Korean · Hangul, roots, politenessHow to learn
Korean vocabulary

The short answer

• Read Hangul before you collect words: it is quick to learn, and romanisation hides how words are spelled.
• Save the dictionary form and keep the form you met: 먹다 on the card, 먹었어요 in the example sentence.
• Review on a schedule: a few words a day, seen again after growing gaps.

What makes Korean words hard

Five things shape how a Korean word should go into your notebook.

Hangul first

Hangul has 24 basic letters, 14 consonants and 10 vowels (National Institute of Korean Language, Hangul Orthography, Article 4), written in blocks of one syllable each: ㅎ + ㅏ + ㄴ make 한⁠. Learning to read it takes far less time than any vocabulary does, and after that every word you save is one you can read, type and look up. Words are not always said as they are spelled: 한국말 (the Korean language) is said [한궁말]⁠, because sounds change where syllables meet. Listen to each new word, and keep the spelling you read.

Romanisation is a crutch, not a spelling

South Korea’s official system, the Revised Romanization of Korean, writes words as they are said, not as they are spelled: 신라 is Silla, 종로 is Jongno and 백마 is Baengma. It writes ㅓ as eo and ㅡ as eu, which English readers rarely say right (Romanization of Korean, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism notice 2014-42). Older books use other systems, so the same city is Pusan in one and Busan in another. Romanisation can help in your first week; after that, a card in romanisation teaches you a spelling Korean does not have.

Native words and Sino-Korean roots

Korean has two large layers of vocabulary: native Korean words, and Sino-Korean words built from syllables that came from Chinese characters, which are common in formal, school and news language. A Sino-Korean syllable keeps its meaning from word to word: 학 (learning) is in 학교 (school), 학생 (student) and 대학 (university). When a new word holds a syllable you know, write the link in a note; it is one of the cheapest ways to remember. Numbers come in both layers too: native numbers count hours and things, Sino-Korean numbers count minutes, dates and money, so 3:30 is 세 시 삼십 분⁠.

Particles and endings: the word you see is not the word you look up

Korean attaches particles to the end of a word, with no space: 학교에 (to school), 학교에서 (at school), 학교가 (school, as the subject). Many particles have two shapes, after a consonant and after a vowel: 책을 but 차를⁠. Verbs and adjectives change their endings for tense and politeness, so 먹었어요 (I ate) is a form of 먹다 (to eat). Save the dictionary form, which ends in -다⁠, and keep the sentence with the form you met. A learners’ dictionary such as the National Institute of Korean Language’s Korean Basic Dictionary gives the dictionary form and an English meaning (Korean Basic Dictionary).

Politeness is in the words

The same verb ends differently with the person you speak to: 먹어 (casual), 먹어요 (polite) and 먹습니다 (formal). Some words have an honorific word of their own, used for someone you respect: 드시다 for 먹다 (to eat), 주무시다 for 자다 (to sleep), 계시다 for 있다 (to be, of a person), and the nouns 댁 for 집 (home) and 연세 for 나이 (age) (Standard Korean Language Dictionary). They are separate words: give each its own card, and name the plain word in the usage note. Loanwords can surprise English speakers too: a 핸드폰 is a mobile phone, and 아르바이트⁠, from German, is a part-time job.

What to put on each card

A Korean card needs the dictionary form and the sentence, and often a politeness note. Here is the layout, using the fields of a Lexpad card; the same works on paper or in Anki.

Korean flashcards: Hangul on the front

Printed Korean flashcards and many apps show romanisation beside the Hangul. Once you can read Hangul, cover it or leave it out: you remember the shape you practise. A good Korean card has the word in Hangul, audio you can play, the meaning, and a real sentence. Most Korean vocabulary apps come with word lists for the TOPIK exam, which has its own six levels; a list shows you what exists, but the words you met yourself stay better.

Where to find your words

• Dramas, variety shows and YouTube with Korean subtitles: pause on a line you understood almost all of, and save the word you didn’t.
• Webtoons and graded readers at your level: short, with pictures that carry the meaning.
• Song lyrics you already know by sound: you will meet the same words again in every chorus.
• Your textbook or class: its words come back in later chapters, which helps your reviews.

Pick only the words you met and want to use. To pick them from a Korean text, paste it into the free text to flashcards tool and tap the ones you don’t know; then change a word with a particle to its dictionary form.

How many Korean words a day

A new script and a new way of building words usually bring more misses at first, so start lower than you would for a language close to your own: 5 to 10 new words a day is a good start, more once Hangul reads easily. Try your own numbers in the spaced repetition calculator (set to miss 1 in 5, which suits a new script). The method itself: How to memorize vocabulary.

How Lexpad helps with Korean