My Korean Workbook

LEARING HINTS: READING HANGUL

by MyKoreanWorkBook | Jan 16, 2022

First obstacle when learning Korean? I am sure to say: it is Hangul itself.

You can find loads of materials promising that you can learn Hangul in an hour, an afternoon or a day, – and it is partially, true. Learning the characters is very straightforward and very easy. But understanding and knowing something is clearly two, different things.

The problem is that getting to the level of “more or less”, “not bad” or “quite good, just need some practice” in reading Hangul won’t be enough for the majority of the learners. Some learn via hearing with the speed of light, but most learners, especially, adult learners are not this type. They also need to know the picture of a word in order to connect it to its sound so as to be able to digest it properly. Knowing it more or less is a trap for them that they will fall into sooner or later, as their amount of “more or less” vocabulary (and even grammar) grows. And the more “more or less” you have, the more uncertain you’ll become, and the more likely you get stuck.

Therefore.. simple it may sound, it is still worth the effort and the time to practice and improve your reading skills to establish a good base to build your learning on. And try not to compromize: as for reading Hangul, go for the backwards and forwards.

Find materials that can help you practice Hangul