Speed up your Korean

Strategies to Avoid Common Errors

Lucien Brown, Jaehoon Yeon

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• eBook ISBN: 9781317270508
• Topic: Lingue e linguistica
• Subtopic: Lingue

Word order, honorifics, terms of addresses and idiomatic expressions are just some of the areas that cause confusion for students of Korean. Learning how to avoid the common errors that arise repeatedly in these areas is an essential step in successful language learning.

Speed Up Your Korean is a unique and innovative resource that identifies and explains these errors, enabling students to learn from their mistakes while enhancing their understanding of the Korean language.

Key features:

• Carefully selected grammar topics and examples based on the most commonly made errors
• Comprehensive explanations of the most difficult grammar points help learners gain an in-depth understanding of Korean grammar and usage
• Exercises throughout reinforce learning and link theory to practice

Suitable both for classroom use or self-study, Speed Up Your Korean is the ideal resource for all intermediate learners of Korean wishing to refine their language skills.

1
Pronunciation and spelling

Overview

1.1 Lax, aspirated and tensed consonants

1.1.1 Tips for pronouncing ㄱ, ㅋ, ㄲ

1.1.2 Tips for pronouncing ㄷ, ㅌ, ㄸ

1.1.3 Tips for pronouncing ㅂ, ㅍ, ㅃ

1.1.4 Tips for pronouncing ㅈ, ㅊ, ㅉ

1.1.5 Tips for pronouncing ㅅ, ㅆ

1.2 Other troublesome consonants

1.2.1 Pronouncing ㄹ

1.2.2 Pronouncing ㅁ and ㄴ

1.2.3 Double ㅁ double ㄴ and double ㄹ

1.3 Troublesome vowels

1.3.1 Pronouncing ㅡ

1.3.2 Pronouncing ㅡ

1.3.3 Pronouncing 의

1.3.4 Pronouncing ㅔ and ㅐ

1.4 Pronunciation changes

1.5 Common spelling mistakes

1.5.1 Confusing ㅈ and ㅊ (and ㄱ/ㅋ, ㄷ/ㅌ, ㅂ/ㅍ)

1.5.2 Confusing ㅈ and ㅉ (and ㄱ/ㄲ, ㄷ/ㄸ, ㅂ/ㅃ, ㅅ/ㅆ)

1.5.3 Confusing ㅔ and ㅐ (and also ㅖ/ㅒ)

1.5.4 Confusing ㅗ and ㅡ

1.5.5 Confusing ㅗ and ㅜ

1.5.6 Confusing ㅚ, ㅙ and ㅞ

1.5.7 Writing double consonants as singles

1.5.8 Errors with final consonants

1.5.9 Omitting unpronounced ㅎ

1.5.10 Other errors reflecting spoken pronunciations

1.5.11 Incorrect spacing

Overview

The aim of this chapter is to teach the correct pronunciation of Korean sounds that cause problems to learners, particularly those who speak English as a first language. Particular focus is placed on the contrast between lax, aspirated and tensed consonants (Section 1.1) and on changes and irregularities between the way Korean is written and the way it is pronounced (Section 1.5). We provide practical tips for making your pronunciation more native-like and a number of exercises for you to try. Even if you feel that you have mastered the basics of Korean pronunciation, we strongly encourage you to read this chapter and try the exercises – it is never too late to improve your pronunciation!

1.1 Lax, aspirated and tensed consonants

Korean has three consonants that correspond to English k (ㄱ, ㅋ, ㄲ), three that correspond to t (ㄷ, ㅌ, ㄸ), three that correspond to p (ㅂ, ㅍ, ㅃ) and three that correspond to ch (ㅈ, ㅊ, ㅉ). In addition, Korean has two consonants that correspond to English s (ㅅ, ㅆ).

Whereas ㄱ/ㄷ/ㅂ/ㅈ/ㅅ are ‘lax’ (or ‘basic’) consonants, ㅋ/ㅌ/ㅊ/ㅍ and ‘aspirated’ and ㄲ/ㄸ/ㅃ/ㅉ/ㅆ are ‘tensed’ (or ‘reinforced’).

‘Lax’ consonants are similar to their English counterparts, but somewhat weaker. ㄱ/ㄷ/ㅂ/ㅈ are not followed by a strong release of air as is the case with English k/t/p/ch. ㅅ is pronounced in a more relaxed way than English s. ‘Aspirated’ consonants are pronounced followed by a heavy breath release, much stronger than in their English counterparts. Finally, ‘tensed’ consonants are pronounced holding the mouth tense and tight in the given position, and then suddenly releasing the sound with virtually no aspiration.

1.1.1 Tips for pronouncing ㄱ, ㅋ, ㄲ

ㄱ, ㅋ and ㄲ are all articulated similarly to an English k. However, all three are quite distinct sounds that you need to...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Introduction
• Note on examples
• 1 Pronunciation and spelling
• 2 Word order and particles
• 3 Verbs
• 4 Verb endings
• 5 Honorifics, address terms and pronouns
• 6 Untranslatable words
• 7 Collocations and idiomatic expressions
• Answer key
• Bibliography
• Index of grammatical constructions (Korean)
• Index