Basic Consonants (Part 2)
Learn the remaining consonants: ㅇ, ㅈ, ㅊ, ㅋ, ㅌ, ㅍ, ㅎ
The remaining seven consonants include some of the most distinctive Korean sounds. ㅇ is the silent consonant placeholder — every syllable that starts with a vowel actually has ㅇ as its initial consonant. So 안녕하세요 starts with what looks like ㅇ + ㅏ, but the ㅇ is silent and only the vowel is pronounced. When ㅇ appears at the end of a syllable (as a 받침), it has a sound: a nasal 'ng' as in English 'sing'.
ㅋ, ㅌ, ㅍ, ㅊ are the aspirated counterparts of ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ, ㅈ — same place and manner of articulation, but with an extra puff of breath. The difference between ㅋ and ㄱ is roughly the difference between English 'k' in 'key' (aspirated) and 'k' in 'sky' (unaspirated). For English speakers this distinction is usually intuitive; for Japanese speakers the aspirated versions can sound 'too harsh' because Japanese does not contrast aspirated and unaspirated consonants — practice exaggerating the breath puff in ㅋ, ㅌ, ㅍ to lock in the contrast.
Plain vs. Aspirated Consonants
Korean has pairs of plain and aspirated consonants. Aspirated consonants have a strong burst of air: ㄱ(g) → ㅋ(k), ㄷ(d) → ㅌ(t), ㅂ(b) → ㅍ(p), ㅈ(j) → ㅊ(ch). Try holding your hand in front of your mouth — aspirated consonants push more air!