About this course
For everybody wishing to learn to speak Korean, learning Hangeul early on and learning it well is a must. By learning to read the Korean characters (Hangeul) accurately and confidently, you can speed up your Korean learning process as well as avoid a lot of unnecessary, potentially embarrassing mistakes that many learners make.
Through this course, you can understand how each letter in the Korean writing system is pronounced based on logical explanations about how it was formed. This will make it easier for you to remember the letters. You also get a quick review of the previous lesson in the beginning of each lesson, as well as a brief recap of everything you’ve learned in that lesson.
Hangeul is arguably one of the easiest writing systems to learn in the world, and after watching and studying with our 8-part course, you will be able to read Hangeul quite comfortably and feel confident to continue learning more Korean!
Target level
TTMIK Level 1
What can you achieve through this course?
- Learn to recognize and read Korean characters
- Learn the basic pronunciation of all Korean consonants and vowels
- Learn the correct stroke orders of Korean characters
- Rely less and less on romanization in your future Korean learning
Trailer
Sample Lesson
Lecturer
Course language
English
What can you find inside the course?
- 7 lessons introducing how to read Hangeul
- 1 lesson introducing how to write Hangeul
- Review quizzes for each lesson
Table of contents
- Basic Vowels of Hangeul
- Basic Consonants of Hangeul
- More Consonants of Hangeul
- Compound Vowels of Hangeul
- “Y” in Hangeul
- Final Consonants in Hangeul
- Review & Practice
- How to Write Hangeul
This session clarified the pronunciation of blended vowels which has always been problematic and tricky for me. Thanks!
I can’t get over how much work these guys have put into their courses and just how many materials are now available to us! Thank you TTMIK! 감사합니다!
I wish I started learning Korean with TTMIK! I already knew this information, but it is presented so well that it was worth taking the course for a review. It simplified my understanding and made new connections so I will remember faster, and internalize it deeper. Thank you for your hard work!
Thanks for sharing. I have been taking lesson for a year now and only know a few words and phrases.
I just started learning the basics! Doing this along with Level 1 curriculum right now! I am a little confused when deciding how to pronounce the consonant ㄹ . Because in 한글(Han-guel), it sounds as ‘L’ but in 나라 (Country) it is pronounced as nara(R).
From a linguistics perspective, “ㄹ” has multiple “allophones.” This is just the technical term meaning that one “sound” can actually be pronounced different ways depending on the word context, but to a native speaker, they are still the same thing. In English, think of the final “-s” to make a word plural. “Cats and dogs”. In “cats”, the “s” is pronounced like we expect an “s” to sound. In “dogs”, the “s” actually is pronounced as a “z”. But they are really just “allophones” of the “-s” ending. Native speakers might not even realize that they are actually different pronunciations if they don’t stop to reflect.
That is what’s happening with the “l” sound you correctly hear at the end of 한글 and the “tap” sound you hear in 나라. There is NO actual distinction in meaning though. This is the thing with allophones. It is “pronounced” differently, but in effect it is not “heard” differently. It is essentially the same letter, just in a different context. So there is a distinction in literal pronunciation, but no distinction in native speaker perception, even though if pointed out, it could be noticed. An easy test is that one is able to hold on to that final “l” sound in “Hanguel”. But you can’t “hold on” to the “r” sound in 나라, because its a “tap”. Its a moment of articulation, whereas “l” is called a liquid, and can be sustained like a vowel.
In English, both L and R are pronounced as ㄹ. There is no distinction between L and R in Korean pronunciation!
If you have any more questions, please leave a comment. ☺️
I’m currently halfway through Level 3, but I decided to go back and review some earlier topics by following the new course curriculum by levels. Since I already know how to read and write hangul, I wasn’t expecting to gain much value from a beginner’s hangul course, but I shouldn’t have underestimated the value TTMIK always adds to each and every one of their lessons. I was able to review the names of the letters, understand the origin of the shapes chosen to represent each letter, and further analyze the differences between simple and compound consonants, and well as understanding better how simpler vowels and consonants are used as a basis for more complex ones, and learning new words through the examples given. All of that alongside a beautiful video with superb editing. Thank you to the TTMIK team for always proving high quality content that is well thought-out for learners of all different levels of Korean, you rock!
We’re glad to hear that you’re finding value in our Korean materials! That seemed to be a great decision to take this one of the basic courses even as someone who already knows how to read and write Hangeul. We look forward to having you join our other courses as well and we’re excited to continue supporting your Korean learning journey!🧭🧳✍️
Watching this lesson again to review the basics.
Sounds good! Refreshing the basics by watching the lesson again is always a great idea! 👍
Great course! I finally sort out the differences 🙂
Thank you for your comment!😸
“Learn to Read and Write in Korean” was my first Korean course ever. I think it’s perfect for absolute beginners because it’s both easy and challenging in the right proportion to help me start my Korean learning journey without feeling overwhelmed. 😌
We’re glad you chose our “Learn to Read and Write in Korean” course as your first! Your decision to start your Korean learning journey here is fantastic, and we’re honored to be a part of it. Thank you sincerely for sharing your thoughts. Your feedback is invaluable as it not only motivates us but also helps us refine and enhance our content. Best of luck and enjoy your Korean learning journey!❤️
Very helpful. I use my Hangeul Master book for refreshing, but watching this course help me master hangeul as a whole. Double consonants was always hard for me. Now I just need to continue my reading and writing with practice. <3
Impressive! You used both the book and this course to learn Hangeul? That’s awesome! It might have taken more time, but it definitely helped you build a strong foundation for Korean. We hope you’ll become really comfortable with the language and read and write smoothly. Keep up the good work!🔥
I’m confused about how to pronounce 쉬어봐요 properly. Is it swi-eo-bwa-yo or sweo-bwa-yo? I heard “sweo-bwa-yo” in a korean song. Can you help me please? Sorry if it’s basic question, I’m a new learner. Thank you!
The former one is technically right but if you pronounce the word faster, it would sound more similar to sweo-bwa-yo. 🙂
I enjoyed this course as it has not given me a better understanding of the syllables and how to use them. Reading is now easier.
Thank you for taking this course! We hope you find the next step of learning Korean more interesting and enjoyable!
Hello from Cabo Verde Islands (off the west coast of Africa)! For about a year or so, I was looking at various options to learn Korean – looked a bunch of random youtube videos. At first, I wasn’t sure where to start but after having done some research, it was clear that learning Hangeul first would be the best option. As my learning motivates have changed, I made the decision to gift myself a present last Christmas and bought my first set of books and also become a TTMIK member. I took this course first and I have since started the “Become a Hangeul Master” book. I’m enjoying my experience so far – it has been a very welcomed challenge in my life! I just realized today that I can download the certificate of completion for this course, but I am wondering, is it possible to include the student’s name in the certificate? The first name only shows up on the PDF file name.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us!
We are glad you enjoyed our courses and books.
Currently, including the student’s name on the certificate is not possible. However, we will consider making this feature in the near future! Thank you for your understanding.
I love this course. I am using it along with the “Become a Hangeul Master” book. My only suggestion would be to add captions and possibly speak a little slower when asking us to repeat/give a longer space of time. I have auditory processing issues so it’s difficult for me to hear something and immediately repeat it, especially without captions. Thank you so much for your hard work, I really appreciate your courses and you are a valuable resource for those of us who love languages.
Thank you so much for studying with us and leaving your feedback!
What an amazing course! I started out thinking this would take forever but I was pleasantly surprised by the time I got to Lesson 7 that I was able to sound out almost all of the loan words!
That’s awesome! You must’ve put a lot of effort in! Keep it up!💪
I really liked this course, it’s fun and well-explained. I did it for review but I learned many things I didn’t know before. 감사합니다 🙂
감사합니다🥰
How do I know which to use when it comes to similar sounds such as 아빠 (double consonant) and single consonant of the same sound?
When there are two words that have different spellings but sound the same, you can tell by the context. But when you are writing something, it would be confusing if you don’t know the correct spelling of it.
I had already learned Hangul when I joined this course. So for me it was a refresher, although I found it a bit too fast to get things written down in time before the next clip. It might be a bit too fast if you are an absolute beginner. Would be useful to be able to download a PowerPoint so we can print and write notes. Also, it would be great if there was an interactive aspect to your lessons. Other than that I think its a great site!
Thank you so much for your feedback!☺️
I cannot see these lessons, it always says “error 400 – bad request” 🙁
Actually I know hangeul, but I choose the premium membership as a self christmas gift and now I want so see EVERYTHING because you are a so good teacher!! 🙂
We are sorry for the inconvenience!
Please try these solutions, and let us know if the issue still persists.
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Thank you for your patience!
I had to delete cookies for this specific site, and then it fixed for me finally. It didn’t work to delete them generally.
Sorry for the inconvenience. We are glad that it’s working now.
If you have additional problems, please contact us at [email protected].😊
And what a perfect Christmas gift to give yourself!🎄 We wish you a happy new year❣️
Yeah! Today it goes!
I am really enjoying this language journey. I hope to spend more time on the courses as I gain more confidence.
That’s so great! Keep it up! 감사합니다 🙂
Thank you to the team in TTMIK for coming out with these online courses!
I learned Korean 8 years ago and gave up halfway when it started to get difficult. But I started picking it up again after I came across the free online courses by TTMIK. Honestly, just the free courses are pure gold! I can’t believe how much value the team is putting out there for free to people who want to learn the language 🙂
After studying the free courses for 3 weeks, I know I’ve to reciprocate the team’s kindness by subscribing to the premium membership. And here I am! 🙂 I’m excited to learn from all the premium course content!
We are glad that you didn’t give up! We’ll keep trying our best to make more useful content!
감사합니다. I have a much better understanding of Hangeul – pronunciation consonants & vowels. The lesson format is so easy to understand and follow. Extremely grateful for the time taken to build this lesson. Highly recommend to anyone just starting. I have more confidence.
Awesome! Now you’re ready to start your Korean learning journey!🚗
Completed this, lovely to have certificates.
Yay! Great job🙌 Thank you for the comment!
감사합니다 !! I just completed this course!
That’s amazing! Thank you for studying Korean with us 🙂
I just finished this course and thank you very much, i’m more confident now to understand and read hangeul, it’s not perfect but it’s just only the begining 감사합니다 TTMIK <3
감사합니다! 🙂
I started to learn Korean again because of this lesson !!!
That’s great! 감사합니다 🙂