Course: The Korean Alphabet: An Introduction to Hangeul

Lee Geumhee I am a professor of Korean Language and Literature at Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul, Korea. I currently teach classes on Korean language to undergraduate students, and on Korean …

If you have a chance to visit Korea, you might be curious about Hangeul-related sites in Korea. Today we’ll explore some of those sites. In Seoul there is the National …

Right now you are looking at the National Hangeul Museum, located next to the National Museum of Korea in Seoul. Here there are various cultural exhibitions on Hangeul which showcase …

Today we will learn how to read Hangeul. If you know which sounds the characters represent, you can read Hangeul. How has it been learning about Hangeul so far? Has …

This class you will learn how to write your name. This is how Hangeul can be used to write names from different countries. Try writing your name right now. You …

This class we will learn some basic Korean words. This class we will learn how to write two Korean greetings of ‘감사합니다’ and ‘안녕하세요’. [KEY WORDS] 감사합니다. 안녕하세요?

Hangeul is written in syllabic blocks, where one sound is made at once. In other words, the first (initial), middle(medial) and last(final) sounds are grouped together and written in one …

The principle of Hangeul’s character creation is characterized by first creating the basic characters, and then either adding strokes or combining them create new characters. The consonant and vowel characters …

The rest of the consonants were made by the principle of adding strokes to the basic characters. We will learn about the systematic way of adding strokes to the basic …

First, a few basic characters were created, and then the rest of the characters were made from the basic characters. The principle of image modeling was used. In other words, …

As Hangeul was created for the common people, it first played an important role amongst commoners. At the time, Hangeul was spread amongst the common people. We will learn that …

Hello everyone. Today I am at the King Sejong Institute. As you’ve taken this course, have you gained an interest in Korea, Hangeul or Korean culture? All King Sejong Institutes …

Having an illiterate common class helped the ruling class to maintain their power, so the elite opposed the creation of an alphabet that was easy to learn. King Sejong, who …

Today we will learn about the background behind Hangeul’s creation. The illustrations alone were not enough to help the illiterate population understand “Samgang Haengsildo.” In this historical context, it was …

Can you think of a great king from your country’s history? Most Koreans would answer “King Sejong the Great” to this question. Of these many achievements, his most noted is …