Knowing what makes a certain syllable

[galacticjjyo1276]

I want to try reading simple korean syllabic blocks, but when I get to them, I get confused with
what sound it might make.

For example, one consonant plus one vowel;
저?
I know the first consonant is something like jieong? And the second sounds like aw to me but
apparently it is eo?

How would I make it so it sounds like jeo? like do i take the first letter or what the letter is
supposed to represent; G N D R M B S I J C K T P H and add the sound of the vowel?
Very confusing especially with more consonants and vowels added. ;c
Please help!

[trutherous]

Hello New Friend,

Welcome to KoreanClass101.com! It's always a pleasure to see another person interested in the Korean language.

I imagine the reason you have had no replies yet is that your question was not clear to the teachers here.

Yes it can be very confusing to learn a whole new phonetic writing system, but the confusion will disappear little by little as you study more and more. It may be clich'e to say 'you must learn to sit up before you can crawl and you must learn to crawl before you can walk,' but it is nonetheless absolutely true. So concentrate on the absolute basics of the writing system and soon enough you will be reading.

http://www.koreanclass101.com/learningc ... ngul_chart

George -- fellow student

[timandyou]

Hello galacticjjyo1276,
Thanks for your comment!
First of all, "Happy New Year to you ~~!"
About your question, I will do my best here...
If you know some English or speak English (romanization), actually to pronounce Korean is NOT THAT difficult.

For example,
Let's take a look at the word - "NOT".
"N" = /n/ = ㄴ [ni-eun]
"O" = /a/ = ㅏ [a]
"T" = /t/ = ㅌ [ti-eut]
therefore, "N + O + T" = /n/ + /a/ + /t/ = ㄴ + ㅏ + ㅌ
not /nat/ = 낱 or 낟 or 낫

If you want to know of Korean pronunciation, please give a listen to some video lessons called "Korean Pronunciation".
Ah~~ one more thing, on Jan 24th, throughout 'All About' series, new lesson called, "Basic Korean Pronunciation" will be published.
If you have a time, please give a listen to that lesson as well.
Thanks for your comment,
cheers, - Tim