Using your fingers to count in Korea is no longer considered hip and cool. You could get by with number under 10 but what if you have to point out 37 or 183? This is why we all need to learn how to count in Korean. It’s actually pretty easy. In Korean there are two sets of numbers which are used when counting, the first set are known as pure Korean numbers, and the other are Sino-Korean which is based on the Chinese numerals.

Korean is written by syllables. You should be able to write the syllables correctly if you remember three major and three minor rules. Before these are reviewed, several introductory points may be helpful: (1) There are three basic shapes of vowels, which I will call “vertical vowels,” “horizontal vowels,” and “w-vowels.” (2) Within the syllable, on must distinguish between an initial consonant (one before the vowel) and a final consonant (one after the vowel).

Three Major Rules
1. A “vertical vowel” (one of the tall and narrow vowels: ㅏ ㅑ ㅐ ㅒ ㅓ ㅕ ㅔ ㅖ ㅣ) is always written to the right of the initial consonant in the syllable, as in English: 가 (ka).

Beginning and Medial Consonants

*Note: The tense (doubled) consonants have a “stronger” sound than their lax counterparts that cannot be represented with English sounds. The difference comes from more tension in the mouth and throat while making the sounds. I still have trouble pronouncing these sounds, too.

Exceptions: ㅅ and ㅆ take an “sh” sound when they are in front of the ㅣ (“ee” sound) vowel, or any “y-series” vowel (see below). For example 피시 sounds like “pee shee” instead of “pee see”.