Korean alphabet (Hangul)
What is Hangul?
Hangul is the Korean alphabet created by King Sejong the Great in 1443. Modern Hangul uses 24 basic letters; 14 consonants and 10 vowels. There are also 27 complex letter by combining these basic 24 letters. These Korean letters are written in syllabic blocks beginning with a consonant, a vowel, and additional consonant if necessary.
What is so special about Hangul?
Hangul has been created for the lower class people who couldn't learn how to read or write Chinese characters which were the official writing system. It was very difficult to learn Chinese characters due to fundamental differences between Korean and Chinese languages.
King Sejong the Great designed the letters for these illiterate people to learn to read and write without putting too much time and efforts on learning. It is now known to be one of the easiest alphabets to learn in the world.
You can learn the alphabet in 1 or 2 hours so that you can read most words in Korean. However, Korean language itself can be quite challenging depending on your native language and experiences. It might be a good idea to learn alphabet first which will help your journey to learn Korean language and culture.
Where can I start?
There are lots of learning materials and apps available for the beginners. Some popular apps such as Korean Lessons+, TenguGo Hangul, Korlink's Talk to me in Korean, Korean Flashcards and Dongsa Korean verb conjugator are free and they offer all levels of courses.
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