Building Syllables · 글자 만들기

3. Reading practice

Practice 1 — The ㄱ chart

Read each block aloud. Say the consonant, then the vowel, and join them.

가 갸 거 겨 고 교 구 규 그 기
ga gya geo gyeo go gyo gu gyu geu gi
→ the whole ㄱ row

Read the row three times, and the pattern will stick. Keep the consonant the same and only change the vowel.

Practice 2 — Two-syllable words

Each word has two blocks. Read the left block first, then the right block.

나무
na-mu
→ tree

머리
meo-ri
→ head, hair

하마
ha-ma
→ hippo

도시
do-si
→ city

소리
so-ri
→ sound

우리
u-ri
→ we, our

Notice that 나무 has a vertical vowel first and a horizontal vowel second. The first block has the vowel on the right, and the second has the vowel below. Mixed shapes in one word are normal.

Practice 3 — Longer words and names

These words and names have two or three blocks. Read slowly, one block at a time.

피아노
pi-a-no
→ piano

바나나
ba-na-na
→ banana

기차
gi-cha
→ train

지수
ji-su
→ Ji-su, a common name

In 피아노 the middle block 아 uses the silent ㅇ. It shows that a vowel can start a syllable inside a word.

Practice 4 — English words in Korean

Many English words are written in Hangul. Sound out each block, and you can often guess the English word.

카메라
ka-me-ra
→ camera

토마토
to-ma-to
→ tomato

피자
pi-ja
→ pizza

커피
keo-pi
→ coffee

The sounds can differ a little from English, but the blocks are easy to read.