Learn Basic Korean (Part 1)

Lesson 1 Hangul Alphabet System

Vowels : -
ㅏ	ㅑ	ㅓ	ㅕ	ㅗ
"a"	"ya"	"eo"	"yeo"	"o"
ㅛ	ㅜ	ㅠ	ㅡ	ㅣ
"yo"	"oo" or "u"	"yoo" or "yu"	"eu"	"i"
Consonants : -
ㄱ	ㄴ	ㄷ	ㄹ	ㅁ
"g" or "k"	"n"	"d" or "t"	" r " or " l "	"m"
ㅂ	ㅅ	ㅇ	ㅈ	ㅊ
"b" or "p"	"s"	-	" ch "	" ch' "
ㅋ	ㅌ	ㅍ	ㅎ
" g' " or " k' "	" d' "	" p' "	" h "
Note that " ' " means the letter is aspirated, i.e a sharp sound.

ㅎ +	ㅏ +	ㄴ =	한	han
h	a	n
ㄱ +	ㅜ +	ㄱ =	국	guk
g	u	k			한국 pronounced HanGuk meaning Korea

Lesson 2  Double Vowels 

ㅐ	ㅒ	ㅔ	ㅖ	ㅘ	ㅙ	ㅝ	ㅞ
eir	yeir	ere	yere	wa	where	wo	weo
ㅟ	ㅢ
weou	wei

Lesson 3  Use of Consonants (자음) and Vowels (모음)

Vowels in the korean languages may be attached to the left, right or beneath each other in order to form a word, the following are examples of their use : -

가 = ka	거 = keo	겨 = kyeo
갸 = kya	기 = ki	고 = ko
바 = pa	버 = peo	부 = pu
뵤 = pyo	지 = chi	저 = cheo
즈 = chu	조 = cho	마 = ma
머 = meo	무 = mo	나 = na
너 = neo	이 = i	야 = ya
디 = ti	고 = ko	댜 = tya
요 = yo	오 = o	도 = to
드 = tu	두 = too	그 = ku

When constructing a word, you must add a mixture of consonants and vowels, beginning with the consonant at the beginning of the word. In some cases, there is no need to use a consonant at the beginning in which case ㅇ (null character) is used.

ㅇ	+	ㅏ			=	아	a
ㄹ	+	ㅡ	+	ㅁ	=	름	rum
ㄱ	+	ㅏ	+	ㅁ	=	감	kam
ㄲ	+	ㅜ	+	ㅇ	=	꿍	kkoong
ㅇ	+	ㅗ	+	ㅅ	=	옷	ot
ㅇ	+	ㅓ	+	ㅂㅅ	=	없	eop
ㄲ	+	ㅗ	+	ㅊ	=	꽃	kkot
ㅎ	+	ㅏ	+	ㄴ	=	한	han
ㄱ	+	ㅡ	+	ㄱ	=	극	guk

More on constructing words

A syllable that consists of a consonant and a "vertical vowel" is written with the consonant on the left and the vowel on the right
ㄴ + ㅏ = 나
n + a = na

A syllable that consists of a consonant and a "horizontal vowel" is written with the consonant on top and the vowel underneath:
ㅁ + ㅗ = 모
m + o = mo

If a syllable has a consonant, vowel, and consonant, the final consonant, called patch'im (meaning "supporting floor" in Korean) goes to the bottom -- or floor -- of that syllable.
ㅁ + ㅏ + ㄴ = 만
m + a + n = man

Lesson  4  Grammer

Korean Names

In general, Korean names consist of 3 syllables.
The first part is the Surname ( such as Kim, Lee and Pak ), it is the followed by a two-syllable first name. In Korean, the surname always comes first which is opposite of Western Names such as Doojin Pak instead of the Korean method of Pak Doojin.
When you are referring to someone who you know well, then you may be able to refer to them directly, such as using their first name. However when youare introduced to someone to whom you are not familiar with, or am meeting for the first time, then you would add -ssi to the end of the name. An example of this would be Doojin-ssi

Making Polite Sentences

With verb stems which end in vowels such a ka-, ha- and sa- , it is possible to make these into polite sentences by adding -yo to the end of the words, such as Kayo ( which means "to go", or "I go" or "he goes" ). Verbs in the polite style can be used as statements, questions, suggestions or commands, and may be further emphasised by the tone of your voice. For example, Chal Chinaessoyo may be both expressed as a question by asking how someone is, or can be a question stating that you are fine. Another example is the more common Annyong Haseyo.

Lesson 5  Sentence Structure and order

Korean Sentence Structure and Word order

In Korean the structure of sentence differ to English sentences, for example the phrase Chal Chinaessooyoliterally means "Well have you been getting on?" which is the opposite from English. 
In general the structure of the Korean sentences is broken down as subject - object - verb
"Jon the ball kicked"

"To Go" in order to do sentences

There are a few words that you may add to the end of verb stems at the end of sentences, these include -yowhich makes sentences polite, and -ro which means "in order to". 
In some cases the verb stems may in effect end in consonants in which case -uro is utilised.
The order of the sentences for an example sentence of "in order to buy bread I am goin to the shops" is restructured as "bread buy-in order-to the shops go"
In Korean unlike English, the subject of the sentences is optional like "I", then the "in order section" is next, which is then followed by "the place you are going".

(In English)	I	go to the shops	in-order -to buy bread
(in Korean)	I (optional)	bread buy - in-order to	shops to go

The Konglish for this sentence in Korean would be na-do ppang sa-ro kayo (I-do bread buy-in order-to go).

* The construction can only be used in verbs involving 'going' and 'coming' and cannot be used with other verbs at the end of sentences.

Lesson 6 Asking for things

There Are / There is

The Korean verb which means either "there are" and "there is" is issoyo ( 있 어요 ) 
They are dependent on the context in which you use them, and on what you are talking about. The stem of the verb is iss- with the inclusion of o and the polite particle -yo, thus forming the ending -oyo. However in the case where the verb stem ends in vowel, we use -a or -o, such as -ayo. 

Vowel stem	- yo
Consonant stem	- ayo	if the last vowel ends with -a or -o
Consonant Stem	- oyo

In context the oppposite of iss- is ops- which literally means "there isnt" or "there arent".

Uses of the verbs

chogi issoyo means "it exist over there", or "its over there" 
Issoyo on its own can mean "I have/he has"
Opsoyo means "I dont have" or "I havent got"

In a shop

When addressing a shop keeper or waiters, Koreans use ajossi literally meaning uncle, but is used as a general word when addressing someone in a shop.
However if it were to be used in a formal way, it is only for the referral of a man,
For females the word ajumma meaning aunt is used, for people over 35-ish, and for younger woman agassi is used for young women. 

In Korean, we use a particle which comes after a noun that it relates to, such as na-do (me-too).
In English, it is the opposite, we would say 'with-me', whereas Korean is 'me-with'. 

Using 'and'

In Korean, the word for and is -hago, this is a particle so when it is to be used it must be attached to a noun. For example, when you say 'burger and chips', in Korean it would be 'burger-hago chips. The word hago becomes part of burger.
The particle hago can also mean with such as, Doojin-hago shinae-e kayo meaning 'I am going to town with Doojin'.

Ordering with numbers

When asking for 'one' item we say 'hana' which is said after you have selected the meal you wish to order. For example we would say, soju hana chuseyo meaning "soju one give me please".
The word chuseyo utilises the polite word stem -yo, attached to chu-, which means "give me please" 

Lesson 7 Korean Names and Topics

In Korean, when you want to address men politely, one would use the word songsaegnim attached to their surname or full name, this literally means teacher.
For example, one would say Yoo Songsaegnim or with the full name Yoo SangHyun Songsaegnim. 
It is not possible to a Korean persons first name, such like SangHyun Songsaegnim. For that same reason, when you use the ssi, you cannot say Yoo-ssi, or Yoo SangHyun-ssi, but would rather say SangHyun-ssi.

Addressing Korean women, in Korea women do not take their husbands surname when they get married. 
For example if Mrs Han is married to Mr Kim, then she may referred to as Kim songsaengnim-puin (Kim mr-wife), or she maybe reffered to in a similar English terminology such as Misesu Han(Mrs Han).

Using Copula to describe "this is that"

In Korean, if you want to describe A is B , you will have to use special verbs called copula. In Korea, this copula is present at the end of a sentence, and behaves a little differently to ordinary verbs.

If you want to say A is B(like "This is a Korean book"):-

A B-ieyo (or B-eyo)
this Korean book-ieyo

It is obvious that you would use -eyo when B ends in a vowel, but -ieyo when B ends on a consonant.

songsaengnim-ieyo (is teacher)
soju-eyo (is soju)

IMPORTANT to note that in Korean the copula is only used to describe when this "is equivalent to".
It cant be used to say "is located in"(is underneath", "is near") nor can it be used to say "is a certain way" (i.e "is red", "is happy").

Describing how things are

Korean possess words which mean "is a certain way".
Ottaeyo means is how?, as in:
songsaengnim ottaeyo? ( How is teacher ? or What is teacher like? )
saob ottaeyo? (How is business? or What is business like?)

Kuraeyo literally means "it is like that", and may be used as a statement such as "it's like that", "thats right", "it is".
On the other hand it may be used as a question Kuraeyo? meaning "is it like that?", "really?" or "is that so?". 
Korean has a special particle, used in attachment to place emphasis on what is being talked about.
by adding -un or nun, it makes As for Business or As for me. 
-nun is attached to a noun, whereas -un is attached to a vowel. EG soju-nun (as for soju), Songsaengnim-un (as for teacher).

Source : 

http://www.learn-korean.net

(Thank You Learn Korean) --- to be continue...