Week 1 Review: Hangul Foundations

By the end of this lesson you can:

• Recall all 10 basic vowel letters and all 14 consonants from memory, in standard dictionary order
• Read 15 Korean words aloud cold, with no romanization hints
• Write 10 Korean words from their English meanings alone

TOPIK 1 skills: Reading Hangul.

No new content today. This lesson tests everything from the past four days. Be honest with yourself: the gaps you find now are the ones to fix before Week 2.

Review objectives

1. Recall all 10 basic vowels from memory without prompts
2. Name all 14 consonants and their sounds without looking
3. Identify which of the 3 syllable block shapes applies to any given syllable
4. Read 15 Korean words cold, with no romanization hints beforehand
5. Write 10 Korean words from their English meaning only

RECALL: This lesson reviews everything from Week 1: Lesson 1 (the 10 basic vowels + alphabet intro), Lesson 2 (7 consonants ㄱ–ㅅ), Lesson 3 (7 consonants ㅇ–ㅎ), and Lesson 4 (syllable block shapes).

Part 1 · Vowel Recall

Can you name all 10 vowels?

Cover the right-hand columns and say each vowel’s sound out loud before checking. Mark any you hesitated on; those go back into your flashcard deck tonight. Remember: the letter itself is the jamo; the example syllable adds silent ㅇ in front.

TIP: Common stumbles: the three that trip most learners at this stage are ㅓ (어, eo), ㅡ (으, eu), and ㅕ (여, yeo). If any of those felt slow, write them out 10 times each before moving on.

Part 2 · Consonant Recall

All 14 consonants, in order

These appear in the standard Korean order you’ll see in dictionaries and keyboards. Cover the sound column and say each sound before checking.

Aspirated pairs: can you match them?

Each aspirated consonant has a base form. Without looking back at Lesson 3, name the base consonant for each one before checking the right-hand column.

Part 3 · Reading Challenge

Read these 15 words cold

No romanization shown. Read each word aloud: break it into syllable blocks, identify the consonants and vowels, then sound it out. Check yourself against the Answer Key at the end of the lesson only after you have read all 15 aloud.

Part 4 · Write from English

English → Korean (no peeking)

Write the Korean word for each English meaning in your notebook first. Then check your answers in the Answer Key at the end of the lesson.

Part 5 · Self-Assessment

How did you do?

Be honest. Count how many reading words (Part 3) and write-from-English answers (Part 4) you got correct on the first try, before peeking. That gives you a score out of 25.

Your Week 1 score (out of 25)

TIP: Under 15? No problem. Here’s what to do. Go back to the specific lesson where the gaps are. Drill just those letters for 10 minutes, then retake Part 3 above. You don’t need a perfect score to move forward; you just need to feel confident with the basics before compound vowels arrive in Lesson 6.

CULTURE: King Sejong and the gift of Hangul. Before Hangul was created in 1443, Korean was written using Chinese characters, a system so complex that literacy was essentially limited to the upper class. King Sejong deliberately designed Hangul to be learnable by ordinary people, reportedly so that farmers could read agricultural instructions and merchants could keep records. The original document introducing Hangul stated it could be learned in a single morning by a wise person, or in ten days by a foolish one. You’ve done it in four days. South Korea now celebrates 한글날 (Hangeul Day) every October 9th, commemorating the promulgation of Hangul. (King Sejong’s birthday, May 15, is honored separately as Teachers’ Day.)

Homework

1. Write all 24 Hangul letters from memory: vowels first, then consonants in standard order. Don’t look. Check afterwards and circle any mistakes.
2. Go back to any reading words from Part 3 that you got wrong or hesitated on. Write those words 10 times each by hand, saying each syllable aloud as you write.
3. Run through your full flashcard deck: all vocabulary from Lessons 1–4. This is a consolidation day. Move any cards you’re confident in to a separate “known” pile.
4. Lesson 6 preview: Look up the term “compound vowels in Korean” and read one short article about them. Compound vowels (복모음) are what Week 2 is all about. Arriving fresh will help.
5. Optional but worthwhile: find one sign, poster, or product label in Korean (from a photo online or a Korean shop nearby) and try to read at least part of it using what you know.

Answer Key

Part 3 · Reading Challenge

Part 4 · Write from English