30-Minute Guide to Hangeul: Korean Vowels Made Easy with Sticks and Lines
Learn Hangeul in 30 Minutes: #1 — Korean Vowels
Hi, I'm Ayakim!
Let’s keep moving forward with our Korean language journey.
In our last lesson, we looked at how Hangul, the Korean alphabet, is made.
If you haven’t read it yet, be sure to start here →
30-Minute Guide to Hangeul: An Easy Introduction to Korean Letters
Introduction: Why Starting with the Alphabet Makes Everything Easier
You probably already know that Hangul is made up of consonants and vowels.
So from today, let’s take a closer look at what those consonants and vowels actually look like!
To be honest, the first real hurdle in learning Korean is memorizing the Hangul characters.
You’ll probably forget them and mix them up a lot at first—but don’t worry, that’s completely normal.
Every Korean learner goes through this stage.
You don’t have to be perfect.
As long as you keep going, one day you’ll suddenly find yourself reading Hangul.
(It took me about six months to read smoothly—so even if you're slow at memorizing like I am, just hang in there!)
Let’s get started!
1. Introduction: Why Learn Basic Vowels First?
Vowels are essential to reading Korean.
In English, we use letters like “a” or “e” as vowels.
In Korean, vowels are created by combining simple vertical and horizontal lines.
For example, vowels like ㅏ or ㅓ appear on the right side of a syllable block, and ㅗ or ㅜ appear underneath.
Vowels never go on the left or top in a Hangul block—only right or bottom.
There are 21 Korean vowels in total, divided into:
Basic vowels (10)
Compound vowels (11)
Today we’ll focus only on the 10 basic vowels.
Once you master these, learning the compound vowels becomes much easier!
2. The Two Building Blocks: Sticks and Lines
Korean vowels are built from two simple shapes: vertical lines and horizontal lines.
Traditionally, the vertical line (｜) represents “heaven,” and the horizontal line (ㅡ) represents “earth.”
(Don’t worry—you don’t have to memorize this, it’s just a fun cultural note.)
3. Meet the Basic Vowels (10)
Let’s go through the 10 basic vowels one by one.
They may look similar and be tricky to memorize, so try reading them aloud and writing them down.
There’s a stroke order guide coming up too—writing by hand helps you remember better.
🟡 10 Basic Korean Vowels – Shapes & Sounds
ㅏ (a)
Shape: A vertical line with a short horizontal line on the right.
Pronunciation: Like “a” in car.
ㅑ (ya)
Shape: Same as ㅏ, but with two short horizontal lines on the right.
Pronunciation: Like “ya” in yard.
ㅓ (eo)
Shape: A vertical line with a short horizontal line on the left.
Pronunciation: Like “u” in up (a soft “uh” sound).
ㅕ (yeo)
Shape: Same as ㅓ, but with two short horizontal lines on the left.
Pronunciation: Like “yuh” in young.
ㅗ (o)
Shape: A horizontal line with a short vertical line above it.
Pronunciation: Like “o” in go.
ㅛ (yo)
Shape: Same as ㅗ, but with two vertical lines above the horizontal line.
Pronunciation: Like “yo” in yoga.
ㅜ (u)
Shape: A horizontal line with a short vertical line below it.
Pronunciation: Like “oo” in too.
ㅠ (yu)
Shape: Same as ㅜ, but with two vertical lines below the horizontal line.
Pronunciation: Like “you” in youth.
ㅡ (eu)
Shape: A simple horizontal line.
Pronunciation: A unique Korean sound; the tongue is pulled back. No direct English equivalent, but close to “uh” with a tight mouth.
ㅣ (i)
Shape: A simple vertical line.
Pronunciation: Like “ee” in see.
4. Practice: Write and Pronounce
Let’s practice writing these 10 vowels.
When learning a new script, it helps to combine four actions:
seeing, hearing, writing, and speaking.
So don’t just look—write it out and say it aloud!
↑↑↑Try printing this PDF and use it to practice writing.↑↑↑
5. Mini Quiz: Match Shape and Sound
Ready to test what you’ve learned?
Try this short quiz! Share your score in the comments!
🔹 Part 1: Multiple Choice
Q1. How is this vowel pronounced? → ㅏ
a. o b. a c. u d. i
✅ Correct Answer: b. a
Q2. How is this vowel pronounced? → ㅓ
a. eo b. ya c. eu d. o
✅ Correct Answer: a. eo
Q3. Which one represents the sound you make when you round your lips and say "o"?
a. ㅏ b. ㅗ c. ㅜ d. ㅣ
✅ Correct Answer: b. ㅗ
Q4. What is the romanized spelling of the vowel “ㅠ”?
a. yu b. yo c. ya d. u
✅ Correct Answer: a. yu
Q5. Which one sounds like a closed-mouth “u”?
a. ㅣ b. ㅡ c. ㅏ d. ㅑ
✅ Correct Answer: b. ㅡ
🔹 Part 2: Matching
Match each vowel with its romanized sound:
✅ Answer:
A → 3 B → 1 C → 2 D → 4
🔹 Part 3: Sound and Shape – Listen and Choose
Read the sound description and choose the correct vowel.
Q1.
The sound you make when you open your mouth wide and say “a”.
a. ㅓ b. ㅏ c. ㅑ d. ㅗ
✅ Correct Answer: b. ㅏ
Q2.
A rounded-lips “oo” sound.
a. ㅜ b. ㅏ c. ㅡ d. ㅕ
✅ Correct Answer: a. ㅜ
Q3.
A sound similar to the Japanese “i”, with lips stretched sideways.
a. ㅓ b. ㅣ c. ㅛ d. ㅡ
✅ Correct Answer: b. ㅣ
Q4.
A softer “a” sound, like “eo”. Your mouth is less open.
a. ㅕ b. ㅓ c. ㅏ d. ㅜ
✅ Correct Answer: b. ㅓ
Q5.
Sounds like “ya” in Japanese, with a “y” added at the front.
a. ㅏ b. ㅛ c. ㅑ d. ㅠ
✅ Correct Answer: c. ㅑ
6. Let’s Learn Some Real Words Using Only Basic Vowels
Once you’re familiar with the shapes and sounds, try reading real words made only with basic vowels:
Word, Meaning, and Structure
우유 (uyu)
Meaning: Milk
Structure: ㅇ + ㅜ + ㅇ + ㅠ
오이 (oi)
Meaning: Cucumber
Structure: ㅇ + ㅗ + ㅇ + ㅣ
아이 (ai)
Meaning: Child
Structure: ㅇ + ㅏ + ㅇ + ㅣ
아기 (agi)
Meaning: Baby
Structure: ㅇ + ㅏ + ㄱ + ㅣ
이유 (iyu)
Meaning: Reason
Structure: ㅇ + ㅣ + ㅇ + ㅠ
어머니 (eomeoni)
Meaning: Mother
Structure: ㅇ + ㅓ + ㅁ + ㅓ + ㄴ + ㅣ
✅ Tip:
The consonant ㅇ is silent when it appears before a vowel.
So 아 is pronounced just like the vowel ㅏ!
↓↓↓Click here to download the practice PDF↓↓↓
7. What’s Next? Double Vowels and Beyond
Once you’ve mastered the 10 basic vowels, it’s time to move on to compound vowels!
These are made by combining two simple vowels to create a new sound.
👀 For example:
ㅐ = ㅏ (a) + ㅣ (i) → ae
ㅘ = ㅗ (o) + ㅏ (a) → wa
In the next lesson, you’ll learn:
How to read and write compound vowels
How compound vowels are built from basic vowels
Common mistakes and how to avoid them
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