationpartners Italki etcetera.

Consider signing up for a language course. If you are serious language learners and wish to take it a step ahead into formally learning Korean I suggest you sign up for a language course online or offline.

Watch K- Dramas, cartoons, and videos. You can watch movies on some Korean DVDs (with subtitles), watch Korean cartoons online, or search YouTube for Korean-speaking YouTubers. This is an easy, entertaining way to get a feel for the sound and structure of the Korean language.

1.Learn the Hangul alphabet.

Korean uses the Hangul alphabet, which was developed by King Sejong personally for his subjects.

2. Learn to pronounce the letters yourself.

The best way to memorize letters is to first learn to pronounce them. Forming the letters in your mind and writing them without having a reference set in front of you, is the only way to learn to write Korean on your own. 

Learn Korean writing.

1. Writing – You now need to learn an entire script—Korean. A few Korean worksheets is really all you need for this step. 

2.Typing

Learning to type in Korean is essential for business purposes, finding Korean videos and other content. Memorize where Korean letters are placed on a keyboard and then work on your skills.

Attempt online Korean writing exercises.

Look for relevant and reliable online Korean exercises that can help you improve your writing skills. These can include quizzes that test your knowledge of the Korean alphabet, games where you can write in answers or anything else that gets you writing.

Learning to write in Korean can be easily mastered with just a few hours per week and little effort other than following the steps in this post! Once you feel comfortable with the basics of Korean speech, consider taking a trip to Korea or another Korean-speaking country. What better way to immerse yourself in the Korean language than a journey to the Motherland! Learning how to speak Korean is a big accomplishment, and you can achieve it by putting in the time and effort you will be richly rewarded. Korean is a beautiful and complex language with over 150 million native speakers. 

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