Basic Vowels — 기본 모음

Korean has 10 basic vowels: ㅏ ㅑ ㅓ ㅕ ㅗ ㅛ ㅜ ㅠ ㅡ ㅣ. Their shapes follow a simple logic, so you can learn them in minutes. In this lesson you learn the sound of each vowel, how to write it with a silent ㅇ, and how to read your first words.

1. Why learn this

Hangul, the Korean alphabet, was designed to be easy. Most learners can read the whole system after a few hours of practice. You do not need to memorize thousands of characters.

We start with vowels because every Korean syllable has one. Once you know the 10 basic vowels, the consonants in the next lesson will click into place much faster.

The shapes are not random. Each vowel is a long line with a short stroke, and the position of the stroke tells you the sound. Learn the pattern once and you can read all ten.