Pronunciation Guide


I'm not using any of the official romanization systems for the songs on this site, although what I'm doing is pretty close to the Revised Romanization system. The way I romanize vowels is what's most likely to trip you up, so here's a handy little guide:

HangulRomanization IPA Equivalent + Example
ㅏa/a/ (father)
ㅓeo/ʌ/ (run)
ㅗo/o/ (no)
ㅜoo/u/ (soon)
ㅡu/ɯ/ (put)
ㅣi/i/ (see)
ㅐae/ɛ/ (bed)
ㅔe/e/ (same as above, but shorter)
ㅑya/ja/ (yawn)
ㅕyeo/jʌ/ (yup)
ㅛyo/jo/ (yo-yo)
ㅠyoo/ju/ (cute)
ㅒyae/jɛ/ (yes)
ㅖye/je/ (same as above, but shorter)
ㅘwa/wa/ (want)
ㅙwae/wɛ/ (wax)
ㅝweo/wʌ/ (wonder)
ㅞwe/we/ (wet)
ㅚwe/ø/ (no English equivalent)
ㅟwi/wi/ (week)
ㅢui/ɰi/ (no English equivalent)

Not that the examples aren't 100% accurate - some Korean sounds don't have an exact equivalent in English, and the examples I've included here might not apply to you depending on which English dialect you're speaking.