Your Korean Journey Starts Here
안녕하세요! Annyeonghaseyo! 👋
Welcome to your first Korean lesson!
If you have never studied Korean before, you are in the right place.
You don’t need to know Hangul. You don’t need to know Korean grammar. You don’t even need to know a single Korean word.
We will start from ZERO.
By the end of this lesson, you will understand how the Korean alphabet works, read your first Korean letters, and say your first Korean greeting.
🇰🇷 What is Hangul?
Korean has its own alphabet called Hangul (한글).
At first, Korean writing may look difficult.
안녕하세요 · 한국 · 서울
But don’t worry! Hangul has a surprisingly simple and logical structure.
Korean letters are combined to make one syllable. For example:
ㄱ + ㅏ = 가
ㄱ makes a g/k sound. ㅏ makes an a sound.
Put them together — ㄱ + ㅏ → 가 — and it sounds like:
GA
Congratulations! 🎉 You just read your first Korean letter!
🔤 Let’s Learn Korean Vowels
Let’s start with six basic Korean vowels.
| Hangul | Sound |
|---|---|
| ㅏ | a |
| ㅓ | eo |
| ㅗ | o |
| ㅜ | u |
| ㅡ | eu |
| ㅣ | i |
Say them slowly:
ㅏ ㅓ ㅗ ㅜ ㅡ ㅣ
Try it again — ㅏ is a, ㅓ is eo, ㅗ is o, ㅜ is u, ㅡ is eu, ㅣ is i.
Don’t worry about perfect pronunciation yet. Listen, repeat, and get familiar with the sounds.
✏️ Let’s Add Korean Consonants
Now let’s learn four consonants.
| Hangul | Sound |
|---|---|
| ㄱ | g / k |
| ㄴ | n |
| ㄷ | d / t |
| ㅁ | m |
Now something fun happens. We can combine consonants and vowels.
ㄱ + ㅏ = 가 ㄴ + ㅏ = 나 ㄷ + ㅏ = 다 ㅁ + ㅏ = 마
Now read them together.
가 나 다 마
ga — na — da — ma
You are already reading Hangul!
🎯 Try Another Vowel
Let’s change ㅏ (a) to ㅗ (o).
ㄱ + ㅗ = 고 ㄴ + ㅗ = 노 ㄷ + ㅗ = 도 ㅁ + ㅗ = 모
Now try reading:
고 노 도 모
How about ㅜ (u)?
ㄱ + ㅜ = 구 ㄴ + ㅜ = 누 ㄷ + ㅜ = 두 ㅁ + ㅜ = 무
Read them aloud:
구 누 두 무
Great! You’re beginning to understand how Hangul works.
👋 Your First Korean Expression
Now let’s learn your first real Korean expression.
안녕하세요
Annyeonghaseyo
It means:
Hello!
안녕하세요 is one of the most useful expressions you will hear in Korea. You can use it when you meet someone at a café, restaurant, hotel, shop, school, or almost anywhere else.
Let’s practice.
👩 A: 안녕하세요!
👨 B: 안녕하세요!
That’s it! You just had your first conversation in Korean. 🇰🇷
🧠 Quick Quiz
1. ㄱ + ㅏ = ?
A. 나 B. 가 C. 다
Answer: B. 가
2. ㄴ + ㅏ = ?
A. 나 B. 마 C. 고
Answer: A. 나
3. Which vowel sounds like “o”?
A. ㅏ B. ㅗ C. ㅜ
Answer: B. ㅗ
4. Can you read this?
가 나 다 마
If you can, congratulations! You can already read your first Hangul letters. 🎉
📝 Today’s Korean
Today you learned:
| What | Korean |
|---|---|
| Hangul | 한글 |
| Basic vowels | ㅏ ㅓ ㅗ ㅜ ㅡ ㅣ |
| Basic consonants | ㄱ ㄴ ㄷ ㅁ |
| Your first syllables | 가 나 다 마 |
| Your first greeting | 안녕하세요! |
🏠 Mini Homework
- Write these vowels three times: ㅏ ㅓ ㅗ ㅜ ㅡ ㅣ
- Then write: 가 나 다 마
- Finally, say this out loud three times: 안녕하세요! 👋
🌱 Your Korean Journey Has Just Begun
You don’t have to memorize everything today. Learning a language is not about being perfect from day one.
Learn one sound. Read one word. Speak one sentence. And then learn another.
Soon, the Korean letters you see in K-pop songs, Korean dramas, restaurants, cafés, and streets in Seoul will no longer look unfamiliar. They will start to have meaning.
Today, you read your first Korean letters. That’s your first step.
다음 수업에서 만나요!
See you in the next lesson! 🇰🇷
Next Lesson
Lesson 2 — Learn Korean Consonants
ㄱ ㄴ ㄷ ㄹ ㅁ ㅂ ㅅ ㅇ
Let’s learn how to read even more Korean!
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