Episode 1: Pronunciation Tips
안녕하세요 여러분~!!!
I am so excited to present to all of you the first episode of the new Weekly Korean segment! :D Thank you all so much for supporting me and suggesting that I follow through with this and keep making Korean learning videos! I'm forever grateful for all your support ^^
As for this video, sorry, it ended up being a bit longer than I expected, but I think that's because it is the first and kind of an introductory video. I'll work on making the next ones more concise and hopefully shorter :)
DISCLAIMER: I am NOT a teacher in any way and I do not claim that everything I say will be 100% correct (even though I hope so). So please don't be too judgemental if I get some information mixed up, but make sure to let me know! I do A LOT of research before making any educational videos so I hope whatever I'm talking about makes sense and is correct.
In this video I'm discussing the letter 'ㄹ' (rieul) and it's tricky pronunciation.
Here are some of the rules or patterns of pronunciation that I've discovered while studying: 1. 'ㄹ' is pronounced as 'l' when it is either at the BEGINNING or at the very END of the word (Examples: 라면, 라디오, 아들, 삼겹살, etc.) 2. 'ㄹ' is pronounced as 'r' pretty much in any other case; mostly, whenever 'ㄹ' is between two vowels. (Examples: 어려워요, 오렌만이에요, 어리다, etc.) 3. There are also cases when 'ㄹ' can be between a vowel and a consonant, like in the word 닭 (chicken) or 읽다 (to read). In the first case, letter 'ㄹ' is either silent or is barely emphasised and in the second case it is pronounced as 'L'.
DON'T WORRY
This may feel difficult and daunting at first but DON'T WORRY, even if your pronunciation is not quite at a level you want it be! Learning a language is easy but adapting to the way it is spoken is much harder. Take your time and don't rush your learning. Remember, native speakers had their ENTIRE LIFE to sound native and you've only started recently so don't beat yourself up about not sounding perfectly native. Your knowledge of the language does not decrease just because you may have a foreign accent.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
I want to take a moment to raise an issue of accents and how we are constantly being judged based on how we talk. There are people who are absolutely fluent in Korean (or any other language they've learned) but they may have an accent. Does that make them less knowledgable than native speakers or those who happen to sound native? NO, it absolutely doesn't. There is just too much judging going on in the world and that seriously has to stop.
Yes, I speak English with an American accent.
No, I'm not American.
No, I'm not betraying my homeland, forgetting my roots and assimilating to a different culture.
I'm just a parrot that repeats whatever it hears.
Do not judge me.
Let's stop the judging , whether it is judging each other's appearance, skills, words, thoughts, etc.
Live and let live, shall we?
I've spoken my mind.
This felt great.
Much love,
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