Tag: pronunciation

Hey, I have a question regarding pronunciation. I can’t hear a difference between ㅐ, ㅔ, ㅚ, ㅙ, ㅞ, as well as ㄱ, ㄲ, ㅂ, and ㅃ. I’m just starting out and trying to learn Hangul and the pronunciation. But to me the vowels sound the same, as well as the double consonants seem to be the same as the single consonants. I’m using a YouTube video from seemile to help with pronunciation. Thank you very much!

Hi! I’m afraid I’m… still struggling with pronunciation. As for the consonants, I think most native Koreans also say they are almost exactly the same and hard to distinguish between, but they have very subtle differences that you will pick up naturally on the more you speak and listen to Korean.

As for double consonants, I kinda need someone to tell me how to improve my pronunciation of these as well! I practice pronouncing double consonants a lot with my friends and for the most part I can’t even hear any difference between them when people speak. But try looking up some tips for pronouncing them (there are things like taking a small pause before a double consonant, not using your throat etc.) and asking people to correct/demonstrate pronunciation is always helpful!

Sorry for the weird pictures? 

similar words:

건더기   –   궁둥이 

건더기 = Solid ingredients of soup, bits of meat and vegetables in soup; also grounds/reason for doing something

건더기만 건져 먹다 = Eat only the big bits 
이 수프는 건더기가 많다 = This soup is very chunky.
그를 비난할 건더기가 없다 = I have no grounds to accuse him.

궁둥이 = Buttocks, butt, bottom etc.
(technically only the lower buttocks, but people use both 궁둥이 and 엉덩이 to refer to the entire buttocks^^) 

Pronunciation of homonyms

Homonyms: Words that are pronounced and often spelt the same but have different meanings.

In Korean homonyms of course share the same pronunciation, but there are often differences in the length of the vowel sounds. You can check the differences by using the Korean-Korean dictionary. Longer vowel sounds will be marked with a [:] and you can also listen to the recordings. Most Koreans don’t know about these differences and the important ones you are likely to pick up naturally like they do so don’t worry about this.  

눈 [눈ː] (snow) has a longer 우 sound than 눈 (eye)
말 [말ː] (words) had a longer 아 sound than 말 (end of; horse)
수학 [수ː학] (maths) has a longer 우 sound that 수학 (study)

Hi! I was wondering – do you have any advice on Korean pronunciation? I am currently horrible at pronouncing Korean, so any advice would help! ALSO – my Kakaotalk id is @smileyulli , if anyone wants to talk, just for encouraging each other or whatever! Thanks!!!

Hi! Well, practising with native speakers and asking them to correct your pronunciation is the best way. You can do this during language exchange or perhaps put recordings of your speaking on Lang-8. Learning the pronunciation rules is really important if you haven’t already. Also just practice to train your mouth! Read out-loud whenever you’re reading and follow along/mimic the pronunciation when you’re listening to something.  

외’, ‘왜’의 발음

질문: ‘외’를 어떻게 발음하면 좋을지 설명해 주세요.

답변: ‘ㅚ’는 원칙적으로 단모음으로 규정합니다. 즉 입술을 둥글게 하면서 동시에 ‘ㅔ’를 발음합니다. 그러나 입술을 둥글게 하면서 계기적으로 ‘ㅔ’를 내는 이중 모음으로 발음함도 허용합니다. ‘ㅚ’는 이중 모음으로 발음하는 경우에 문자와는 달리 ‘ㅞ’와 발음이 비슷하게 되는데, ‘금괴’가 ‘금궤’와 같이 발음되는 경우가 그 보기입니다.

원칙적으로 = basically, in principle, as a rule

단모음 = short vowel 

규정하다 = stipulate, regulate, define 

즉 = i.e., in other words, namely
둥글게 = spherically   

동시 = at the same time
이중 = double
허용하다 = to permit   

금괴 = gold bar   

금궤 = money box 

보기 = example (seeing)