1. Revised Romanization of Korean (RR)
* This is the official system used by the South Korean government and most international organizations.
* It's generally considered easier to learn for English speakers.
2. McCune-Reischauer (MR)
* This system was widely used in the past, but it's less common nowadays.
* It uses slightly different spellings for some Korean sounds.
Here's a breakdown of how to use RR to write Korean words:
* Consonants:
* ㄱ (g): g, k (depending on position in word)
* ㄴ (n): n
* ㄷ (d): d, t (depending on position in word)
* ㄹ (r): r, l (depending on position in word)
* ㅁ (m): m
* ㅂ (b): b, p (depending on position in word)
* ㅅ (s): s
* ㅈ (j): j, ch (depending on position in word)
* ㅊ (ch): ch
* ㅋ (k): k
* ㅌ (t): t
* ㅍ (p): p
* ㅎ (h): h
* Vowels:
* ㅏ (a): a
* ㅑ (ya): ya
* ㅓ (eo): eo
* ㅕ (yeo): yeo
* ㅗ (o): o
* ㅛ (yo): yo
* ㅜ (u): u
* ㅠ (yu): yu
* ㅣ (i): i
* Diphthongs:
* ㅐ (ae): ae
* ㅔ (e): e
* ㅚ (oe): oe
* ㅟ (wi): wi
* ㅢ (ui): ui
Examples:
* 안녕하세요 (annyeonghaseyo): Hello
* 한국 (hanguk): Korea
* 고맙습니다 (go맙습니다): Thank you
* 김치 (gimchi): Kimchi
* 사랑해 (saranghae): I love you
Note:
* When a consonant is followed by another consonant, a hyphen (-) is used to separate them.
* There are some minor variations in the pronunciation of certain sounds depending on the context.
* It's always helpful to check the pronunciation of words using a Korean dictionary or online resources.
By using Romanization, you can start to understand and write Korean words in English letters. However, it's important to remember that it's just a system for representing sounds, and it doesn't capture the full complexity of the Korean language. If you want to learn to read and write Korean properly, it's best to study the Korean alphabet (Hangul).