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[No, you aren't going to be fluent after reading this. But you will develop a slightly better understanding of Korean writing/reading]
I thought I'd do a little tidbit on reading Hangul, Korea's main script/alphabet.
+ Show Spoiler [Purpose] +
Since other lessons online are a little more obscure, I thought I'd teach you guys a little bit of Starcraft related Hangul, so you can feel good about yourself and know the players playing and map WITHOUT having to ask in chat or consult the awesome LR threads.
Now I'm by NO means an expert or fluent in Korean, which should say something about how simple it actually is to memorize the letters. After talking to Mighty-Atom hyung about my studying abroad in Korea he recommended that I learn Hangul and that it should take me no longer than 2 hours to memorize. I thought it was a mistake until I actually attempted to learn myself. Yes, you can learn how to read that name at the top of the GSL scoreboard without using a translator or consulting someone in chat.
During the duration of this blog, I'll try to have spoilered parts where you can try to apply what you know, to further enhance and reinforce what you learn.
Let's start with something simple.
You all already know ㅈㅈ
GG right?
Not quite.
ㅈㅈ can be read as gg, but won't sounds like gee gee.
In order to add the ee sound, we need a vowel next to it.
This vowel looks like ㅣ. This makes the ee sound
If you add them together, it looks like 지지, which makes it jee jee.
Good game.
Relating to more Starcraft, a common given (or last) name is Lee, pronounced ee.
Now it would be kind of weird to just have ㅣ as part of your name, so we need a placeholder next to vowels. This placeholder looks like ㅇ, and combining the two gives us 이, ee
Examples
이윤열 ee Yun Yeol (NaDa)
이제동 ee Jae Dong (Jaedong)
Notice that the ㅇ is silent. Much like a cloaked ghost.
Another common vowel you might see is ㅏ or ah.
Again, this can't stand by itself if you want to say ah, you need that placeholder.
Thus, ah = 아, and
자 =
+ Show Spoiler [Check your answer] +
Moving along, here's another letter.
ㅎ, or h. Applying what you learned earlier
하 should sound like...
+ Show Spoiler [Check your answer] +
You might see this in a lot of cheerfuls, because one of our favorite phrases, "hwaiting" begins with an h, or ㅎ
화이팅 = hwaiting
hwa-ee-teeng
You should already recognize the middle! Isn't that cool?
Anyway, you might notice the ㅇ is there, but is making a ng sound. This is because ㅇ can be used as a place holder, OR as the sound ng. It's a placeholder when used next to vowels like 아 or 이, but makes the ng sound at the bottom of the "block", like in 짱 (jjang).
(+ additional note, Hangul is very aesthetically pleasing in that all of the letters used form a nice "block", or certain [ ] kind of space that they fill. This makes writing tricky to learn, but makes it look really nice. :D)
Example
송병구 Song Byung Goo (Stork)
So, combining all that you should know by now, can you guess what
자장 reads as?
+ Show Spoiler [Check your answer] +
The above is actually a type of sauce used on noodles.
![[image loading]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a0/Korean_black_bean_noodle_dish-Jaengban_Jajangmyeon-01.jpg/220px-Korean_black_bean_noodle_dish-Jaengban_Jajangmyeon-01.jpg)
Tasty!
That's it for now, but...
I'll probably add more to this, or just have another lesson in my next blog, depending on the feedback.
Let me know what you liked, didn't like, and what I can improve on for the next possible lesson!
PLEASE let me know if I did anything wrong, you fluent Koreans. <3
안녕!~~
Next lesson: http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/viewblog.php?topic_id=217620
 
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lol typo in the title bro. it's 한글 not 한골 but i guess you might already knew that.
noodle is usually written as 짜장면. emphasis on jah and using the double lettering ㅉ makes it like really strong 'jah' sound.
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United Kingdom16710 Posts
Very nice idea!
Oh and I just want to point out the spelling mistake in the title. It's 글 not 골 ^^;;
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CA10829 Posts
i fixed your embarrassing typo in the title lol
nice blog
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Yeah, you did a good job explaining hangul. It's actually really easy to learn. I don't see any reason why anyone who is interested in learning hangul shouldn't give it a try! It only takes about an hour or less to fully grasp how it works and all of the sounds. After a little bit of practise, it's quite easy to master reading. I just can't read quickly sometimes T_T
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On April 25 2011 15:59 LosingID8 wrote:
i fixed your embarrassing typo in the title lol
nice blog
FML off to a bad start already.
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I'm sorry that I must point out that you misspelled "한글"...  (I see that a mod fixed the title for you, so I retract this point.)
Also, I'll point out that the "ㅇ" has the "ng" sound when it takes the bottom position in a block of characters.
Finally, "fighting" is put as "화이팅" (hwaiting) or "파이팅" (paiting) because Korean does not have a character with an "f" sound like Chinese or Japanese has.
Other than that, nice post, and nice introduction. 
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On April 25 2011 15:59 Washow wrote:
lol typo in the title bro. it's 한글 not 한골 but i guess you might already knew that.
noodle is usually written as 짜장면. emphasis on jah and using the double lettering ㅉ makes it like really strong 'jah' sound.
I was gonna use 짱 as an example, but double consonants are harder to explain. T.T
I'll put it in a later lesson, and probably change the example so it's not that confusing.
On April 25 2011 16:01 LessThree wrote:
Also, I'll point out that the "ㅇ" has the "ng" sound when it takes the bottom position in a block of characters.
I've added that in, thanks.
Thanks everyone else for the quick feedback. I'll try not to make typos next time. T.T
This keyboard thing is hard to get used to when you can't see which letters correspond to which letter.
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짜장면 is so good by the way. So is 냉면 for anyone wanting to try some Korean foods. The latter is a little weirder though.
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ALLEYCAT BLUES50615 Posts
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On April 25 2011 16:06 Wolf wrote:
짜장면 is so good by the way. So is 냉면 for anyone wanting to try some Korean foods. The latter is a little weirder though.
I haven't tried the food but I know the songgggg. Naengmyunnaengmyunnaengmyun :D
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On April 25 2011 16:06 BLinD-RawR wrote:
Teach me more oppa.
I hope you're a female. O.O
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Nice introduction, I already knew all this as I'm a little further into my learning, but nevertheless, a good little test, and a friendly way to introduce others!
I look forward to further blog posts :D
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Are you crazy? 냉면 is not weird lol. The best food to eating during hot summers. Especially the spicy one.
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On April 25 2011 16:07 mizU wrote:Show nested quote +On April 25 2011 16:06 Wolf wrote:
짜장면 is so good by the way. So is 냉면 for anyone wanting to try some Korean foods. The latter is a little weirder though. I haven't tried the food but I know the songgggg. Naengmyunnaengmyunnaengmyun :D
Yeah, try it on a hot summer day. You have to be careful and choose a place that makes it well, though. But when it's good...
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Important to remember :
Syllables starting in vowels ALWAYS start with "ㅇ" in writing as a placeholder, as mizU say
If found at the end of syllable, the character "ㅇ" becomes "ng" sound
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Cool blog. I'm looking to learn Hangul and eventually Korean entirely. I haven't started but reading this has already given me some context of words and reading.
lol naengmyun is close to Chinese leng mian/dong mian.
+ Show Spoiler +http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZaOp_KYTRA #t=1m51
Where I discovered Naengmyun. Just gonna slap it in there for the nostalgia. Hmm... I want noodles now...
and make more.
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United States17042 Posts
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:D
Any recommendations on what letters to do next?
I'm thinking of ㅅ ㄹ and ㅗ ㅜ
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Cool blog, keep making more like these ^^
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EPT![[image loading]](http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/659/hangulbanner.jpg)
