Korean flashcards
for vocabulary learning

You can adjust the flashcard settings to suit your vocabulary practice:

• Choosing the number of flashcards per exercise

  You can choose how many flashcards you want to practice during a typing session. The default number is ten. If you are a beginner, you may find it easier to start with fewer flashcards.

• Choosing a variant of the English language

  You can choose which variant of English the flashcards will use: British or American English. Since there are differences between the two, you can select the variant you prefer.

The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) provides a standardized set of symbols to represent the sounds of spoken language. Below are the IPA symbols for Korean pronunciation, with examples and descriptions, including the pronunciation of these sounds in English.

Korean Vowels

• /a/ - as in 아기 (agi), pronounced /a.ɡi/ (similar to "a" in father /ˈfɑːðər/)
• /ɛ/ - as in 애기 (aegi), pronounced /ɛ.ɡi/ (like "e" in bed /bɛd/)
• /i/ - as in 이 (i), pronounced /i/ (like "ee" in see /siː/)
• /o/ - as in 오이 (oi), pronounced /o.i/ (like "o" in not /nɒt/)
• /u/ - as in 우유 (uyu), pronounced /u.ju/ (like "oo" in boot /buːt/)
• /ɯ/ - as in 음악 (eumak), pronounced /ɯ.mak/ (a close back unrounded vowel, not found in English)
• /e/ - as in 에 (e), pronounced /e/ (like "e" in set /sɛt/)
• /we/ - as in 외국 (oeguk), pronounced /we.ɡuk/ (starts with /w/, as in English wet, followed by /e/; some speakers use the older monophthong /ø/)
• /ju/ - as in 유리 (yuri), pronounced /ju.ɾi/ (a y-like /j/ followed by /u/, unlike German ü in Müll)

Korean Diphthongs

• /wa/ - as in 와인 (wain), pronounced /wa.in/ (like "wa" in water /ˈwɔː.tər/)
• /wi/ - as in 위치 (wichi), pronounced /wi.t͡ɕʰi/ (like "we" in week /wiːk/)
• /we/ - as in 웨이터 (weiteo), pronounced /we.i.tʰo/ (like "we" in wet /wɛt/)
• /jo/ - as in 요리 (yori), pronounced /jo.ri/ (like "yo" in yogurt /ˈjoʊ.ɡərt/)

Korean Consonants

• /p/ - as in 바다 (bada), pronounced /pa.da/ (like "p" in pen /pɛn/)
• /b/ - as in 나비 (nabi), pronounced [na.bi] (like "b" in bat /bæt/)
• /t/ - as in 다리 (dari), pronounced /ta.ri/ (like "t" in top /tɒp/)
• /d/ - as in 바다 (bada), pronounced [pa.da] (like "d" in dog /dɒɡ/)
• /k/ - as in 가 (ga), pronounced /ka/ (like "k" in cat /kæt/)
• /ɡ/ - as in 고기 (gogi), pronounced [ko.ɡi] (like "g" in go /ɡoʊ/)
• /s/ - as in 사과 (sagwa), pronounced /sa.ɡwa/ (like "s" in see /siː/)
• /ɕ/ - as in 샤워 (syawo), pronounced /ɕa.wʌ/ (like "sh" in shoe /ʃuː/)
• /t͡ɕ/ - as in 저 (jeo), pronounced /t͡ɕʌ/ (like "ch" in cheese /tʃiːz/)
• /t͡ɕʰ/ - as in 처음 (cheoeum), pronounced /t͡ɕʰʌ.ɯm/ (an aspirated version of "ch")
• /h/ - as in 하늘 (haneul), pronounced /ha.nɯl/ (like "h" in hat /hæt/)
• /m/ - as in 마음 (ma-eum), pronounced /ma.ɯm/ (like "m" in man /mæn/)
• /n/ - as in 나무 (namu), pronounced /na.mu/ (like "n" in net /nɛt/)
• /ŋ/ - as in 사랑 (sarang), pronounced /sa.raŋ/ (like "ng" in song /sɒŋ/)
• /ɾ/ - as in 바람 (baram), pronounced /pa.ɾam/ (similar to a tapped "r" or "d" sound, somewhat like the "tt" in butter in American English)

Unique Features of Korean Pronunciation

While Korean pronunciation shares some similarities with other languages, it has unique features that are important for learners to understand.

• Consonant Assimilation: Consonants can change to match a following sound. In 국물 (gungmul) (soup broth), written ㄱ is pronounced [ŋ] before ㅁ: [kuŋ.mul]. This is nasal assimilation.
• Tense Consonants: Korean tense consonants include /p͈, t͈, k͈/. They are pronounced with greater articulatory tension and are written with double letters in Hangul, such as ㅃ, ㄸ and ㄲ. These are Korean letters, not romanization symbols.
• Aspirated Consonants: Aspirated versions of stops and affricates, such as /pʰ/, /tʰ/, and /kʰ/, are marked with an extra burst of air. These are distinct from their non-aspirated counterparts.
• Vowel Harmony: Korean vowel harmony was more extensive historically. In modern Korean it remains in some verb endings, such as -아 and -어, whose choice depends on the stem vowel, and in expressive words that imitate sounds or actions.
• Syllable Structure: Korean syllables follow a strict structure of (C)V(C), meaning they can start and end with a consonant and must have a vowel in the middle. For example, 학생 (haksaeng), pronounced /hak.sɛŋ/.
• Lenition: The plain consonants /p, t, k/ are generally voiceless at the beginning of an utterance and can become voiced [b, d, ɡ] between voiced sounds. This positional change is not confined to casual speech: 한국 (hanguk), for example, is pronounced [han.ɡuk̚].
• Intonation and Regional Pitch Accent: Seoul Korean does not use lexical stress or a Japanese-style lexical pitch accent to distinguish words. Intonation marks phrasing and emphasis. Some regional dialects, including Gyeongsang varieties, do have lexical pitch accent.
• Elision: Sounds can be omitted in connected speech, but this is not always limited to informal conversation. In 좋아 (joa), the ㅎ of the stem 좋- disappears before the vowel of -아, giving [t͡ɕo.a]; it is not a word-final /h/.