History of Hangul | Korean Consonants | Korean Vowels | How Korean is spoken

How Korean is spoken

'How to read' Korean is easy. However, speaking and listening to Korean can be very difficult. Below are some notes to watch for when conversing with native Koreans or other (maybe more advance) students of Korean.

The Korean language lends itself to be more personal than the English language. Korean usually don't say "Hello." Instead, questions such as "Have you eaten lunch?", "Where are you going?", "Did you sleep well?" are asked. Be aware that these questions will come immediately and it takes time to get accostumed to which questions are coming at which times. Once a student is familiar with the language, conversing becomes much easier. No matter how the questions are phrased, being able to recognize what is being asked of oneself and being able to answer, is most important.

Korean speech has little variation is accents and pitch when compared to other languages. Stresses of the language also vary from region to region. The general rule is to evenly stress Korean phrases and sentence. When reading/speaking interrogatives, the end of the sentence is raised just as in English.