Say what?

Everywhere you go, you see things like this: 영국 학교, or 가족 시장, or 24 시간을 여십시오.
Huh???

So the weekend before last, I went to talktomeinkorean.com and koreanwikiproject.com to learn how to read and write in hanguel. The Korean alphabet is pretty easy to learn in an afternoon, but I found it to be a bit overwhelming at first. The prospect of learning a new alphabet is a bit overwhelming and going to restaurants and grocery stores gives me a whole new respect for illiteracy!  I even now understand what my students were going through at home. Just because you CAN read a word phonetically does NOT mean you understand its meaning.  And by the time you get to the end of a sentence, you have NO idea what you just read. 

But I digress. James and I were thinking about taking Korean classes at the university behind our apartments. I just looked into it. The classes are  M-F 9:00am-1:00pm for 3 months. Hmm... I typically catch the bus to work by 1:20 and don't get home until at least 10pm. I will have to think about this a lot. Also, Sun Moon University is a religious school that I would call more of a cult. I guess I can still take classes if it's my only option...

I should quit rabbit-trailing. Here is the alphabet.


There are 24 basic letters (14 consonants and 10 vowels) and a few more compound letters. 
Here, I will copy and paste from Wikipedia and then come back to tell you what is the most important.

• 14 consonant letters: 1. ㄱ (g); 2. ㄴ (n); 3. ㄷ (d); 4. ㄹ (l/r); 5. ㅁ (m); 6. ㅂ (b); 7. ㅅ (s); 8. ㅇ (-/ng); 9. ㅈ (j); 10. ㅊ (ch); 11. ㅋ (k); 12. ㅌ (t); 13.ㅍ (p); 14. ㅎ (h).

There are also 13 obsolete consonants: ᄛ, ㅱ, ㅸ, ᄼ, ᄾ, ㅿ (alveolar), ㆁ (velar), ᅎ, ᅐ, ᅔ, ᅕ, ㆄ, ㆆ.

• 5 double ("tense") consonants: 1. ㄲ (kk); 2. ㄸ (tt); 3. ㅃ (pp); 4. ㅆ (ss); 5. ㅉ (jj).

In addition, there are 10 obsolete double consonants: ㅥ, ᄙ, ㅹ, ᄽ, ᄿ, ᅇ, ᇮ, ᅏ, ᅑ, ㆅ.

• 11 consonant clusters: 1. ㄳ (gs); 2. ㄵ (nj); 3. ㄶ (nh); 4. ㄺ (lg); 5. ㄻ (lm); 6. ㄼ (lb); 7. ㄽ (ls); 8. ㄾ (lt); 9. ㄿ (lp); 10. ㅀ (lh); 11. ㅄ (bs).

There are also 66 obsolete clusters of two consonants: ᇃ, ᄓ, ㅦ, ᄖ, ㅧ, ㅨ, ᇉ, ᄗ, ᇋ, ᄘ, ㅪ, ㅬ, ᇘ, ㅭ, ᇚ, ᇛ, ㅮ, ㅯ, ㅰ, ᇠ, ᇡ, ㅲ, ᄟ, ㅳ, ᇣ, ㅶ, ᄨ, ㅷ, ᄪ, ᇥ, ㅺ, ㅻ, ㅼ, ᄰ, ᄱ, ㅽ, ᄵ, ㅾ, ᄷ, ᄸ, ᄹ, ᄺ, ᄻ, ᅁ, ᅂ, ᅃ, ᅄ, ᅅ, ᅆ, ᅈ, ᅉ, ᅊ, ᅋ, ᇬ, ᇭ, ㆂ, ㆃ, ᇯ, ᅍ, ᅒ, ᅓ, ᅖ, ᇵ, ᇶ, ᇷ, ᇸ, and 17 of three consonants: ᇄ, ㅩ, ᇏ, ᇑ, ᇒ, ㅫ, ᇔ, ᇕ, ᇖ, ᇞ, ㅴ, ㅵ, ᄤ, ᄥ, ᄦ, ᄳ, ᄴ.

• 6 vowel letters: 1. ㅏ (a); 2. ㅓ (eo); 3. ㅗ (o); 4. ㅜ (u); 5. ㅡ (eu); 6. ㅣ (i)

plus obsolete ㆍ

• 4 iotized vowel letters (semivowel–vowel): 1. ㅑ (ya); 2. ㅕ (yeo); 3. ㅛ (yo); 4. ㅠ (yu)

plus obsolete ᆜ, ᆝ, ᆢ

• 11 diphthongs: 1. ㅐ (ae); 2. ㅒ (yae); 3. ㅔ (e); 4. ㅖ (ye); 5. ㅘ (wa); 6. ㅙ (wae); 7. ㅚ (oe); 8. ㅝ (wo); 9. ㅞ (we); 10. ㅟ (wi); 11. ㅢ (yi).

There are also 41 obsolete diphthongs: ᅷ, ᅸ, ᅹ, ᅺ, ᅻ, ᅼ, ᅽ, ᅾ, ᅿ, ᆀ, ᆁ, ᆂ, ᆃ, ㆇ, ㆈ, ᆆ, ᆇ, ㆉ, ᆉ, ᆊ, ᆋ, ᆌ, ᆍ, ᆎ, ᆏ, ᆐ, ㆊ, ㆋ, ᆓ, ㆌ, ᆕ, ᆖ, ᆗ, ᆘ, ᆙ, ᆚ, ᆛ, ᆟ, ᆠ, ㆎ.

Did you get all of that? Me neither. 


Words are made into syllables. When possible, they will be written in one small block. It really does save space. The Korean credit card machines have cut off my signature before I finish signing a few times. That should out it in perspective. Also, no letter can make a sound by itself. The smallest Korean words will have at least 2 characters. 
Focus on this:
Consonants
1. ㄱ  makes a g or k sound, and its shape can be changed depending on where it is in the word.
2. ㄴ makes an n sound, and again its shape can change depending on where it is written in the syllable block.
3. ㄷ can be either a d or t (they do sound a bit alike). The sounds can switch, such as in the city of Daegu (Taegu). I think it also makes a difference in sound based on where in the word it is written.
4. ㄹ can be an l or an r. It isn't a harsh sound, which kind of explains why the r and l sounds get mixed up. I really don't know when to use which sound.
5. ㅁ Close your mouth and try to push a sound through it. Now open your mouth while doing this. Did you hear mmm? This is supposed to look like the shape of your mouth when you make that sound.
6. ㅂ This is another of those two sound letters. It is either a b or a p, as in the city of Busan (Pusan). I think there is a rule telling you when to use which sound, but I haven't learned it yet.
7. ㅅ This one is easy. It is an s!!! However, I did learn that when it is followed byㅣit ALWAYS says "sh." Upon further reading, I see the same is true when followed by ㅕ, ㅑ, ㅠ, ㅛ
8. ㅇThis is a neat one. It makes no sound at the beginning of a word, as in it is more of a placeholder. No words or syllables can start with a vowel, so it is used as a silent consonant. When it comes at the end of a syllable, it makes the ng sound.
9. ㅈHere we have /j/ or sometimes /ch/. It is only confusing when the font or handwriting changed because it can be written a bit differently.
10. ㅊ So when the /j/ has another little line on it, it becomes a /ch/ or more accurately, /tch/
11. ㅋ this is a hard k. It looks like a double k, but is not to be confused with the g.
12. ㅌ I always thought this stood for error, but I was wrong. Hello, /t/!
13.ㅍ This little column looking guy is a hard p, not to be confused with the b above.
14. ㅎ This is my favorite, either because it's the first letter I figured out on my own (someone wrote directions to my apartment and it was the first letter twice --> Hosan-ri and Hongik Aparta) OR because it's the first letter of my last name. I haven't decided. 




Let's move on to the vowels.
1. ㅏ is ah, as in what your doctor tells you to open wide and say.
2. ㅓ  is a schwa sound most of the time.
3. ㅗ is oh, as in I the sound Jeremiah makes when I punch him in the stomach.
4. ㅜ is ooh, like what the three alien toys from Toy Story always say... lol
5. ㅡ this is a hard sound. It doesn't really translate. It's something of a ew meets uh.
6. ㅣ is the easiest letter because it looks like a capital letter i. The sound is /ee/
7. ㅐ, ㅔ are basically the same. They sounded differently and mean slightly different things, but supposedly they sound no different these days. They both make the /ae/ sound.
Complex vowels:
ㅑ, ㅕ, ㅛ, ㅠ, ㅖ and ㅒ
These are the regular vowels with a y sound in front of them.
1. ㅑ = y- + ah or think of a German ja.
2.  ㅠ = y- + ooh, similar to you
3. ㅕ is a little tougher. It sounds kind of like y'all without the L!
4.  ㅛ = y- + oh, kind of like yo man, whassup? (yo)
5. ㅖand ㅒ are pretty much the same sound = y- + ae , like an abbreviated yay. 


Okay... there may be more, but it's almost midnight and I had a busy weekend, which I will write about later.

Until the next time,
안녕히 가세요. (That's goodbye)