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Korean will always be a tricky language for me. I was always able to speak Korean, but I didn’t learn how to read and write Hangeul until fifth grade. Since then, it’s been both a painful and joyful learning experience. Yes, it’s great that I can read and write it, but there will be certain aspect of the language that will drive me insane to the point of wanting to bash something.

For me, the most frustrating thing about Hangeul is these two vowel characters:ᅢ (ae) and ᅦ (e). When I learned these for the first time in fifth grade, they confused me. Phonetically, they sound the same. Graphically, they are not the same. Therefore, whenever I need to write something that uses one of those vowels, I usually end up using the wrong one. Frustrated? That I most certainly am.

Luckily, though, I finally figured out exactly when to differentiate the two vowels in two circumstances, and hopefully I’ll learn more in the future.

1) Any verb that ends in 하다 (hada), like 사랑하다 (sarang hada = to love), when conjugated to 해요 form will always use ᅢ, so it will be 사랑해요.

2) My name, which is pronounced like TERRA! XD A lot of people want to write it like 태라 (Taera), but I prefer 테라 (Tera). It’s entirely a personal preference and both are acceptable, but I prefer the latter one.

Ah, the joy of the EHs. So confusing. My friends, who speaks Korean, and I always talk about how these two vowels frustrates us. Again, I am not claiming to be a linguist. I am just writing this from a bilingual speaker’s POV to show the complicatedness of a language that I respect, but at the same, a language that will be the death of me because of its somewhat difficult nature!


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« Asian Americans Getting Out The Vote
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i want to learn korean (or japanese)...but there are some points about them that are just too confusing.


I hear the difference slightly.


I dont hear the difference on either? In fact dak.. and dduk both sound like the letter T to me.
WELCOME BACK! You have been MISSED!

LOL Thanks Mia,
If you watch manga, it’s easiest to tell difference between the soft and hard “s”.
Think of Japanese flower or name “Sakura” the S is soft.
And think of English “So what?” the S in “So” is hard.
Dak (chicken in Korean) and Dduk (rice cake in Korean)is the same.
D in Dak is the one that most Americans are familiar with like “Dark” without the “r”
doube d would sound like something in combination of D and TH.
Hard to explain by words, if you see me in the streets just ask me… LOL


SimonMBC - 11/03/08 7:47 pm

Actually, “Ssamgyeopsal” should be a single “s” since it’s a soft “s” Koreans usually use double S for strong “s”. It’s kinda hard for Americans, since US doesn’t have a soft “s”

I dont hear the difference on either? In fact dak.. and dduk both sound like the letter T to me.

WELCOME BACK! You have been MISSED!


MiaLerda - 11/03/08 7:43 pm

double letterings are hard. Like Dduk and Ssamgyeopsal. LOL

Or when double ss becomes the harder TH shound because a vowel doesnt follow it.

*FAINTS*

Actually, “Ssamgyeopsal” should be a single “s” since it’s a soft “s”
Koreans usually use double S for strong “s”.
It’s kinda hard for Americans, since US doesn’t have a soft “s”


Thank God I don’t know Korean.


LOL okay the first one ㅐ is (ae) which sounds fuller like “a” in apple
ㅔ is (eh) which sounds sharper like “e” in editor

Usually when you translate Eng -> Korean, using ㅐ or ㅔ depends on
whether it refers to A or E.

Hope that helps…

In the mean while, I’ve been away for quite sometime and it’s good to see a lot of changes made!


double letterings are hard. Like Dduk and Ssamgyeopsal. LOL

Or when double ss becomes the harder TH shound because a vowel doesnt follow it.

*FAINTS*


Korean is so easy to learn I just hate how there’s a double letter or something.


At first I thought you meant the Canadian Eh. hahaha


They’re spelled differently for one. raspberry


Haha I still have no idea what the difference is.



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