Pronouncing Korean is difficult. You will find that differentiating between certain vowel sounds is nearly impossible. I wish it was easy, but it’s not. The biggest pronunciation tip ( for vowels, consonants, phrases, sentences…)  is the following. Listen carefully (and I mean carefully) to the vowels voiced by a native speaker or at the very least, from a recording. Try, in any way you know how, to reproduce the sounds you hear.  This will require you to think about the position of your tongue, the tenseness of the lips, and openness of the mouth. I provide  English words that approximate vowel sounds, but they are truly not the sound you ultimately want to achieve. They are simply starting points. Through many hours of practice you will be able to refine your tones and achieve greater accuracy.

Monophthongs

There are eight basic one tone vowels. In theory, if you learn these, you can form the two tone vowels. In reality it’s almost the case. Get these down though, and you will have the other ones almost figured out.

1. ㅏ - a in ha, ha, ha!
2. ㅓ - aw in law. It’s like when the dentist is in your mouth and s/he has asked you to make an awww sound. Drop your jaw down slightly and throw your tongue back.
3. ㅗ - o  in police.
4. ㅜ - oo  in hoot. Mimic the sound of an owl but don’t push your lips out as much.
5. ㅐ - ai  in bait.
6. ㅔ - e in egg. Or, mimic the sound of an lamb. “Bahhhhh!”.
7. ㅡ - u in put. Smile and  keep the lips somewhat tight. Another way to think of this is to imagine someone punching you in the gut. The resulting sound is a nice approximation.
8. ㅣ-  ee  in feet.

Diphthongs (i)

There are six two tone sounds created by taking monophthong  and placing a “y” sound in front of it.

1. ㅑ - ya in yahoo.
2. ㅕ - yaw in yawn.
3. ㅛ - yo  in yoga.
4. ㅠ - you  in you.
5. ㅒ- ya Yankee.
6. ㅖ- ye in yesterday.

Diphthongs(ii)

There are seven in this group. You might find that, in the beginning they become clumped in the brain as a bunch of “w” sounds. The inability to visually differentiate between characters, I believe, is at the heart of the problem. Using a rote method to get them straight proved to be difficult. A  more effective method for me, was a pictorial system mixed with word associations. Use or modify this to suit your learning style.

1. ㅘ - wa in water. (”w” +  “ㅏ” )
2. ㅟ - wee in wee. More accurately, it is like a French “oui”. Picture:  the “ㅜ”  is the “wee”.
3. ㅚ - whe in whey. “Like dude, there’s no whey with my curds “. Picture: imagine liquid filling the space between the verticals of “ㅗ” and “ㅣ”. The liquid spills out the lower left side and makes everything wet.
4. ㅙ - wai in wait.  (”w” + “ㅐ”)
5. ㅢ - uh-E.  “Uhh, is that letter an E?”. Say “uh” and “E” together quickly. ( “ㅡ” + “ㅣ”)
6. ㅝ - wa in wander, or wo in won.  (”ㅜ” + “ㅓ” or “w” + “ㅓ”)

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