Read the Korean alphabet, letter by letter
Hangul has 40 letters — 19 consonants and 21 vowels — and most learners can read them within a week. Every page on this site is free and needs no account. The 380-cell consonant × vowel chart, 191 of which carry a recording made by a native Korean speaker in Korea, is open to browse right now.
What is here
19 consonants
One page each — stroke order with numbered strokes, the sound in IPA, every syllable the letter forms, and the words that use it.
21 vowels
Every syllable block needs one. Built from a vertical or horizontal stroke plus dots, so they are quick to tell apart on the page.
The syllable chart
All 380 consonant × vowel combinations in one table, shaded by how often you will actually meet them. 251 have a page of their own.
The rules this site follows
Quoted by article number from the National Institute of Korean Language, in the original Korean, so you can check every claim made here.
7 free quizzes
Letters, syllables, listening — and one that shows a picture and asks which Korean word it is. No sign-up, and they work with JavaScript off.
The app
The site is the reference. The app adds what a page cannot do — saved progress, spaced review and a 100-level course.
What the recordings cover
| Chart cells | Count | What you hear |
|---|---|---|
| Own recording | 191 | That exact syllable, read by a native speaker. |
| Borrowed recording | 44 | A syllable the standard defines as identically pronounced. The page names which one. |
| No recording yet | 145 | Nothing to play. These are mostly rare combinations that barely occur in real words. |
Questions people ask
- How long does it take to learn Hangul? +
- Most learners can read Hangul within a week. There are only 40 letters, and unlike Chinese characters each one stands for a single sound, so reading is a matter of learning 40 shapes and how they stack into syllable blocks.
- Is everything on this site really free? +
- Yes. Every page, every chart and every recording is open with no account and no paywall. The companion mobile app is also free to use; its only purchase removes ads.
- Is the audio AI-generated? +
- No. Every recording on this site was made by a native Korean speaker in Korea. 191 of the 380 chart cells have their own recording, 44 play the recording of a syllable the standard defines as identically pronounced, and 145 have no recording yet. Each cell says which.
- Why does this site keep ㅐ and ㅔ apart when they sound the same? +
- Because the standard keeps them apart. Article 4 of Standard Korean Pronunciation lists ㅐ and ㅔ as two distinct monophthongs, and the spelling difference is still alive — 개 (dog) and 게 (crab) are different words. Most Seoul speakers under 50 do merge them in speech, and we say so on the pages where it matters.
- Do I need to learn the syllable chart by heart? +
- No. The chart is a reference, not a memorisation task. Once you know the 19 consonants and 21 vowels, every one of the 380 cells is predictable — the chart exists so you can hear them and check yourself.
- What is the difference between this site and the app? +
- The site holds the reference material and is free to browse. The app adds the parts a static page cannot do: saved progress, spaced review, streaks and a 100-level course.