I’m working on a new travel guide (A Day by Day guide for Seoul for Frommer’s) and thinking about essential Korean phrases and pronunciation of Korean for English (and other, non-native) speakers. Then, I remembered that I had recorded a short pronunciation guide for the SF Weekly a couple of months ago.

The challenge of approximating Korean words with the English alphabet, is that some of the sounds don’t exist in English and there is no standardization for spelling (Even the Korean government and tourist bureaus change the spelling of city names, etc., every few years making it even more difficult for writers like me to keep it straight.)

I try to spell words as close to the way it sounds in English when pronounced while keeping the Korean government’s usage (so that maps and signs make a bit of sense).

Here is a guide to pronouncing the alphabet (which is a syllabary and generally regular) from my South Korea travel guide:

THE CONSONANTS
„ѱ A cross between “g” and “k,” pronounced like in the word “go,” now spelled with the letter “g” (old spelling was “k”)
„Ñ? A double consonant, the sound of a hard “g” or “k” as in the Spanish “queso,” spelled “kk”
„Ñ¥ Pronounced the same as “n,” and spelled with an “n”
„Ñ? A cross between “d” and “t,” as in “dark,” spelled with a “d” (old spelling: “t”)
„Ñ? A double consonant, the sound of a hard “d/t” as in the Spanish word “t??o” or the “t” in “study,” spelled with “dd”
„Ñ? A cross between “r” and “l,” similar to the Spanish “gracias,” spelled with an “l” or “r”
„ÖÅ Pronounced like the letter “m”
„ÖÇ A cross between the letters “b” and “p,” as in “Busan” or the “b” in “boar,” now spelled with the letter “b” (old spelling “p”)
„ÖÉ A double consonant, the sound of a hard “b” or “p” as in the Spanish “Pepe,” spelled “bb”
„ÖÖ Similar to the letter “s”
„ÖÜ A double consonant, the sound of a hard “s” as in the word “sour,” spelled with “ss”
„Öá When used in the beginning of a syllable, it allows the vowel to be sounded without a hard consonant sound. At the end of a syllable, it sounds like “ng,” as in the end of the word “song”
„Öà Pronounced like the letter “j” in “jazz” (old spelling “ch”).
„Öâ A double consonant, the sound of a hard “j,” I spelled in this book with “jj”
„Öä Pronounced like “ch” in “choice”
„Öã Pronounced like “k”
„Öå Pronounced like “t”
„Öç Pronounced like “p”
„Öé Pronounced like “h”

THE VOWELS
„Öè Pronounced like “ah,” as in “spa”
„Öë Pronounced “ya”
„Öì Pronounced “uh,” as in “umbrella,” spelled “eo”
„Öï Pronounced “yuh,” as in “yum,” spelled “yeo”
„Öó Pronounced “oh,” as in “rope”
„Öõ Pronounced “yo”
„Öú Pronounced “ooh,” as in “stew,” often spelled “u” or sometimes “oo”
„Ö† Pronounced “yu,” as in “you,” spelled “yu” or “yoo”
„Ö° Pronounced “eu,” as in “good” or “hood”
„Ö£ Pronounced “ee,” as in “see”
„Öî A combination vowel pronounced “eh”
„Öê A combination vowel pronounced “ye,” as in “yes”
„Öò A combination vowel pronounced “wa”
„Öû A combination vowel pronounced “whe,” as in “sweat”
„Öù A combination vowel pronounced “wuh,” as in “was”
„Öü A combination vowel pronounced “wee”
„Ö¢ A combination vowel pronounced “eui” (but said quickly)

So, I’m putting in phrases and words in my new travel guide, are there any that you’d like to see? Let me know and I’ll add them to the book. Thanks!