Episode 20: Pronouncing Tricky Consonants!
학생들 안녕하세요! 잘 공부했어용?
We've reached yet another milestone!!! Our 20th episode learning together!! I'm so excited even though it's almost midnight and I'm falling asleep :3
Useful Info:
I divide consonants into 3 groups in my mind for convenience- the double consonants, the 'regular' consonants, and the 'soft' consonants.
Soft consonants- ㅋ (k), ㅍ (p), ㅌ (t), ㅊ (ch)
I call them soft because they will only have a this soft/airy pronunciation and will always sound the same in every single word.
크리스마스 [keu ri seu ma seu] christmas
케이크 [ke i keu] cake
커피 [keo pi] coffee
컴퓨터 [keom pyu teo] computer
택시 [taek shi] taxi
파티 [pa ti] party
파란색 [pa ran saek] blue color
차 [cha] car
책 [chaek] book
자동차 [cha dong cha] automobile
치킨 [chi kin] chicken
치마 [chi ma]
Regular consonants: ㄱ (g/k), ㄷ (d/t), ㅂ (b/p), ㅈ (j/ch), ㅅ (s/sh)
I call these guys regular because I see them the most when I'm reading Korean so to me they are very common. Their pronunciation, however, is not so regular. Each consonant has a 'strong' and a 'soft' pronunciation and it depends on where the consonant is in the word. If the consonant is at the beginning, it will have a softer pronunciation and if it is in the middle or last syllable, the pronunciation will get stronger.
고구마 [ko gu ma] sweet potato
괴물 [ke mul] monster
한국 [han guk] Korea
한글 [han geul] Korean alphabet
기린 [ki rin] giraffe
고기 [ko gi] meat
그리고 [keu ri go] and
가구 [ka gu] furniture
아기 [a gi] baby
개미 [ke mi] ant
도마 [to ma] cutting board
다 [ta] everything
모두[mo du] everyone
세대 [se de] generation
베개 [pe ge] pillow
바보 [pa bo] dummy
비 [pi] rain
버스 [po seu] bus
노래방 [no re bang] karaoke
새벽 [se byeok] dawn
수박 [su bak] watermelon
발가락 [pal ga rak] toe
아버지 [a bo ji] middle aged man
신발 [shin bal] shoe
남자 [nam ja] man
고짓말 [ko ji mal] lie
강아지 [kang a ja] puppy
지금[chi geum] now
집 [chip] house
Double consonants: ㄲ, ㄸ, ㅃ, ㅉ, ㅆ
Gahh these guys still get on my nerves even now. My pronunciation is nowhere near perfect when it comes to double consonants. It's a hard concept to get used to but you guys should be fine with time and patience :) What I try to think about when pronouncing these is starting to say the letter and then stopping for a brief moment, building up the pressure behind my teeth and then letting it all out. This way the sound ends up being a little more emphasised... I hope ^^'
기쁘다 [ki ppeu da] to be happy
바쁘다 [pa ppeu da] to be busy
오빠 [o ppa] older brother
아빠 [a ppa] daddy
빨리 [ppal li] quick
빵 [ppang] bread
뜨겁게 [tteu gop ke] hot
어떤 [o tton] which
어떻게 [o tteo ke] what to do?
시끄러워요 [shi kkeu reo uo yo] be quite
꼬리 [kko ri] tail
일찍 [il chik] early
진짜 [chin jja] really
짜다 [cha da] salty
짧다 [chal da] short
You are probably wondering why didn't I mention ㅅ at all in the video. Well, first of all, even though I put it in the "regular" category, I consider it a soft consonant because the "s" sound is very airy compared to, for example, "z" sound, which Korean just doesn't have. Secondly, I will be making an episode about consonants in the 받침, or the end of the syllable, where I'll discuss pronunciation of 'ㅅ' and 'ㅆ' in depth! So please anticipate :D
Much love,
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