South Korean Languages

Description
The Koreans are one ethnic family speaking one language. They share certain distinct physical characteristics which different Asian people, including the Chinese and the Japanese, and they have a strong cultural identity as one ethnic family. The Korean language is spoken by more than 65 million people living on the peninsula and its outlying islands as well as in other parts of the world. The fact that the Koreans speak and write the same language has been a crucial factor in its identity. Modern Korea has several different dialects including the standard one used in Seoul and central areas, but any speakers/listeners do not have trouble understanding each other.

The Korean alphabet, known as
 * Hangul (Hangeul) in South Korea
 * Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea
 * is a writing system for the Korean language created by King Sejong the Great in 1443.

Modern Hangul orthography uses 24 basic letters: 14 consonant letters (ㄱ ㄴ ㄷ ㄹ ㅁ ㅂ ㅅ ㅇ ㅈ ㅊ ㅋ ㅌ ㅍ ㅎ) and 10 vowel letters (ㅏ ㅑ ㅓ ㅕ ㅗ ㅛ ㅜ ㅠ ㅡ ㅣ). There are also 27 complex letters formed by combining the basic letters: 5 tense consonant letters (ㄲ ㄸ ㅃ ㅆ ㅉ), 11 complex consonant letters (ㄳ ㄵ ㄶ ㄺ ㄻ ㄼ ㄽ ㄾ ㄿ ㅀ ㅄ) and 11 complex vowel letters (ㅐ ㅒ ㅔ ㅖ ㅘ ㅙ ㅚ ㅝ ㅞ ㅟ ㅢ). Four basic letters in the original alphabet are no longer used: 1 vowel letter (ㆍ) and 3 consonant letters (ㅿ ㆁ ㆆ).

Word List(s)
A word list can help you quickly identify key words to understand the content of written documents.
 * Koreanly.com - 1000 Most Common Korean Words
 * Topik Guide - 6000 Most Common Korean Words - Part 1
 * Topik Guide - 6000 Most Common Korean Words - Part 2
 * Topik Guide - 6000 Most Common Korean Words - Part 3
 * Topik Guide - 6000 Most Common Korean Words - Part 4
 * Topik Guide - 6000 Most Common Korean Words - Part 5
 * Topik Guide - 6000 Most Common Korean Words - Part 6
 * Topik Guide - 500 Most Common Korean Verbs
 * Topik Guide - 500 Most Basic Korean Adjectives
 * Topik Guide - 100 Most Basic Korean Adjectives
 * Topik Guide - 100 Most Basic Korean Verbs

Alphabet and Pronunciation

 * Mondly - A Quick Guide to Hangul, The Korean Alphabet-Pronunciation and Rules

Language Aids and Dictionaries
Dictionaries
 * Online Korean Dictionary
 * Korean phrasebook & dictionary, London : APA Publications, 2015 - Available at WorldCat
 * Jeyseon Lee & Kang-jin Yi, Korean dictionary & phrasebook (eBook), New York : Hippocrene Books, 2005- Available at WorldCat

Additional Resources
Online Korean Resources
 * Korean language overview
 * Korean Grammar
 * Korean Romanization Table
 * Korean Romanization Converter
 * Korean language resources