Country Names

English Hangul Pronunciation

Korea han-gook
South Korea nam-han
North Korea puk-han
Australia hoju
Austria osu t'ria
Brazil burajil
Canada k'aenada
China (PRC) chung-guk
China (Taiwan) daeman
England (United
Kingdom)
yeong-guk
France p'urangsu
Germany tok-il
Hong Kong hong k'ong
India indo
Italy it'al-lia
Japan ilbon
Malaysia mallae-i jia
Mexico maeksik'o
Mongolia mong-go
Myanmar (Burma) miyanma
New Zealand nyu jeelaendu
The Philippines p'ileepeen
Singapore sing-gap'ol
Spain sup'ai-in
Sweden suwei-dain
Switzerland suweisu
Thailand t'ae-guk
United States of
America
mi-guk
Vietnam baet'unam


Continents
English Hangul Pronunciation
Asia asia
Europe yureop
South America namamerika
North America bukamerika
Oceania oseania
Africa apeurika


Oceans
English Hangul Pronunciation
Pacific Ocean taepyeongyang
Atlantic Ocean daeseoyang
Indian Ocean indoyang
South Pole namgeuk
North Pole bukgeuk

Corean Language Practice


About
Hangul | Writing | Phrases | Vocabulary

The Korean language is classified as a
member of the Ural-Altaic family (other
members of this family include
the Mongolian, Finnish, and Hungarian
languages.) Until the early 1400s, most
documents were written in
classical Chinese characters (known in Korean
as Hanja). As the idiographs are difficult to
learn, only the
educated people could read and write. King
Sejong, the 4th ruler of the Joseon
dynasty (1392-1910), set
up a special committee of scholars in 1443 to
create a new writing system specifically suited
to the Korean
language.

The result was Hangul (meaning 'the one
script'). It originally contained 28 symbols,
although 4 have
dropped out of use. The alphabet has 10
vowels and 14 consonants. The consonants
represent the simplified
outlines of the parts of the mouth and tongue
used to pronounce them. The vowels are
associated with elements of the philosophy of
the Book of Changes.

In 1994, Discovery magazine
described Hangul as the most logical language
writing system in the world.
The simplicity of Hangul led Korea to become
one of the most literate countries in the world.
U.S. novelist Pearl
Buck said that Hangul is the simplest writing
system in the world and likened King Sejong to
Leonardo da Vinci.
Even though Hangul is a system of phonetic
symbols, it is categorized as new level of
feature system,
the first and the only in the world. On Oct. 1,
1997, UNESCO
designated Hunminjeongeum as world
archive property. Koreans commemorate the
creation of Hangul each year on October 9.
The Hangul Characters


Before you begin learning the language, you
should take some time to
practice writing Hangul.

The symbols are combined into blocks, each
one representing a single syllable. Each
syllable must start with
a consonant, although the iung is silent in the
initial position. Text is arranged either in the
traditional vertical
fashion, with columns reading from right to
left (as in some newspapers and old books) or
in rows reading
left to right (as in most modern novels and
magazines). The alphabet may appear
complicated, but it is actually
easy to learn. Once you are familiar with the
characters, looking up words in a dictionary
becomes easy.

When speaking Korean, you use formal or
informal words and phrases, depending on the
status of the person
to whom you are talking. For example, you
generally use informal speech to children and
formal speech to older
people. It is better to err by being too formal
rather than showing disrespect. However,
Koreans do not expect
foreigners to be fluent and will usually excuse
minor mistakes.

To aid the traveler and expatriate, Life in
Korea has created several pages of
useful phrases and vocabulary.
To truly learn the Korean language, you should
enroll in any of the numerous courses offered
by Korean
universities and private organizations. We
also encourage you to try the excellent
resources
at Learn Korean Now.
Phrases use the informal level of
politeness except those denoted with (F).

If you see a
lot of
garbage on
your
screen, you
need to set
your Web
browser to
read Korean
characters.


Greetings
English Hangul Pronunciation
Good
morning.
Good
afternoon.
Good
evening.
?

? (F)
Annyong haseyo?
Annyong
hashimnikka? (F)
Good-bye.
(to person
leaving)

.

. (F
)
Annyonghi kasayo.
Annyonghi
kashipshiyo. (F)
Good-bye.
(to person
staying)

.

. (F
)
Annyonghi kyesayo.
Annyonghi
kyeshipshiyo. (F)
Good night.

. (
F)
Annyonghi
jumushipsiyo. (F)
How do you
do?
(meeting
for the first
time)

. (
F)
Ch'oum
poepgetsumnida. (F)
My name is
_____.
___
. (F)
Chonun ______
imnida. (F)
How are
you?
?
(F)
Ottoshimnikka? (F)
Hello?
(on the
phone)
?
Yoboseyo?
Do you
speak
English?

?
Yeongeorul
malsum halsu
isseoyo?


Basic Expressions
English Hangul Pronunciation
Yes.
.
Ne.
No. . Aniyo.
Thank
you.
. (
F)
Kamsahamnida. (F)
I am
sorry.
. (
F)
Mianhamnida. (F)