By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

• Understand how Korean syllables are formed

• Combine consonants and vowels correctly

• Read simple Hangul syllable blocks

• Recognize different syllable patterns

• Read basic Korean words

A Korean syllable is a block made by combining consonants and vowels.

Every Korean syllable must contain:

• At least one consonant

• At least one vowel

For example:

• ㄱ + ㅏ = 가

• ㄴ + ㅏ = 나

• ㄷ + ㅏ = 다

Instead of writing letters separately, Korean places them together into one square-shaped block.

This makes Korean writing neat and easy to read.

Vocabulary

When a vowel is vertical, it is placed to the right of the consonant.

Vertical Vowels

• ㅏ

• ㅓ

• ㅑ

• ㅕ

• ㅣ

Examples:

Notice that the vowel is written beside the consonant.

Reading Practice

가

너

디

먀

버

When a vowel is horizontal, it is placed below the consonant.

Horizontal Vowels

• ㅗ

• ㅛ

• ㅜ

• ㅠ

• ㅡ

Examples:

Notice that the vowel is written underneath the consonant.

Reading Practice

고

누

듀

므

보

Complex vowels follow the same rules.

Examples:

These syllables are commonly found in Korean words.

Reading Practice

과

왜

외

워

위

의

Now let's read some real Korean words.

Try reading each word slowly.

Break each word into syllables first.

Example:

나라

나 + 라

Nara

Country

This method helps beginners read Korean faster.

Reading Activity

Read aloud:

나라

바다

우유

오이

가수

Excellent work!

In this lesson, you learned:

• What Korean syllables are

• How consonants and vowels combine

• Vertical vowel syllables

• Horizontal vowel syllables

• Complex vowel syllables

• Reading simple Korean words

You can now read many basic Korean syllables and words.

The next step is learning Batchim (final consonants), which appear at the bottom of Korean syllables.