food
| bibimbap | 비빔밥 | rice bowl with with topped w/ namul and chili pepper paste, maybe egg or beef too |
| bulgogi | 불고기 | thin, marinated slices of meat, usually beef |
| japchae | 잡채 | stir-fried glass noodles with meat, vegetables, and mushrooms |
| kimchi | 김치 | salted and fermented vegatables, esp. napa cabbage or korean radish |
| namul | 나물 | seasoned vegetables, possibly blanched, steamed, or fermented |
| samgyeopsal | 삼겹살 | grilled pork belly |
| seolleongtang | 설렁탕 | ox bone soup |
letters
Korean can be written horizontally and read left-to-write like most Western languages. It can also be written vertically in the traditional Chinese manner.
Typically three letters will be written in a square, with the upper left containing the onset, the upper right containing the vowel, and the bottom containing the final consonant. Thus an entire syllable can be written in the square of area that a Chinese character would normally occupy. If there is no final consonant, the onset is written above the vowel, unless the vowel is ㅣ (i), in which case the onset is on the left and the ㅣ on the right. Other arrangements occur.
Here is a incomplete list of consonsants. Some of them are devoiced or are otherwise pronounced differently in the syllable-final position. The circle is used to indicate no onset, or the velar nasal (ng) in syllable final position. The descender for ㄱ (g/k) is is sometimes curved to the left.
ㄱ g/k
ㄴ n
ㄷ d/t
ㄹ r/l
ㅁ m
ㅂ b/p
ㅅ s
ㅇ /ng
ㅈ j
ㅊ ch/t
Here are some basic vowels.
ㅏ a /a/
ㅐ ae /ɛ/
ㅓ eo /ʌ/ unrounded mid back vowel
ㅡ eu /ɯ/ unrounded high back vowel
ㅗ o /o/
ㅜ u /u/
ㅣ i /i/