The Korean alphabet looks a lot different from Chinese & Japanese. It has its own unique style. But Koreans didn’t always use Hangul – so, where did it come from?
What is the origin of 한글(han-gul/Korean alphabet)?
A long time ago, Koreans actually used a Chinese writing system. But it was difficult to learn, so many common Koreans had difficulty understanding Chinese writing.
Therefore, King Sejong created 한글 (Hangeul) in order to provide an easily accessible writing system for common people. In 1443 한글 was created by a team of scholars in a royal research organisation named the 집현전 (Jiphyeonjeon). This is still used to this day by both North & South Koreans.
It is regarded so highly, in Korea we even celebrate 한글날 (Hangul Day) on October 9th each year!
Hangul can look intimidating to Western eyes, but it is actually one of the easiest Asiatic alphabets to learn. It’s actually phonetic, which means each character is representative of a sound. This sound never changes, for instance:
ㄱ – K
ㅏ – A
ㅁ – M
감
Kam (Persimmon)
Learning 한글 is an important and a big step to build up Korean. 한글 might look like an alien language to you very first time, but when you actually study it’s pretty easy to learn. Most of my students can read and write 한글 in a month or two.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: Currently, my schedule is full due to a large influx of inquiries. 1-2-1 classes are unavailable at the moment. I am working on consolidating new starters into group classes.
If you are interesting in joining one of these new group classes, feel free to email me below. I may not have an immediate start for you, but will work to find some days of the week for new starter group sessions as soon as possible.