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Preface

The Korean language has a number of characteristics in common with Chinese and Japanese. These characteristics include their grammatical order (subject, object, verb), the lack of articles (a, an, the), and leaving the subject out of sentences when it is understood from the context.

While these grammatical differences may appear to be an obstacle to English speakers, the trick, when first taking up the study and use of the language, is to ignore the grammatical structure and simply use it the way it is supposed to be used. With this approach, the phrases and sentences you use feel just as “normal” as English.

Some 60 percent of the present-day Korean vocabulary consists of words that were originally Chinese. From around 100 B.C. to 300 A.D. the small kingdoms existing on the Korean peninsula were under the suzerainty of China. During that period, the Koreans adopted the Chinese system of writing, and with it, large numbers of Chinese terms.

In the early 1440s, the king of the unified kingdom of Choson (also spelled Chosun) ordered court scholars to create a new, strictly Korean script for writing both the native Korean and imported Chinese words. This new script, called Hangul (Hahn-guhl), was completed in 1446.

But Korea’s elite class continued to use the Chinese system of writing up to modern times. Today, the language is still generally written with a combination of Chinese characters and Hangul.

Another important factor in the study and use of Korean is that a growing percentage of the daily vocabulary of Koreans is Koreanized English—that is, English words that have been absorbed into the language and are pronounced as if they were Korean.

Camera, for example, is kamera (kah-may-rah). Candy is kaendi (kahn-dee). Jazz is jaju (jah-juu). Jelly is chelli (chehl-lee), and so on. In most cases, the Koreanized English words are still recognizable as English.

The English phonetics provided for each Korean word and expression in this book are designed to get as close as possible to the correct pronunciation. As you will see, the pronunciation follows a precise formula which soon becomes familiar. The phonetic versions are hyphenated to make their pronunciation easier. Just pronounce the phonetics as standard English and practice saying them in a smooth, even flow.

The pronunciation of a number of syllables making up the Korean language cannot be reproduced exactly in English phonetics, but since Korean is not tonal (like Chinese) it is generally possible to get close enough to the “correct” pronunciation to be understood.

Koreans are especially tolerant of foreigners who make an effort to speak their language, go out of their way to help them, and do not fault them for speaking with “an accent.”

Here are some very important example words to help you get started:

Korea	Hanguk (Hahn-guuk) 한국
Korean language	Hanguk mal (Hahn-guuk mahl) 한국말
Korean (language)	Hanguk-o (Hahn-guuk-aw) 한국어
Korean (person)	Hanguksaram (Hahn-guuk-sah-rahm) 한국사람
South Korea	Nam Han (Nahm Hahn) 남한
North Korea	Puk’an (Puuk-ahn) 북한