Practice Writing Korean Hangul Online for Free

The Korean alphabet (Hangul) has 40 basic letters: 19 consonants and 21 vowels. The 14 basic consonants and 10 basic vowels are the foundation. The remaining 5 double consonants and 11 compound vowels are formed by combining basic letters.

Hangul is often called one of the easiest writing systems to learn. Most learners can memorize all basic consonants and vowels within a few hours to a few days. With regular practice, you can read Korean text (even without understanding the meaning) within a week.

Korean characters are written in syllable blocks. Each block combines a consonant and a vowel, and optionally a final consonant (batchim). For example, 한 (han) combines ㅎ (h) + ㅏ (a) + ㄴ (n). Vertical vowels go to the right of the consonant, horizontal vowels go below.

Double consonants (ㄲ, ㄸ, ㅃ, ㅆ, ㅉ) are tense versions of their basic counterparts. They are pronounced with more tension in the throat and no aspiration. For example, ㄱ (g/k) becomes ㄲ (kk), and ㅂ (b/p) becomes ㅃ (pp).

While Hangul stroke order is less complex than Chinese or Japanese characters, following consistent stroke order (generally left to right, top to bottom) helps you write more naturally and quickly. It also improves legibility when writing by hand.