#JomKoreanwithMawen | Self Introduction using Korean (자기소개101)

Self introduction is a basic of the basics when we learn a new language, as we greet and introduce ourselves when we met a new friend. Self introduction is not difficult in Korean, as we can learn the basic sentence structure along the time goes.

Self introduction in Korean is called ‘ 자기소개 ‘ . ‘자기 (ja-gi)’ means self, while ‘소개 (so-gae)’ refers to an introduction (n). This word can become a verb if we add ‘하다 (ha-da)’ at the back which means ‘to do’. Therefore, ‘소개하다’ means to introduce.

For example,
to introduce yourself: 자기소개하다 (cha-gi-so-gae-ha-da)
to introduce a friend: 친구를 소개하다 (chin-gu-reul so-gae-ha-da)
to introduce a cosmetic product: 화장품를 소개하다 (hwa-jang-pum-reul so-gae-ha-da)

From the examples, we know the basic Korean sentence structure. Basically the sentences are constructed with the order: OBJECT/TOPIC + SUBJECT/DOER + ACTIONS(VERBS). Don’t worry if you don’t get it yet, remember this first and always relate the rule when you see more examples.

Let’s get back to our topic! How do we always start with our self introduction?
Watch this Self-Introduction video from Talk to me in Korean YouTube channel before we go to the written notes!

1. Greeting!
   – 안녕 하세요! (an-nyeong ha-sae-yo)
   *often follow with a bow*
   —
2. Tell them your name! (이름 i-reum)
   – 저는 [Your name] 입이다. (jeo-neun your name i-mi-da)
   Eg. 저는 매르빈 입니다. (jeo-neun mae-reu-bin i-mi-da)
   Translation: I am (your name).
   —
3. Tell them where you are from! (나라 na-ra)
   – 저는 [Your country] 사람이에요. (jeo-neun your country i-mi-da)
   Eg. 저는 말레이시아 사람이에요. (jeo-neun mal-re-i-si-a sa-ram-i-e-yo)
   Translation: I am (your country citizen, eg. Malaysian, Russian, Korean).
   —
4. Tell them where do you live currently! (살고 있는곳 sal-go it-neun-got)
   – 저는 [city/place you stay]에서 살고 있어요.
   (jeo-neun city/place-e-seo sal-go i-sseo-yo)
   Eg. 저는 사라왁의 쿠칭에서 살고 있어요.
   (jeo-neun sa-ra-wak-ei ku-ching-e-seo sal-go i-sseo-yo)
   Translation: I am living in (city/state).
   JOM BELAJAR: Do you know how to write your state name in Korean?
   Check out my video below! (Coming soon!)
   —
5. Tell them you are learning Korean (or others)!
   – 저는 [xxx] 공부하고 있어요. (cheo-neun xxx gong-bu-ha-go-i-sseo-yo)
   Eg. 저는 한국어 공부하고 있어요.
   (cheo-neun han-gug-eo gong-bu-ha-go-i-sseo-yo)
   —
6. Tell them your age! (나이 na-i)
   *Before you know how to say your age, you have to learn Korean numbering first! We will cover in the next lesson. Let us just briefly go through. 🙂
   – 저는 [native-number]살 이에요. (jeo-neun number-sal i-e-yo)
   Eg. 저는 스물다섯(25)살 이에요. (jeo-neun seu-mul-da-seot-sal i-e-yo)
   Translation: I am twenty-five(25) years old.
   —
7. End with ‘Nice to meet you!’
   – 만나서 반갑습니다. (man-na-seo ban-gap-seu-mi-da)
   Translation: It’s a pleasure to meet you.

We have learnt how to introduce yourself with these 6 points! Let us practice by saying it in a full paragraph. It’s not necessary to say ‘저는’ (I am) for every sentence, and we can use connectors such as ‘그리고’ (keu-ri-go) meaning next, or besides. Here’s the sample speech of 자기소개 below:

안녕 하세요! 저는 매르빈 입니다. 저는 말레이시아 사람이에요.
an-nyeong ha-sae-yo! jeo-neun mae-reu-bin i-mi-da. jeo-neun mal-re-i-si-a sa-ram-i-e-yo.

그리고 저는 사라왁의 쿠칭에서 살고 있어요.
geu-ri-gu sa-ra-wak-ei ku-ching-e-seo sal-go i-sseo-yo.

저는 스물다섯(25)살 이에요. 그리고 한국어 공부하고 있어요.
jeo-neun seu-mul-da-seot-sal i-e-yo. geu-ri-gu han-gug-eo gong-bu-ha-go-i-sseo-yo.

만나서 반갑습니다.
man-na-seo ban-gap-seu-mi-da.

Here’s another video from Korean Unnie that you can make as a reference! Let’s practice together so we can self introduce to our new Korean friends. 😀

Melvin Tan

Content Manager (Language)
Online Supporter of Korean Embassy in Malaysia

Bio-science student in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Korean Enthusiasts
Korean learner for 10 years, but still amateur

Instagram: @tanmawen

#JomKoreanwithMawen: My Hard & Persistent Journey of Self Korean Learning

‘JR writing something’, just like me writing Korean. CUTEE

For my Korean learners, in this post I will like to share you my learning journey of self learning Korean language all this while. Personally, I have been starting to learn and practice Korean for around 10 years, since I was 15. Starting to learn Korean was a very passionate push during that moment, I remembered I could take up more than 4 to 5 audio lessons in https://talktomeinkorean.com/, listening to Hyun-woo ssi and Kyeong-eun ssi voices. The momentum was great I can complete 3 levels in a month. The problem is always to sustain the fire after that.

challenges in self learning korean

1. Keep up your learning consistency: I used to have a schedule to learn Korean every weekend, maybe 1 audio lesson per week. However, it was difficult to maintain the consistency as you will start to prioritize other tasks like homework, assignments or even hangouts. Therefore, self discipline is definitely THE KEY to ensure you always keep on the track of learning Korean and keep improving.
2. Lack of 2 way interaction during learning: As most of the materials we find online and books are audios, notes or videos that only require your input of the knowledge, you could not get the most efficient way in learning the language with the ability to ask questions and feedback from a teacher. This can be tough to improve your speaking and writing, as these requires practices and corrections from a native speaker or a teacher. Korean pronunciation is one of the hardest element in this language, interacting with a teacher who can correct your pronunciation will be very helpful. Therefore, try to find a friend who has a better Korean than you, and practice it together. If you have a native Korean friends, just talk to them and you will sure master Korean when time goes!
3. Other Korean learners to form a learning group: Self learner can be a lonely journey as most of the time you learn Korean by listening to lessons, practice your grammar, writing your essay alone without other friends and teachers. I was searching for other friends who could learn with me, so we can communicate and help each other in the learning, but most of them were not serious to learn a new language. It was until lately I able to find a group of Korean learners who have been learning Korean for years and similar like me eager to find friends to practice with. Therefore, it is better if we have friends to study Korean with us, so we can each practice together and motivated each other when we are out of the pace. Try to find other people through internet to interact with, like MyDaehan Korean Learning Community to keep learning Korean and share useful materials to each other!

Come and join us in our Facebook #MyDaehan Korean Learners Community 한국어 배우방 to build up your friends to learn Korean together: https://www.facebook.com/groups/294266961744949

ways to freshen up my Korean

I was now in the level 6 in TTMIK, which means my Korean levels are actually way more need for improvements. I learnt a lot of grammar, especially like tenses form. Tenses were always my weakness even in English because Mandarin (my mother tongue) do not have tenses system. I have forgotten a lot of the forms of tenses, and the formula of the changes of root words into the right tenses form. Korean grammar can be very confusing with the formal and informal expression, while there is also the very formal with the normal formal way to express the things. Besides, Korean particles are in various types while some of them sounds similar that you can get confused easily. These are the things that I learnt, but I just forgot because I didn’t have the chance to apply them in conversation and practice them in real life. Therefore, here are some tips I did to freshen up my Korean from time to time:

1. Speak Korean with your friends! : I am very happy to find a group of Korean learning friends from this Author team, and we opened a private chatroom which most of our conversations were in full Korean. You can finally practice Korean grammars and sentence structure when you are chatting in Korean, while you can learn comprehension and new vocabularies when you listen to your friends.
2. Write Korean when there is a chance! : You don’t need a reason to write Korean as a practice in your social media, or when your mood is good, you can even write a random essay using full Korean. This will helps you to apply what you learnt, while search for new expressions and grammar rules when you want express your feelings through writing. For me, you can practice by writing some short sentence in your Instagram stories, or in the status or posts; what I experienced is that there are actually friends who have come and give me feedback to improve my writing from there!
3. Teach what you learnt to people : I found this method work perfectly for me, as whenever I prepare materials beforehand I record #JomKoreanwithMawen Hangul series, I will review back what I have learnt, and find resources from other teachers so that I can deliver the correct content to the viewers. As every time I prepared this, I re-learnt how to pronounce correctly, new tips in the correct pronunciation and also new vocabulary for better understanding. Therefore, I think it is very good if we can teach what we learnt to people, the concept of teaching doesn’t need you to be THE MASTER of it, but what I think teaching is like a co-learning session, which we learn new things together and put what we learnt in full practice.

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I hope you will like this sharing and I will see in more learning post of Korean in the future! Good luck in your Korean journey. Do comment down below how you have been learning Korean so far!

—> Catch up my Korean learning series in MyDaehan & YouTube!

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Melvin Tan

Content Manager (Language)
Online Supporter of Korean Embassy in Malaysia

Bio-science student in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Korean Enthusiasts
Korean learner for 10 years, but still amateur

Instagram: @tanmawen

Jom Korean with Mawen #7: Hangul 한글 Pt. 7 (ㅍ-, ㅎ-)

안녕 하세요, 여러분! Can you read this 8 Korean syllables by now? I guess you can guess to read 7 out of the 8 of these words already! Yes, we have come to the last 2 alphabets in the 24 Korean characters and this is a huge success for everyone who have come until this far. Let us have a 30 seconds of applause for the hardworking you before we start.

You deserve an award!

In this lesson post, we will learn another 2 aspirated consonants. Last lesson, we learnt three aspirated consonants that similar like (ㅈ, ㄷ, ㄱ) which are ㅊ, ㅌ, ㅋ. We are learning relative of ㅂ and ㅁ, while another is a special distinct character. Before we get into topic, please feel free to recap what you have learnt in the previous posts and remember to practice writing Hangul that you have learnt as you are free.

Refer to past lessons for a complete guide in learning Korean characters, Hangul step by step with #JomKoreanwithMawen!

#JomKoreanwithMawen | Native Korean Number System (수자 pt.2)

by Melvin Tan 🇲🇾 25th Jul 2020

#JomKoreanwithMawen | Sino Korean Number System (수자)

by Melvin Tan 🇲🇾 19th Jul 2020

#JomKoreanwithMawen | Self Introduction using Korean (자기소개101)

by Melvin Tan 🇲🇾 10th Jul 2020

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Watch the video lesson first before making any notes referring to the written materials, especially on the correct pronunciation as the romanization is not always the best representation for the sound, especially on the difference of ‘ㅂ/ㅁ/ㅍ’ and how to pronounce proper ‘ㅎ’.

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Are you familiar with Roman numbers? How do you write number 2 in Roman? It is like (II) right? You remember another written form of (II)? It is very similarly like the next consonant, which is ‘ㅍ’. This consonant has similar sound region as you pronounce ‘ㅂ’ (b) and ‘ㅁ’ (m). The closest romanization for this character will be ‘p’, as you aspirated ‘ㅂ’ (b) as you pronounce. I guess this is one of the easy characters to remember due to its shape and easy pronunciation.

Example

1. (피)자 : pi-za (pizza)

2. (파)리 : pa-ri (flies/Paris)

3. 아(프)다 : a-peu-da (painful)

4. 대(표)님 : dae-pyo-nim (president)

Park Dae-pyo in Itaewon Class

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Tadaa, last alphabets of the 24 Hangul characters will be our MyDaehan logo! Have you noticed the little cute icon up at beside your browser tab as you were browsing our website? It is ‘ㅎ’, and indeed this consonant is quite ‘popular’ and common in Korean words, as you can see 안녕 하세요, 화이팅, 한국어, 한글 etc. This consonant is an aspirated consonant, of romanization ‘h’. This consonant can be pronounced without any help of teeth, tongue and throat, but just with a relaxed mouth and releasing air. Quite hard to imagine? Just remember it as a ‘h’ sound as it is quite similar.

Example

1. (하)다 : ha-da (to do)

2. (하)늘 : ha-neul (sky)

3. (호)랑이 : ho-rang-i (tiger)

4. 번(호) : beon-ho (number)

Kang Ha-neul!!! 하늘아아아앙

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Well, this is worth celebrating like Christmas, right? Here comes the last 2 Korean characters with #JomKoreanwithMawen and you are officially completed first part of our Korean learning journey. Learning Hangul is a great start to master the Korean language because reading and writing is crucial and as a foundation for every language learning. I guess it has been not tough for everyone, right! Feel free to comment down below how do you feel as you have come here so far and I would like to know how my Korean babies are coping so far!

We will learn more advanced knowledge of Hangul, such as back consonant, double consonant and vowels combination before we get to reading practice! These can help us in understanding more complex structure of Hangul syllables and their correct pronunciation rule. Therefore, please stick with #JomKoreanwithMawen in IGTV, YouTube and MyDaehan to learn more Korean with us!

KEY OF SUCCESS IS REPETITION. Have you downloaded the worksheet and practice writing every new alphabets that you have learnt?

Practice your last 2 alphabets here!Download

Of course, it’s reward time. The King – Eternal Monarch has been a hit in Netflix recently, let me spam everyone with the charm of Lee Min Ho!

I will be the best citizen in a country with a king like this HAHA

Hey, he deserved attention!

That chemistry and visual

Let us just watch

Learn Korean with me through #JomKoreanwithMawen video series, while enhance your understanding through lesson posts in MyDaehan to give you the best learning experience! You can refer to other video lessons in mastering the consonants better, and I found out Korean Unnie in YouTube teach me a lot of tips in differentiating and reading the correct Korean pronunciation!

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Tune in every day for new updates and follow our Instagram @mydaehan2020 for #JomKoreanwithMawen video lesson series and other interesting content!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CA_uppAFP3y/

Author

Melvin Tan

Content Manager (Language)
Online Supporter of Korean Embassy in Malaysia

Bio-science student in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Korean Enthusiasts
Korean learner for 10 years, but still amateur

Instagram: @tanmawen

Jom Korean with Mawen #6: Hangul 한글 Pt. 6 (ㅊ-, ㅋ-, ㅌ-)

Jo-an day, everyone! I greeted everyone with a different phrase today to keep your brain learning momentum on. ‘좋은’ (jo-eun) means good, or pleasant. You can hear this quite often as well, such as ‘좋은 아침’ (jo-eun a-chim) means good morning! I really hope you have had a great day with happiness and warmth.

We have come to the 6th lessons of Hangul learning, and I have been telling you all how proud I am being here to bring out this knowledge to everyone who has come to utilize my video, blog post and worksheet for their language learning. Teaching is always part of my passion, and I am glad that you had come to this far, and we are very close to completing this series of Hangul learning. This lesson we are learning another 3 consonants, which are very similar like the ㅈ, ㄱ and ㄷ; these are referring to ㅊ-, ㅋ-, ㅌ-! Let us start the learning right now!

Refer to past lessons for a complete guide in learning Korean characters, Hangul step by step with #JomKoreanwithMawen!

Jom Korean with Mawen #7: Hangul 한글 Pt. 7 (ㅍ-, ㅎ-)

by Melvin Tan 🇲🇾 8th Jun 2020

Jom Korean with Mawen #5: Hangul 한글 Pt. 5 (ㅅ-, ㅇ-, ㅈ-)

by Melvin Tan 🇲🇾 24th May 2020

Jom Korean with Mawen #2: Hangul 한글 Pt. 2 (-ㅡ, -ㅜ, -ㅗ, -ㅠ, -ㅛ)

by Melvin Tan 🇲🇾 2nd May 2020

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Watch the video lesson first before making any notes referring to the written materials, especially on the correct pronunciation as the romanization is not always the best representation for the sound, especially on the difference of ㄱ/ㅋ, ㅈ/ㅊ, ㄷ/ㅌ.

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The first consonant is a close relative (sister? brother?) of ‘ㅈ’ , but with an extra ice cream topping on top to become ‘ㅊ’. It has variable shapes for the topping in written form, either a dot, a short horizontal or vertical line. The pronunciation of ‘ㅊ’ is a aspirated version of ‘ㅈ’ (-j-), and commonly it is represented with ‘ch’ in romanization. You can pronounce ‘ㅊ’ like ㅈ, with allowing some air coming out from your mouth when you read. ‘ㅊ’ does not have strong voice generated from your throat as well. (refer to the video to know the difference)

Example

1. (치)킨 : chi-kin (fried chicken)

2. 김(치) : kim-chi (fermented cabbage)

3. 인삼(차) : in-sam-cha (Ginseng tea)

4. 아(침) : a-chim (morning)

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The second consonant is the auntie for ‘ㄱ’; similar like the their neighbor house, ㄱ’s auntie has a special trait with an extra stick holding in her bracket, become ‘ㅋ’. Similar concept, ‘ㅋ’ is the aspirated version of ‘ㄱ’, with air from your mouth as you read the ‘k’. These two can be very confusing if we refer to the romanization for ㄱ as it can be ‘g/k’, while ‘ㅋ’ is more similar to the sound of ‘k’. Therefore, we have to be extra careful on the vocabulary of these the consonants and listen more to how natives pronounce this words.

Example

1. (카)페 : ka-pe (cafe)

2. (카)트 : ka-deu (credit cards)

3. 코 : ko (nose)

4. 아이스 (크)림 : ai-i-seu keu-rim (ice-cream)

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The last one in the neighborhood will be the couple ‘ㄷ’ and ‘ㅌ’. Their similar shapes bring them together as they look compatible! There is just an extra line of difference, while their pronunciation is very similar with the similar concept of the aspiration. In comparison with the aspect of romanization, ‘ㅌ’ sounds more like the ‘t’ and less toward the ‘d’.

Example

1. (토)마(토) : to-ma-to (tomato)

2. (토)끼 : to-kki (rabbit)

3. 이(태)원 : i-tae-won (Itaewon)

4. 버(터) : beo-teo (butter)

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YESSSS YOU HAVE KNOW MASTERED 22 HANGUL ALPHABETS AND WE DESERVE A PARTY! In the next lesson of #JomKoreanwithMawen, we will go with the last 2 consonants and we will proceed with extended knowledge of Hangul such as double consonants, combined vowels, ‘bat-chim’ and more! After completing the whole series, we will able to read and write perfect Korean and for the sake of more advanced learning as well! But, don’t forget, repetition is key for you to master Korean characters and stick it into your mind FOREVER. Keep practice and download the worksheet below!

Download Worksheet #6 and practice writing!Download

Let us party for a while first, we deserve a celebration!

Cheer up from Twice!!

Good job!!! Encouragement from EXO!

Clap and cheer from GOT7!

Hearttt from Cha Eun-woo, ASTRO!

Learn Korean with me through #JomKoreanwithMawen video series, while enhance your understanding through lesson posts in MyDaehan to give you the best learning experience! You can refer to other video lessons in mastering the consonants better, and I found out Korean Unnie in YouTube teach me a lot of tips in differentiating and reading the correct Korean pronunciation!

In next post, we will continue learning consonants, unlocking all 24 cute Korean alphabets by the end of this series! Just 2 more lessons left!

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Tune in every weekend for new lesson posts and follow our Instagram @mydaehan2020 for #JomKoreanwithMawen video lesson series and other interesting content!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CAjiHauFmeu/

Author

Melvin Tan

Content Manager (Language)
Online Supporter of Korean Embassy in Malaysia

Bio-science student in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Korean Enthusiasts
Korean learner for 10 years, but still amateur

Instagram: @tanmawen

Jom Korean with Mawen #5: Hangul 한글 Pt. 5 (ㅅ-, ㅇ-, ㅈ-)

An-nyeong ha-sae-yo, chin-gu (friends)! It’s time to learn Korean characters again of the week. While this post was written during the first day of Hari Raya Aldifitri, I will hope to wish all of my fellow Muslim readers a blessed Eid festival this year! 스라맛 하리라야.

This lesson we will learn a new set of 3 consonants, which are ‘ㅅ’ (s), ㅇ (-), ㅈ(j). Personally I found these shapes of the consonants very cute, as you can eventually create them into an emoji, like (ㅅ_ㅅ) ‘smiling face’, (ㅇ-ㅇ) ‘stunted face’, (ㅈ>ㅈ) ‘bird face’? Comment down below creating emoji text with the Hangul characters we have learnt so far. Without further a do, let us start with the lesson today! Let’s say hi to our ‘oppas’.

Refer to past lessons for a complete guide in learning Korean characters, Hangul step by step with #JomKoreanwithMawen!

Jom Korean with Mawen #6: Hangul 한글 Pt. 6 (ㅊ-, ㅋ-, ㅌ-)

Jom Korean with Mawen #1: Hangul 한글 Pt. 1 (-ㅣ, -ㅓ, -ㅏ, -ㅑ, -ㅕ)

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In this lesson, we are learning three consonants: -ㅅ (s), -ㅇ (-), -ㅈ(j). Watch the video lesson first before making any notes referring to the written materials, especially on the correct pronunciation as the romanization is not always the best representation for the sound.

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The first consonant of today shape like ‘ㅅ’, consisting of only 2 strokes, each at the left and the right. You can relate this like a house roof shape too. This consonant has the sound of ‘s’, in romanization. This is among the easiest one as the pronunciation is quite similar to the English romanization while having simple shape.

Example

1. (사)과 : sa-gwa (apple)

2. (수)학 : su-hak (Mathematics)

3. (쇼)핑 : syo-ping (shopping)

4. 음(식) : eum-sik (food)

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The next consonant is something that we are familiar with. Remember Mr. Placeholder we mentioned during the first Hangul lesson? Yes, it is the little cute circle alphabet, ‘ㅇ’. This is consider a consonant, as it can be placed in front of the vowels. In this case, ‘ㅇ’ doesn’t represent any sound, but just a placeholder in front of the vowels. However, if the ‘ㅇ’ is placed after a vowel, then it will make a sound of ‘-ng’. We will discuss this more in the future, on how we pronounce consonants at the back of the syllable, called ‘bat-chim’.

Example

1. (언)니 : eon-ni (elder sister)

2. (아)버지 : a-beo-ji (father)

3. (아)프다 : a-peu-da (painful)

4. (양)파 : yang-pa (onion)

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The last consonant of this post will be a modification of ‘ㅅ’, with an addition of a vertical line on top of the roof. This will shape like, ‘ㅈ’. There is another shape which is acceptable in Hangul and more commonly in written form, like as shown in the picture below. It is like a ‘7’ with a line from its middle to towards the right. This consonant can be relate to ‘j’ in romanization. However, it is different as the shape of the mouth when we pronounce ‘ㅈ’ is flatly opened; while our mouth is more to an ‘o’ shape when we pronounce ‘j’. ‘ㅈ’ makes dental sound, similar like ‘ㅅ’, but with the role of the tongue touching to the top of your mouth.

Example

1. (자)동차 : ja-dong-cha (car)

2. (지)하철 : ji-ha-cheol (subway/train)

3. 박서(준) : pak-seo-jun (Park Seo Joon) 😀

4. 감(자) : kam-ja (potato)

박서준 YAAAAAAAAAA

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Dae-bak! You have mastered 19 Hangul characters now, with an addition of 3 consonants in this lesson! Mama is gonna be so proud of you. I hope you all really enjoy this fun learning journey so far. However, please keep in mind that, for you to master and improve Korean faster, you cannot escape from constant practicing. Start reading short song (Korean) lyrics and identify how each Hangul syllable sounds. Of course, practice writing it repetitively helps you to print them onto your brain. Download the latest worksheet below to start practicing Korean!

Download Worksheet 5 now and practice!Download

You have been working so hard, and you deserved cheering from Park Seo Joon today!

OMG stop that!

Wow, that ‘rich tall’ Mi-nam smile

If you can imagine finding him
in front of the toilet door int the morning

BRAIN DEAD

Learn Korean with me through #JomKoreanwithMawen video series, while enhance your understanding through lesson posts in MyDaehan to give you the best learning experience! You can refer to other video lessons in mastering the consonants better, and I found out Korean Unnie in YouTube teach me a lot of tips in differentiating and reading the correct Korean pronunciation!

In next post, we will continue learning consonants, unlocking all 24 cute Korean alphabets by the end of this series! Just 2 more lessons left!

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Tune in every weekend for new lesson posts and follow our Instagram @mydaehan2020 for #JomKoreanwithMawen video lesson series and other interesting content!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CAjiHauFmeu/

Author

Melvin Tan

Content Manager (Language)
Online Supporter of Korean Embassy in Malaysia

Bio-science student in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Korean Enthusiasts
Korean learner for 10 years, but still amateur

Instagram: @tanmawen

Jom Korean with Mawen #4: Hangul 한글 Pt. 4 (ㄹ-, ㅁ-, ㅂ-)

An-nyeong ha-sae-yo, everyone! This has been the 4th post of #JomKoreanwithMawen, have you been enjoying the whole new language learning experience so far? In the past 3 lessons, we have learnt 10 vowels and started with 3 consonants. We are reaching half-way in unlocking all the Hangul alphabets. Just stay strong and we are very close to the success!

Have you downloaded all the worksheets and practiced writing them these few days? Remember this, practice makes perfect! You can go back to the previous lessons to have a recap: part 1, part 2 and part 3.

In this lesson, we are learning three consonants: ㄹ-, ㅁ- and ㅂ-. Watch the video lesson first before making any notes referring to the written materials, especially on the correct pronunciation as the romanization is not always the best representation for the sound.

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The first consonant has a more complicated shape, with the combination of (ㄱ), (ㅡ) and (ㄴ). It represents a sound that similar like ‘l’ and ‘r’. Most of the Korean terms do not have this sound, therefore you can observe that this consonant is most commonly found in loan words. Loan words are vocabularies that derived from foreign language. However, they will sounds different that the original pronunciation as they are adapted into the Korean reading patterns.

Example

1. (라)면 : ra-myeon (instant noodles)

2. (로)켓 : ro-ket (rocket)

3. (라)디오 : ra-di-o (radio)

4. 하(루) : ha-ru (radio)

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The second one is easy to remember of its shape. It looks just like a rectangle. You can write (l) as your first stroke, followed by (ㄱ) and close the box last. It has a sound of ‘m’ and ‘b’ in English romanization. It’s closer to the ‘m’ sound, if we compare with the next consonant later.

Example

1. (마)레이시아 : ma-re-i-si-a (Malaysia)

2. (머)리 : meo-ri (head)

3. 마마무 : ma-ma-mu (Mamamoo)

4. 모자 : mo-ja (hat)

K-POP GIRL GROUP MAMAMOO!

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The last consonant for this lesson will be sounded similar like ‘b’ and ‘p’ in English. The shape of this character is like a container with a lid, or a tank filled partially with water. But, we need to write it in the correct sequence, from left to right, and top to bottom. We will draw two (ㅣ) strokes, then complete with another two (ㅡ) across the lines. The sound of this consonant can be confusing, as it is somehow sounds very similar like ‘p’, but mostly close to the ‘b’ in English.

Example

1. (바)지 : ba-ji (pants)

2. 보다 : bo-da (to see)

3. 바보 : ba-bo (idiot)

4. 비싸 : bi-ssa (expensive)

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Congratulations! You have learnt 10 vowels and 6 consonants so far, you have mastered in total of 16 Hangul alphabets. You are near to master all the alphabets soon. Keep up the pace and more video and written lessons will be up to guide you in learning Korean happily. I stress out one point: practice! practice! practice! Download the worksheet below, print out and practice writing now!

Download Worksheet 4 and start practicing again!Download

Before that let me cheer you all with cute boys for your hard work all these while! #fighting #BTS

Good job! Thank you for the support!

Let’s have some ‘aegyo’ moment before we continue! *heart melting

Awww, I know we have been working so hard, worth to get a KISS!

Learn Korean with me through #JomKoreanwithMawen video series, while enhance your understanding through lesson posts in MyDaehan to give you the best learning experience! You can refer to other video lessons in mastering the consonants better, and I found out Korean Unnie in YouTube teach me a lot of tips in differentiating and reading the correct Korean pronunciation!

In next post, we will continue learning consonants, unlocking all 24 cute Korean alphabets by the end of this series!

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Tune in every Saturday for new lesson posts and follow our Instagram @mydaehan2020 for #JomKoreanwithMawen video lesson series!

https://www.instagram.com/p/B_WX6fCHwee/

Author

Melvin Tan

Content Manager (Language)
Online Supporter of Korean Embassy in Malaysia

Bio-science student in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Korean Enthusiasts
Korean learner for 10 years, but still amateur

Instagram: @tanmawen

Jom Korean with Mawen #3: Hangul 한글 Pt. 3 (ㄱ-, ㄴ-, ㄷ-)

An-nyeong ha-sae-yo, my fellow Korean learners. It is now your third lesson with us, step by step in learning and mastering Hangul! You should be very proud of yourself. Last two lessons, we have covered the 10 vowel consonants in Korean alphabets. Do you still remember?

Go back to the 2 previous lesson to recap on what you have learnt. As you have practiced the vowels, it will be easier for you in mastering consonants and faster in learning new Korean vocabulary.

Go back to: Jom Korean with Mawen #2: Hangul 한글 Pt. 2 (-ㅡ, -ㅜ, -ㅗ, -ㅠ, -ㅛ)

As recap on the 10 vowels we have learnt last 2 posts. Generally, there are 2 types of vowels, with top bottom position and left right position. This will help you in understanding how to arrange syllable with consonants later.

Left row refer to left-right vowel character; while right row refer to top-bottom vowel character

Consonants in Korean is quite different than English (and also Bahasa Malaysia) in terms of its pronunciation. It can get confused as indeed Korean pronunciation is still quite similar with the English romanization pronunciation, but we should note that they are differences in between the 2 languages.

Therefore, we should note that romanization is only a guideline for us to remember the syllable better, and we should practice pronounce it in the correct sound. I will suggest you to watch the video lesson, before this lesson material. In this lesson, we will learn about 3 consonants, ㄱ, ㄴ, and ㄷ with similar sound of ‘g/k’, ‘n’ and ‘d/t’ romanization in English, with some examples of vocabulary with the consonants and vowels that we learnt.

*Tips: take note on the differences of sound for ‘ㄱ’ and ‘ㄷ’. Practice by pronounce the word together with me in the video

The first consonant is similar like ‘g’ or ‘k’ sound in English. It is pronounced in the middle ground of both sounds. It is written in 1 continuous stroke, straight vertical line then write down 90 degree. This is for the top bottom position, eg. ‘ko (고). The character will be different a bit, with the the down line curved a bit towards the left when it is in the left right position, eg. ‘ka (가).

Example:

1. (감)사 합니다 : kam-sa ha-mi-da (Thank you)

2. (고)마워 : ko-ma-wo (Thank you)

3. 학(교) : hak-kyo (School)

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The second consonant is easier as it is more similar like the ‘n’ sound in English. It is written with single continuous stroke, short vertical line then push straight to the right. It is a twisted version of ‘ㄱ’. For this consonant, the character is written the same for both conditions (top bottom and left right). Note that not every character has variations like ‘ㄱ’. Eg. na (나) and no (노).

Example:

1. 너 : neo (You)

2. 나 : na (I)

3. 네 : ne (Yes)

4. (나)라 : na-ra (Country)

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The last consonant for today will be like ‘d/t’ in English. This can be written with 2 strokes, start with a vertical line, then insert a ‘ㄴ’ below it. To pronounce this consonant can be confusing as well. It is pronounced like the ‘d’ sound with ‘t’ sound. It is the middle ground of 2 sounds. It can be confused, listen how to pronounce it correctly from the video, or refer to other video lessons from other sources. I always look up in the digital dictionary!

Example:

1. (드)라마 : deu-ra-ma (Drama)

2. 제주(도) : je-ju-do (Jeju Island)

3. (도)시 : do-si (city)

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This lesson you have unlocked 3 consonants, and are you excited as you can recognise more and more Hangeul characters now? Keep it up until you have gone through all the characters and we are very near to it! Keep practice writing the vowels and consonants we have learnt so far in the worksheets provided, as only through practice you can remember them.

Download Worksheet 3 here to practice ㄱ,ㄴ,ㄷ today!Download

Learn Korean with me through #JomKoreanwithMawen video series, while enhance your understanding through lesson posts in MyDaehan to give you the best learning experience! You can refer to other video lessons in mastering the consonants better, and I found out Korean Unnie in YouTube teach me a lot of tips in differentiating and reading the correct Korean pronunciation!

In next post, we will proceed with other consonants, step-by-step in mastering all the 25 Hangul characters with you!

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Tune in every Saturday for new lesson posts and follow our Instagram @mydaehan2020 for #JomKoreanwithMawen video lesson series!

https://www.instagram.com/p/B_WX6fCHwee/?utm_source=ig_embed

Author

Melvin Tan

Content Manager (Language)
Online Supporter of Korean Embassy in Malaysia

Bio-science student in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Korean Enthusiasts
Korean learner for 10 years, but still amateur

Instagram: @tanmawen

📲[CAMPAIGN] #staystrongcampaign

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Koreans and Malaysians are coming together, to appreciate our heroes in hospitals and communities who work tirelessly in protecting us. Join #staystrongcampaign as a social movement to give motivation and encouragement to our friends and families across the sea, to stay persistent in this hard period of time.

Join #staysafecampaign with these simple steps:

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Jom Korean with Mawen #2: Hangul 한글 Pt. 2 (-ㅡ, -ㅜ, -ㅗ, -ㅠ, -ㅛ)

Annyeonghasaeyo, everyone. How was the first lesson? Have you take some time to remember -ㅣ, -ㅓ, -ㅏ, -ㅑ, -ㅕ? Feel free to go back to our first lesson and practice writing with the worksheet provided here: Go back to the first lesson!

We will continue learning the next 5 vowel characters in Hangul. Last week, the 5 vowels are written from left to right in the syllable form. For example:

ㅇ(placeholder) + ㅏ(-a) = 아 (a)

ㅇ(placeholder) + ㅑ(-ya) = 야 (ya)

The next 5 vowel characters we learnt today, however, are written from top to bottom. These are the 2 possibilities of the character arrangement in forming a syllable. Let me introduce the 5 vowels for today, before we get deeper with the writing arrangement. The vowels for today have similar patterns and shapes with the first 5 we learnt.

The first one is similar like ‘-i’ (ㅣ), but it is rotated horizontally, forming ‘-eu’ (ㅡ). This is pronounced as ‘earl’ without the ‘-rlllll’ sound. There are less vocabulary with the word 으, but it is commonly used as an expression of annoyed, similar like ‘Ugh!’.

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Have you notice how ‘eu’ is written as a syllable itself? It is written from top to bottom, instead of left to right. Similarly, we should add the placeholder (ㅇ) first (top) before the vowel (bottom).

ㅇ (Placeholder) + ㅡ (-eu) = 으 (eu)

Easily, add a vertical stroke below the ‘ㅡ’ to form the second vowel ‘-u’ (ㅜ). This is very similar like a T shape. ‘U’ (ㅜ) is pronounced like ‘woo’. The word ‘우’ has several meanings in Korean, it can mean ‘right (direction)’ or ‘cow’. However, these meanings are rarely used, or only applied in phrases. You should be careful, as a word of a similar sound can have several meanings. Let’s have an easier phrase as an example, the word ‘우’ can be found in the word ‘we/us’ in Korean, ‘u-ri’ (우리).

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Do you remember how to transform ‘-ㅏ’ to ‘-ㅓ’? Rotation is the hint! Yes, this time we will rotate ‘ㅜ’ 180 degrees to form the third of today, ‘-o’ (ㅗ). You can relate this as an inverted T. ‘-ㅗ’ is pronounced as ‘aw’, which can get confusing with ‘eo’ (-ㅓ). There is some tips on how you can differentiate them. Honestly, you can get very confused by hearing them.

-ㅗ (-o): pronounce with rounded mouth, sounds like ‘aw’.

-ㅓ (-eo): pronounce with opened mouth, sounds like ‘oh’.

‘오’ (o) means number, five in Korean. Let’s have a bit of warm up before we go to Korean numbers later!

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Let’s have a quiz again! When we add another dash for ‘-a’ (-ㅏ), what will happen to ‘-ㅑ’? Yes, we have a ‘y’ sound to the ‘-a’, forming ‘ya’. This rule is similar to ‘u’ (ㅜ) as well. As we add another stroke to the ‘ㅜ’, it gives the ‘y’ sound, forming ‘yu’ (ㅠ). This sounds like You and I, ‘you’. As we relate ‘-u’ and ‘-yu’, it can form a vocabulary, ‘우유’ (u-yu) which means milk. Don’t you like Banana 우유?

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Have you guess the last one? If we add another stroke to ‘-o’ (-ㅗ), it will become ‘yo’ (-ㅛ). This is pronounce like ‘yo-yo’, yo! We are actually quite familiar with this ‘yo’ in Korean conversation. The formal language often ends with ‘yo’ (요), such as the often said ‘an-nyeong-ha-sae-요’.

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🎉🎉🎉 Yes! You have completed learning all the 10 vowel characters in Hangul! This worth a celebration. We are just 14 characters left from mastering all the Hangul characters. Let us recap all the vowels characters we have learnt so far.

Now, it takes time for you to practice writing them nicely, while remember them in your head. Spend your extra time doing some exercise, practice writing them in the worksheet below, and test yourself if you can recognize without referring to the notes. You can learn faster later as we learn the consonants, being able to read more Korean words in a sentence, only if you can get these vowels nailed in your head! Enjoy your #stayathome moment with #JomKoreanwithMawen.

Click here to download your second Hangul worksheetDownload

Learn Korean with me through #JomKoreanwithMawen video series, while enhance your understanding through lesson posts in MyDaehan to give you the best learning experience!

In next post, we will proceed with consonants, step-by-step in mastering all the 25 Hangul characters with you!

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Tune in every Saturday for new lesson posts and follow our Instagram @mydaehan2020 for #JomKoreanwithMawen video lesson series!

https://www.instagram.com/p/B_WX6fCHwee/?utm_source=ig_embed

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Author

Melvin Tan

Content Manager (Language)
Online Supporter of Korean Embassy in Malaysia

Bio-science student in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Korean Enthusiasts
Korean learner for 10 years, but still amateur

Instagram: @tanmawen

Jom Korean with Mawen #1: Hangul 한글 Pt. 1 (-ㅣ, -ㅓ, -ㅏ, -ㅑ, -ㅕ)

Tune in every Saturdays in mydaehan.wordpress.com for the latest Korean lesson from Melvin!

안녕 하세요 (Annyeonghasaeyo)! Welcome to our first Korean learning space with me, Mawen. During this #stayathome period of MCO in our country, we all have that goal achievement list that you hope can achieve them while spending the free time meaningfully at home. People are reading recipes and trying them out in kitchen, some of us spend some couch potato moments to catch up the latest drama, while there are some of us passionately learning a new language.

I started learning Korean when I was 15. I was a ‘Hottest’ (2PM fans) during that young time, and the reason I wanted to learn Korean was because so that I can catch up the lyrics during their music shows to sing-along! Therefore, learning to read Korean was my first mission which eventually brought me into the whole journey of mastering Korean.

Korean characters are known as Hangul/Hangeul, 한글. Hangul is an unique writing system which is easy to learn and master. This is much related to its history. During the ancient Joseon dynasty, Korean language was mainly written in Chinese characters, Hanja. As Hanja was originated from foreign, the Korean language could not expressed fully of its meaning by Hanja. Common people who were not the intelligentsia were having difficulties in communicating with the authorities especially when in needs of black and white. King Sejong during the 1440s felt the sympathy of the people and eventually introduced this writing system in replacing Hanja. This set of 24 letters reflects the root of Korean culture being an independent and an unique identity from other nations. Until now, the Koreans are very proud of Hangul, as they celebrate Hangul Day (한글날) on October 9 every year. King Sejong was honorably respected by every Koreans. It is King Sejong, the one that stands out as a well-known statue of a great man sitting on the throne in front of Gwanghwamum.

King Sejong Statue in front of Gwanghwamun (광화문)

Hangul is easy to learn, as it has been simplified into characters with strokes and curves only. You will not be surprising, you can read a passage (without knowing it meaning first) after learning just for few weeks! This is why Koreans’ illiteracy rate is among the lowest. Hangul consists of 24 characters, with 10 vowels and 14 consonants. Combination of this characters form a syllable/word representing a pronunciation. Korean syllables are similar like blocks. Basically, a syllable block must consist of at least one consonant and one vowel character. There are words which represent only a vowel. Therefore, a ‘placeholder’ (ㅇ) is added to make up a valid wording block. Hence, a Hangul character must have at least 2 characters.

With the understanding of the role of a placeholder, let us start learning the first 5 vowels characters for this lesson. Today’s characters only involve two simple ‘drawing’, long vertical and short horizontal straight lines.

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First one, is ‘i’ (pronounce as e). It is written as a straight line from top to bottom. This character can be found from the sexy name of Park Seo-joon in Itaewon Class, Saeroyi (새로’이’).

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Secondly, draw a short dash at the right middle of ㅣ to turn into ‘a’ (ㅏ), as pronounce as ah. Surprisingly this vowel can be found from a beauty role in Itaewon Class too! Sae-ro-이’s first crush, Soo-ah (수아) has a ‘아’ in her name.

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Draw two dash to ㅣ for your third vowel character, ‘ya’ (ㅑ), pronounce like ‘ya’ in yacht. This sounds similar like the expression we often heard from Korean drama, when there are angry, shouting at someone, “야!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

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Let’s get back to the root ㅣ again, but we draw a dash at the middle left. It will be the forth vowel, ‘eo’ (ㅓ), pronounce as ‘oh’. This character is seen in the word ‘eo-je’ (어제), means ‘yesterday’.

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We get to the last one already? Draw two dashes on the left of ㅣ to form vowel ‘yeo’ (ㅕ) that pronounce as ‘yo’. Do you know what is ‘woman’ called in Korean? It is ‘yeo-ja’ (여자). Latata latata latata…. Do you know who sang this song? The hot K-pop girl group from Cube Entertainment, (G)I-DLE is called ‘yeo-ja-a-i-deul’ (‘여자’아이들) in Korean!

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How’s you learning so far? Isn’t it easy to follow? As we have learnt these 5 vowels, what it takes you is to remember and memorize, so you can recognize these characters from far! Practice writing the characters also helps you to carbon copy these patterns into your brain. Therefore, I have prepared you a worksheet to practice writing it! Spend a 5-minute break from your work, and practice writing the characters while pronounce it loudly for your brain to memorize.

Click here to download your first Hangul worksheet!Download

Learn Korean with me through #JomKoreanwithMawen video series, while enhance your understanding through lesson posts in MyDaehan to give you the best learning experience!

–Streaming after 1.30PM, 25/4/2020–

In next post, we will continue learning another 5 vowels, step-by-step in mastering all the 25 Hangul characters with you!

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Tune in every Saturday for new lesson posts and follow our Instagram @mydaehan2020 for #JomKoreanwithMawen video lesson series!

https://www.instagram.com/p/B_WX6fCHwee/

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Author

Melvin Tan

Content Manager (Language)
Online Supporter of Korean Embassy in Malaysia

Bio-science student in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Korean Enthusiasts
Korean learner for 10 years, but still amateur

Instagram: @tanmawen