Here's how to improve your Korean pronunciation

It takes a lot of time and effort to improve pronunciation in Korean, but even after practicing many learners find it difficult to sound more like a native. So I sat down with Saemmul from the channel “Your Korean Saem” (formerly “All Things Korean”) and she shared her best methods for improving Korean pronunciation. We also talked about what “shadowing” is, and some effective ways to do shadowing with Korean.
Check out “Your Korean Saem” and tell her Billy sent you! / @yourkoreansaem
We also had a nice conversation we filmed right before this video here: • Mukbang Interview with...
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Music by Kevin MacLeod: "Beachfront Celebration," “MJS Strings,” and “Brightly Fancy.” (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/b...)

[@YourKoreanSaem]

You made me sound a lot more eloquent than I actually was when we were filming lol! 편집의 힘 💪 Thank you for coming over for lunch and I'm also looking forward to seeing the final result of our other video... 😉

[@GoBillyKorean]

Everyone's going to wonder how your comment got on this video a week before it went live ;-D

[@LearnKoreanABC]

앗, 지금 보니까 20분 전에 올라온 영상이라고 떠 있는데, 5일 전에 댓글을 남기셨군요! ㅎㅎ

[@_seosimu_]

@@GoBillyKorean omg yess 💀😮

[@tokinGLX]

i had not come across her channel before, now i am subbed. thanks for introducing us!

[@bkdsignature]

THANK YOU, I’ve been looking for someone who gets super technical about pronunciation! That is my kinda nerding, so I will definitely check out her channel in hopes of finding what I’ve been wanting! I’m just starting out and am super focused on just pronunciation for my first couple months so I can have a solid foundation.

[@bkdsignature]

Thanks again, Billy! I’m on her last two pronunciation videos! Appreciate the recc!

[@susanwilliams7975]

I use mimicking to improve my Korean pronunciation. I try to mimic exactly what I hear my teacher (or friends) say when it comes to intonation, inflection, and proper tongue placement. I also watch KBS News without subtitles just so I can hear the flow of sentences and when my voice should end the sentence with an upward lilt or downward one. And of course, the more practice I get, the better my pronunciation.

[@LunarSerenity]

Loving the collab videos - it's a great introduction to the community of folks on youtube helping people learn Korean!

[@cherylschaeffer7832]

Great video! I loved the tip about learning to group the words. This is something I've been learning from my pronunciation teacher and it's very helpful.

[@SnackyKorea]

I watched clip that was 7 years ago and i didn't expect you still would run the channel! The tips of korean saem was so helpful as well.

[@wrldtrvlr4vr]

So helpful! Love your collaboration with others. I struggle with pronunciation.

[@nadie-qm8rq]

omg I loved her channel content, I'm glad I discovered this, as a native spanish speaker, this will be so helpful and is so interesting

[@BeanPommes]

This video helps so much! Thank you both for the good content you created! When starting Billys book, i noted down 짜다 , 차다 and 자다 as some of my first vocab, which i still terribly confuse because i struggle to pronounciate the difference. I am determined to stop confusing how to write each but now i do not feel so bad for not getting the pronounciation perfect as a beginner. Thank you a lot for mentioning it!

[@ontothenext4664]

Am learning so much...thank you guys..

[@emilaubry6856]

She has such an amazing personality! 😍

[@AnxiousTrixie]

actually this helped a lot, I am Portuguese and we have double consonants (ss, rr) and other stuff I notice foreigners struggle with (ch, sh, lh, nh) and for me it's so easy and I never even considered this when I was learning the Korean alphabet. It's like grammar rules and stuff like that, for me it's so natural I forget it makes no sense for others just learning. It will probably help me learn because maybe Korean and a lot of other languages also have rules that most people don't even know why they exist

[@_seosimu_]

Hey billu🤩🥳 your book korean made simple has arrived I'm so excited it's amazing🤩🥳 thank you so much for this amazing book 🤩🥳

[@_seosimu_]

Sorry really sorry 😂in out of excitement I wrote *billu* insteed of *Billy* 🤣

[@KoreanJream]

제가 처음 본 샘물샘 비디오도 발음규칙 비디오였어요! 선생님의 열정이랑 지식이 보이는 비디오들!!! 😃 다른 언어에 비슷한 소리 찾는 거 저도 너무 재미있어 하고 가르칠 때도 언급하려고 하는 점이라서 들으면서 너무 반가웠어요!!! 그나저나… 벽에 걸린 해바라기 그림을 세 점을 보니까 저희 엄마 생각나요. 집에 해바라기 있으면 좋다고 저한테 해바라기 그려 달라고 하셨거든요 ㅋㅋㅋㅋ 한 점 그려 드리고 두 점 더 그려 드려야 하는데 🤣 아이디어 얻어가요 ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[@deeannacarlson1865]

I do watch a lot of korean dramas, but i find that it is harder for me to pronounce longer sentences and words. I will try to find some scripts for them or maybe some conversations that i can try and shadow. I want to thank you for all your hard work.

[@jeddymoon3803]

Thanks for the vid and also the food looks good!

[@fairlyoddmeify]

Awesome video. Thank you for this. I have subscribe to Your Korean Saem well. So many avenues to learn and improve. I am so appreciative! One of the way I shadow is that I watch 한국 드라마를 on Netflix on a browser. On the browser version, the video can be play at 0.75x, 0.5x or even 0.25x the normal speed. One the first run it helps me to catch the pronunciation and correct tones to use. And then I play at normal speed.

[@njitram2000]

In terms of a language that has the best basis for Korean, the best that I know of is Flemish (not Dutch). All the Hangul vowels are present basically one-to-one, it uses a rolling r and has very precise and sharp pronunciation akin to Korean, unlike English which adds all sorts of flourishes to its sounds. The only special one is ㅡ which we do use but don't have a set written form for.

[@antonioluciovivaldi4648]

This is a good video and i do agree with 샘물님 about explaining phonetics. My university has taught korean phonetics in detail but I still suck HAHA. And I realize my friends that do shadowing everyday are the ones that sound the best so Im trying to do it too. Although i really dont like watching variety shows, I watch a heck ton of korean youtubers and vloggers and even prank videos. Like 샘물님 said, compared to dramas, you can learn more about filler words, slangs, speaking in the right context, ect. Anyways, thank you for this video!

[@didemt.6040]

When i listen some korean music i open the hangul lyrics and movies with korean subtitle. Thanks both of you.

[@honeyday9228]

Woahh Your Korean Saem was here!

[@adrianc.4292]

Wow she is very goot at explaining I love her chanel

[@jericoalba6368]

I always find a hard time distinguishing ㄱ/ㄲ/ㅋ and other similar instances but by the use of Korean drama OST and shadowing the songs, I slowly identify how different sounds are different. Like from stressed, aspirated, or unaspirated consonants, and so on.

[@LearnRealKorean]

와우..... 이 시간에 부대찌개 영상을 올리시다니........................................ 근데 부대찌개는 그냥 인트로일 뿐이었군요 ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[@fransmith3255]

의!!! Always have difficulties pronouncing this!! I've had Korean people repeat it over and over for me to copy, 의자 and 의사, and get frustrated with me because no matter how hard I try I just don't get it right. :-(( And hearing the difference between ㅅ and ㅆ - just can't tell the difference - side by side they sound exactly the same to me. I'll never know whether I should 'buy' something or whether it's 'cheap', lol!! :-(( Although I think I apparently pronounce them okay (someone explained to me that ㅆ is similar to English 's' and ㅅ is softer and more forward in the mouth). I'm actually subscribed to both of your channels, btw, and I love them both. Yours...for a few years. And "All Things Korean" I discovered a year or so ago. :-)))

[@BlueCatSW9]

Just say you learnt in Gwangju apparently people there can't pronounce it either :-D they say it as 으

[@gryphonandtobyiloveu]

i always say it as 왜 without a w, sort of a uae sound. usually u only need to pronounce it in that way if you’re speaking slowly, so usually it’s pronounced as 이 in some cases .. also i always remember ㅅ and ㅆ by thinking that ㅆ is kind of the angry consonant, as it’s pronounced (dont quote me on this im very dumb) while youre sort of gritting ur teeth . so try to stress the ㅆs

[@gryphonandtobyiloveu]

i also pronounce ㅅ with sort of a lisp .. think of when someone pronounces 서, its almost never stressed and i personally pronounce it by bringing the tongue up to the bottom front of my teeth (not too much, not enough for ‘tho’ but enough for a little whistle sound to come thru)

[@iiTzLurks]

@@BlueCatSW9 yeah instead of 의사 they say 으사

[@qureshi.561]

You are the best teacher ❤ 💕 💖 ♥

[@crossinborderd]

I struggle with double consonants for sure, not only to pronounce them but also when i do dictation sometimes i get them wrong if it's a word i am not familiar with. But i'll get there eventually. :D

[@phoenixknight8837]

The subtleties in pronunciation sounds has been my biggest challenge in dealing with Korean. I want to get it right before moving on to increasing vocabulary and building sentences.

[@ams.0000]

I really like Your Korean Saem videos. The detailed explanations are so helpful! Oh and food looked good!

[@KarlShreeves]

감사합니다. 비디오가 맞고 좋아요. Not that I have good pronunciation (I don't!) but linguistics tell us that learning to pronounce well is tied to learning to hear well as you both pointed out. 미국 사람이라서 저한테 "ㄱ" 하고 "ㄲ" 하고 "ㅋ" 소리가 같아요. I have the same struggles with ㅅ/ㅆ, ㅈ/ㅉ/ㅊ and ㄷ/ㄸ/ㅌ. But, as I learn to hear the differences, I'm better able to pronounce the differences. If we apply learning theory (I'm an instructional designer), to learn to subtle differences try to find similar examples with those differences. For instance, learning to hear the differences between 가지, 까치 and 가치 (by a native speaker and without context), pronunciation would normally be expected to improve our pronunciation of ㄱ/ㄲ/ㅈ/ㅊ.

[@penire8951]

I'd like to try out the 피치-channel that she (or her mom) recommended. Where can I find it? Thanks for the great video btw., it was fun watching.

[@morgannavel4552]

When I first started learning korean it was something like one and half year ago, I started by using talk to me in korean ressources for lessons, and along that I was using the game VRChat to speak with native speaker. I first used VRChat for english then went for korean, I went to some korean world and since I was a beginner I wasn't able to talk or make sentences so I was such reading korean instruction in those worlds out loud (everyone was hearing me that was funny XD some korean helped me and now are my friends), and then after learning more from TTMIK I started trying to speak with native korean, and by hearing I was trying to copy the way they spoke (shadowing I guess) but on different sentences. Now when I'm on VRChat since they can't see your face, when I first meet a korean and I start to speak with this person they always think I'm native korean but I'm really french and not korean lol.

[@wilsongt9870]

It does not only look like she is a great korean teacher, but also a devoted time traveler ninja

[@jenromeave4793]

ㅋㅋ

[@ogabrielalbar]

I am this kind of nerd in terms of phonetics, and finding the ㄲ, ㄱ and ㅋ in Portuguese (my native tongue), really helped me, so yeah, I think I am on the right track ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[@Laura-me5ic]

same here ^^

[@NeonKodiak]

share with class!! eu preciso de ajuda!

[@onecuriousowl]

Me too!

[@Laura-me5ic]

@@NeonKodiak o billy tem +100 videoaulas ! tem o talk to me in korean tbm

[@NeonKodiak]

@@Laura-me5ic sim mas eu queria saber em relação com o portugues pq achei interessante o que o Gabriel disse

[@sunrise477]

That was really helpful thank u guys Btw we would love to listen to u Billy singing in Japanese😎

[@onecuriousowl]

I could really use some short stories audiobooks recommendations. If they have written books to accompany them would be really awesome. Do you have any to recommend?

[@kahlilbt]

Olly Richards has a great short story book/audiobook available with Korean intermediate stories. You have to buy the text and audio separately though

[@-alpha-o-mathematics8342]

good`

[@fabiolamachuca9395]

There are certain words in Korean that are way more difficult to pronounce than other, for me. Like for example, I will forever struggle to pronounce 의 right, especially when combined with other letters.

[@paulwalther5237]

Does she speak any Korean on her channel? 😂 (Why would people wonder how good her Korean is?). I can vouch for her English. I’m super impressed.

[@GoBillyKorean]

That part was added for anyone who didn't already know about her channel or who she is (if someone discovered her through this video).

[@eundongpark1672]

I have tried shadowing so much, but - maybe I've got a learning disability - I can't speak at the same time. I mean I CAN kinda mumble something but I pause, stumble, drop some syllables, extend other syllables. Hearing the other person speak kinda causes the speaking centre of my brain to static, I can repeat AFTER, but not shadow. I thought it would just be a skill that would take a bit of time to practice, like mirror writing, but after hours of trying, I don't think I'm any better at shadowing. Am I the only one who has this problem?

[@pumkin54]

I watch(ed) Saem to improve my pronunciation XD Still working on it.

[@cspel002]

Yeah these are my struggles. ㅂ, ㅃ, ㅍ. And 어. The double consonants are super tricky. I dont hear a difference lol

[@martinaasta]

I'm Italian and I also study linguistic. I would really love to hear what examples you have in my language to fully understand how to say the double letters properly. Because I tried my best and I still don't get them right 😅 Also, if you want to get technical I do understand, just tell me the phones I should produce.

[@flaviomoreno1640]

It’s about the amount of air you breath out. When you say “mangia la pappa”, the amount of air that comes when you pronounce the “p” is minimal and that makes it a double consonant sound. “La Tata” for example, the T sound in italian produces minimal air. No air- double consonant sound (ㅃ) Some air- single consonant sound (ㅂ) Most air- aspirated consonant sound (ㅍ)

[@flaviomoreno1640]

Just place a thin toilet paper sheet right in front of your mouth for practice. ㅃ shouldn’t move the paper at all. ㅂ should move it a little. ㅍ should move it a lot more.

[@SavingDom]

Seriously, as a Latina learning Korean, my spanish accent comes in clutch with the pronunciation of some korean words! I'm so grateful I have my spanish to help me along my korean learning😂

[@paulwalther5237]

Pronunciation as a beginner or even low intermediate is a very tricky thing. You would think the context would make it work but I was at a restaurant in Seoul and asking this waitress if they had water. There was free water right behind her. She couldn’t understand the word for water to save her life when it came out of my mouth.

[@AnxiousTrixie]

is anyone else is a similar situation as me... learning the Korean Alphabet is overwhelmingly easy, I can technically read it (slow as all hell, but still) but I don't know what most words mean at all.... How do I move from this block? I've listened to way to much K-Pop and K-Dramas so I recognize a lot of lone words and phases, but I don't know what is the best way to start. should I try and learn to speak and later read and write? should I get some books for Korean learning...

[@suxzne]

for me i use ttmik i thimk

[@auricia201]

10:41 YEEES! So True! I've been watching her videos on ㅂㅍㅃㄷㅌㄸㄱ ㅋㄲ pronunciation, and now I have an existential crisis because I don't understand how I can distinguish d/t, k/g, p/b in my own language (Portuguese from Portugal)! 😅 They sound different, but my mouth seems to be doing exactly the same! I look like a moron repeating the syllables over and over in from of my computer 🤣

[@DeannaWillistonOFS]

“If that’s the type of nerd you are.” 🤣

[@user-yy9uf8cu9r]

I wanna to read Korean fast because iam reading it slowly What should I do ??!

[@ashesofhopesinabonfireofdr6341]

I think it'll sound a bit cliche but there's not much you can do. The more you read, the easier it becomes for your brain to create pathways to detect words in nanoseconds. You'll get faster with time.

[@user-yy9uf8cu9r]

@@ashesofhopesinabonfireofdr6341 ok I will try to read more Korean Thank you for your advice(●’◡’●)

[@raven.4815]

Don't feel bad about it, it took me a very long time to read fast in English

[@otherworldRestaurant]

영어 개잘해 ㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷ

[@georgiavassilopoulou4377]

I got a question; 친구 생일 선물도 살 겸 , 제 옷도 볼 겸 , 백화점에 갈 거예요. 친구 생일 선물 사는 김에 , 제 옷도 보는 것 백화점에 갈 거예요. =I’m going to the department store to buy a present for my friend’s birthday and at the same time look for some clothes for me. Are the -(으) ㄹ 겸 and -는/ㄴ 김에 interchangeable ?

[@GoBillyKorean]

They're different forms. I have lessons about both here kzbin.info/www/bejne/jIaUi4KCm9yiqrc and here kzbin.info/www/bejne/nXK2ZHSejt93oas

[@travelling3969]

4:10 is the Key to Visually Linking Korean Words here lol coz the brain is not an Abstract brain, more of a Hiker Creative Visual Brain! Retrieval Practice reduces acute stress so Keep Practicing! (To reduce Stress Lmao) Visually Creative Mouth is also Key! Try Acting in different personalities?

[@nottoiivia]

HII EVERYONEEE!!!

[@mymagneticwellness8224]

Budae JJigae is delicious.

[@sundus9850]

Really I like learn korean 🙂 when you see my comment please tell me how to learn Korean of easy I know Korean learn is not easy but help me and I try🤕

[@GoBillyKorean]

You can start learning here for free: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qamTqqyHptCjp9E

[@sundus9850]

@@GoBillyKorean thank you sir

[@beyourtrue3154]

I want to learn Korean but am afraid that everything will go wrong. Then in my head I have a hard time remembering what is what

[@samuelcooke6228]

Just make a start - you'll never know how you'll do if you don't try. :)

[@beyourtrue3154]

@@samuelcooke6228 that is true

[@lunePT]

Even after a year of learning I still struggle with ㄲ ㅋ ㅆㅅ .. I guess i have hard time with all of them😅

[@kahlilbt]

I've been learning for years and just started hearing the difference between ㅅ and ㅆ!

[@myahan2224]

Knowing Arabic make it a wee bit easier… at least for me it was 😅

[@yere7851]

Personally I can't tell ㅈ and ㅊ apart because a similar sound doesn't exist in my language

[@lookits_fran]

please someone help me with ㄹ at the end of words :((((((((((((((

[@c64844]

I would assume that Billy or Saemmul would have a video on this. If not, there would be many others I'm sure who would have done a video on it. Just type in 'ㄹ pronunciation' and see what you can find. However, I would suggest focusing on your tongue placement for this particular letter. King Sejong made the letters to resemble the shape they make in your mouth when you pronounce them so tongue placement is relevant. In the case of ㄹ, it is not pronounced like an R or an L. It is it's own unique sound. The tongue should curve up to the roof of your mouth unlike L where it presses the space behind your teeth or R where it pulls backwards.

[@lookits_fran]

@@c64844 Yeah ive watched many many videos including Billys video and Saemmul, but I still have a problem with it. I understand how its pronounced at the beginning and middle in words, but for some reason when its words like 말, 말, 한글, 꿀, etc when it comes at the end, I cannot pronounce it well even tho I try to put my tongue in the right place.... I guess KZbin videos cant help me anymore and I need to find a tutor to help me individually lol

[@c64844]

@@lookits_fran I'm sorry you're having so much trouble with it and that the videos aren't helping much. I wonder if you are curving your tongue up enough. It's a pretty severe curve and touches behind the dip caused by your teeth. If you curve your tongue up to touch the roof of your mouth and try to say 할 whilst holding it there you should hear the ㄹ sound come out at the end. I'm not sure how long you've been learning for but maybe with more listening and speaking practice it will come to you easier in time. Don't beat yourself up about it though!

[@lookits_fran]

@@c64844 Ive been wondering recently if the way my mouth is shaped might have an influence on how the sound comes out. because my teeth aren't straight and the roof of my mouth is really small... lol idk I am just deeply frustrated.... ive been learning for a bit more than a year... that's why its even more frustrating. I really cant understand :((( thank you so much for your advices tho! how long have u been learning? if you're not native

[@c64844]

@@lookits_fran Don't worry! I have crooked teeth too and a misshapen mouth due to thumb sucking as a child. It is still possible! I believe you will be able to do it. Honestly, 1 year is a short time for language learning so don't put too much pressure on yourself. You are probably doing much better than you think you are. I've been learning for almost 3 years but the pronunciation of ㄹ came to me more from immersion than technical explanations and pronunciation drills. People learn in different ways so try and listen to as much Korean as you can and watch people's mouths when they speak. Try to shadow them or pause the video and repeat after them if you can't speak or process very fast yet. You will find that after a while, you will naturally begin to move your mouth in the same way and then be able to pronounce the words more naturally. It takes time though.

[@nancywright2680]

Don’t you wish your parents spoke to you in Korean when you where a child ?

[@ZomBeadsCL]

Billy do you wear make up for these videos? or is it just the camera's color science that make your face look yellow-er?

[@GoBillyKorean]

Usually I wear very basic makeup when filming (whenever possible) since bright lights actually make my face appear shiny. You can tell in my live streams I don't wear any makeup, and my face is a bit shinier in the lighting, although I'm also considering doing it for those too. It's pretty standard for all filming because lights = shiny, unless you're not getting very close to the camera or you don't sweat. But it depends on what I'm filming and the conditions and I don't always.

[@ZomBeadsCL]

@@GoBillyKorean ooooooooooh okok I see, thank you for your answer! and it also speaks more about how much you worry about the overall qualitiy of your content!

[@just_gameXplain]

Very difficult korean pronounciation

[@Ricksonkimura]

I'm so glad Billy is working on his pronunciation! Billy's Korean is very good for the most part, but his pronunciation is a bit off. Billy is gonna sound like a native speaker soon!

[@Simpawknits]

BegENers?

[@luhhace4128]

My korean saem? More like my Korean jagiya🤣 jp

[@lyla7539]

아내분인줄.......

[@iiTzLurks]

ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ