한 Learn Korean Online Hub

Reading real Korean

Day 10 of 10~15 minSigns, menus and place names, and the words that are not said letter by letter.
Romanisation help

With every letter learned, today is practice on the Korean you meet on arrival: station names, signs and menus. 서울 (seoul), 지하철 (jihacheol), 'underground', and 비빔밥 (bibimbap) are all readable now. By the end you will also know why a few words sound different from their spelling, and where on the site those rules are taught.

Reading a sign block by block

Korean puts spaces between words, not between syllables, so first find the word, then read its blocks one at a time, each from top left to bottom right. 명동 (myeongdong) is two blocks: ㅁ, ㅕ and ㅇ, then ㄷ, ㅗ and ㅇ. Signs in Seoul usually give the Revised Romanisation as well, which is the system this site uses, so you can check yourself against it. Many menu words are compounds you can take apart: 비빔밥 is 비빔, 'mixing', plus 밥, 'rice'. Once you can decode a word, look it up by its Hangul rather than guessing from the romanisation, because the Hangul is exact and the romanisation is not.

Read these

Every word here uses only letters you have met so far. Say it before you press the speaker.

seoul
Seoul
busan
Busan
myeongdong
Myeongdong (a shopping district in Seoul)
jihacheol
underground railway
chulgu
exit
ipgu
entrance
hwajangsil
toilet
gimchi
kimchi
bibimbap
rice mixed with vegetables
bulgogi
marinated grilled beef
sikdang
restaurant
gamsahamnida
thank you

Check yourself

8 questions. Get 5 right to finish the day.