Language Learning and Conclusion

안녕하세요! Hello, and welcome to the final South Korea post in The Library’s Armchair Traveler series. This week we’re going to look at the Korean language and some resources you can use to learn it.

The Korean Alphabet

Did you know it takes just a few days to learn how to read the Korean alphabet, Hangul? While you may not know exactly what you are reading, you can quickly learn to phonetically pronounce words. The alphabet was created in 1443 by King Sejong of the Joseon Dynasty in order to replace Chinese characters previously used. Chinese characters are numerous and were difficult for middle- and lower-class people to learn without access to education. Hangul proved much easier to learn and helped increase literacy rates.

In Korean you’ll find a lot of words adopted from English, so you may find that you understand more than you’d expect just by learning the alphabet! Here are some examples:

Coffee  커피 (keo-pi) ☕

Bus  버스 (beo-seu) ?

Pizza  피자 (pi-ja) ?

Learn the Language

The Library is here to help you learn a new language (or two, or three!) You can learn Korean and over 70 other languages via step-by-step lessons. Head over to our databases page and click on the big, colorful M to get started!

Another great online resource you can use to learn Korean is called Talk to Me in Korean where native Korean people teach the language through books, ebooks, online courses, and YouTube videos! You have to pay for some resources, but the essential Korean courses and YouTube videos are free! They are also very active on their social media platforms and share answers to questions they get from learners around the world.

We hope you’ve enjoyed our visit to South Korea! Feel free to share any questions, fun facts, or recommendations for us all to learn more about the country. Where should we go next?