Korean Job Discussion Forums

[tomato]

Vox, can you apply your skill to problems in pronouncing Korean?
I have no idea how to make a �� sound.

[some waygug-in]

I believe it's 'eul' .... kind of like the le sound at the end of the word 'handle'.


Another problem I've noticed.... as Vox has mentioned before, Koreans tend to transfur their pronunciation rules over to English.

One in particular is where a hard consonant at the end of a word, followed by a y sound at the beginning of the next word some gets changed into an 'n' or an 'ng' sound.

Ex: take out your book becomes 'take oung your book'.

There are many of these, I can't remember them all.

Another is the 's' followed by 'ee' sound. In hangeul it would be 'she'

Lastly, there is the avoidance of the final syllable. I'm not sure why this is, but Koreans seem to think that the final syllable is optional.

esp in past tense wanted worked etc. but also in other cases.

[tomato]

Speaking of word endings, they think that the plural -s is optional because the plural -�� is optional.

For that reason, I always pronounce the plural -s good and loud so that they will follow my example. Then, they get in the habit and add a plural
-s to a noun which should be singular.

[mithridates]

Don't forget that the plural can go on an adjective as well:

�������� ���� �ڽĵ��

You could also just say �������� ���� to tell some people to be quiet.

Shuts!

[Old fat expat]

As for consonants:
I see three problems. Firstly, place of articulation is slightly different. Example is the 'd' sound: in English made on the alveola ridge; in Hungul made on the lingual aspect of the teeth. As one of the previous posters noted-explaining where to put the tongue will improve consonant sounds. Of course as a teacher, you will need to study up (i.e. don't rely on how you pronounce, do some research).
Secondly, the tongue itself. In English we use a 'thin' tongue, mostly the tip (which allows for quick releases). Koreans use a thick tongue. This will result in 'thick' sounds, or as with the 's' sound the 's' becomes like the fricative 'sh' (kinda funny but not the word you want them to say for sit).
Thirdly, release (onset) of the consonant sound is quicker in English. That is, consonant sounds are SHORT. In fact we English speakers discriminate the 'p' and 'b' based on the onset time. Again you can google all this stuff.
But as all consonants are modified to accomodate vowels (say 'po' then 'pe' and notice how the lips change to form the 'p' to accomodate the following vowel), some work will have to be done on the vowels.