24 cards · Explore & recall
Hangul
24 basic letters, syllable blocks and a first reading practice.
A few minutes of recall
Study, then find the match.
Turn a card to explore it. Choose six-choice practice when you want a question and a score.
Match each letter to its cue on this board. Consonant cues start with the syllable-initial use; ㅇ and ㄹ show both positions.
How practice works
One answer per question; a miss reveals the correct match. Each card is mastered after 12 consecutive correct answers in this direction. A miss resets that card’s streak. You can keep practising mastered cards. Reset clears both directions; refreshing starts a new session. Free study and skipped questions do not affect your score.
These questions test recognition of written cues. They do not listen to or assess your pronunciation. Romanization is a guide, not an exact English sound.
Letters become a syllable block.
Hangul is an alphabet arranged into blocks. A block begins with a consonant position, adds a vowel, and may end with a final consonant called batchim (받침).
Initial ㅇ is silent.
River · final ㅇ sounds ng.
This board introduces the 14 basic consonants and 10 basic vowels. Modern Korean also uses tense consonants and additional vowel letters: the wider inventory has 19 initial consonants and 21 vowels. Those additional forms and connected-speech rules are a next step.
Use romanization as a cue.
The letter names follow South Korean conventions. The Roman letters follow Revised Romanization: ㄱ, ㄷ and ㅂ can appear as g/d/b or k/t/p depending on their position and pronunciation. ㄹ can be r or l. A card’s initial cue does not cover every word.
For example, eo in 어 represents one vowel, not an English “ee-oh.” The difference between ㄱ and ㅋ is not simply English g versus k. Listen to Korean examples as you build recognition.
The full reference
Reading cues belong to this system, not to English pronunciation. Examples show the letter or spelling in a real word.
| Form | Reading cue | Example & notes |
|---|---|---|
| ㄱ | gLetter name: 기역 | 가다 gada · to gok in a final position |
| ㄴ | nLetter name: 니은 | 나 na · I (informal) |
| ㄷ | dLetter name: 디귿 | 도시 dosi · cityt in a final position |
| ㄹ | r / lLetter name: 리을 | 라면 ramyeon · instant noodlesr-like initially, l-like in final positions |
| ㅁ | mLetter name: 미음 | 물 mul · water |
| ㅂ | bLetter name: 비읍 | 바다 bada · seap in a final position |
| ㅅ | sLetter name: 시옷 | 손 son · handChanges quality before ㅣ |
| ㅇ | silent / ngLetter name: 이응 | 아이 ai · childSilent initially, ng finally |
| ㅈ | jLetter name: 지읒 | 집 jip · houseNot identical to English j |
| ㅊ | chLetter name: 치읓 | 치마 chima · skirtAspirated |
| ㅋ | kLetter name: 키읔 | 코 ko · noseStrongly aspirated |
| ㅌ | tLetter name: 티읕 | 토마토 tomato · tomatoStrongly aspirated |
| ㅍ | pLetter name: 피읖 | 포도 podo · grapesStrongly aspirated |
| ㅎ | hLetter name: 히읗 | 하늘 haneul · skyContext-sensitive realization |
| ㅏ | aLetter name: 아 | 아기 agi · babyOpen vowel |
| ㅑ | yaLetter name: 야 | 야구 yagu · baseballSingle letter |
| ㅓ | eoLetter name: 어 | 어머니 eomeoni · mothereo is one vowel, not two |
| ㅕ | yeoLetter name: 여 | 여자 yeoja · womanSingle letter |
| ㅗ | oLetter name: 오 | 오이 oi · cucumberRounded vowel |
| ㅛ | yoLetter name: 요 | 요리 yori · cookingSingle letter |
| ㅜ | uLetter name: 우 | 우유 uyu · milkRounded vowel |
| ㅠ | yuLetter name: 유 | 유리 yuri · glassSingle letter |
| ㅡ | euLetter name: 으 | 금 geum · goldUnrounded vowel |
| ㅣ | iLetter name: 이 | 이름 ireum · nameFront vowel |
Sources & further study
- National Institute of Korean Language: Hangul letters and syllable structure
- NIKL: Revised Romanization and positional changes
- NIKL Korean–English Learners’ Dictionary: words and pronunciation
Inventory and notation references were checked on 12 October 2026. Example selections and English explanations are EAJ teaching material. This foundation does not include recorded audio or animated stroke guides.