The Korean alphabet, Hangul, is relatively easy to grasp. It’s a logical writing system that was made to be easy to retain and learn, and it takes at most only a few days to study it from beginning to end. But it’s not that easy to write neatly. Through this article, you’ll get some tips about how to improve your Korean handwriting.
If you haven’t learned Hangul yet, I suggest you check the article “The Korean Alphabet From A To Z“, because this post is about Hangul writing, and more specifically the improvement of your Hangul handwriting.
After learning the Korean alphabet, you start writing it and your handwriting is looking clumsy. It’s not easy to fit all the characters into a virtual square when we are just starting.
When I was at the beginning stage of learning Korean, I would look for ways to improve my Korean writing style. And it’s actually fairly easy, it just requires (a lot of) practice.
If you want to go straight to the point and practice right away,
check “Master the Korean Handwriting” book in the shop. 🙂
What you can expect from this article :
- Improving your Korean handwriting (at least a bit)
- Getting better at reading Korean handwriting
Even though some natives write fast and have what can be called a “messy” handwriting style in Korean, a lot of natives also have a very clean handwriting. It’s all about preferences and ease for the person holding the pen!
So don’t feel forced and pressured to change your Korean handwriting.
Take the title of this article with a grain of salt!
The Korean Syllable
When you write in Korean, each syllable can be made of at least 2 characters, and up to 4 (5, depending on how you count). This is a lot of characters to fit in a small space!
So you have to train yourself to fit all the characters in a small space, while still looking clear and readable.
Sounds hard?
Let’s see.
Korean Natives Handwriting
If you want to write Korean like a native, you’ll have to practice, a lot. And to train your Hangul Handwriting, the easiest thing to do is to look at Korean natives’ handwriting. They have been writing Korean for a way longer time than any of us learners did, and they come up with quite creative and interesting ways to write the Korean characters.
Korean Handwriting Examples
As you can see in these examples, the Korean handwriting style can change a lot compared to what you will see in your textbooks, and you should get used to real Korean handwriting. Not only will it help you to write more naturally in Korean, but it will also help you read it.
If you ever receive a letter written in Korean handwriting, it should be a shame for you not to be able to read it, right?
How to Improve my Korean Handwriting
On to the interesting part : the actual way to improve your Korean Handwriting.
Wongoji paper
First, you’ll want to start by writing on 원고지 (wongoji) paper. The wongoji paper will help you contain your syllables into one square. Or at least, it will force you to.
Writing in these squares will seem annoying at first, but if you’re really willing to learn Korean seriously, you will have to write on this paper sooner or later. It is used for TOPIK, as well as tests in Universities if you follow their Korean classes. Best getting used to it now by practicing your Korean handwriting! 🙂
So I’d suggest you download the wongoji paper and print it for as many sheets as you see fit. You can also just download it and write on your tablet if you prefer, that will work just fine as well.
As you get used to writing the syllables in squares, you can start stylizing each character individually.
Stylization of the Korean Handwriting
To improve your Korean handwriting, you will have to take inspiration. The best way is to find Korean handwriting examples, obviously. But it’s not easy to find if you don’t have a Korean friend at hand. And even if you do, asking your friend to write the whole alphabet in their handwriting for you to copy might be a bit awkward.
But in any case, you will have to find inspiration somewhere. It can be in books, on Google or Pinterest. Find a font or handwriting that you particularly like, and start trying to copy the way they write their characters. By doing so, you will slowly get used to a new way of writing Hangul, but it will definitely help you practice Hangul writing and improve your Korean handwriting.
If you don’t have any Korean handwriting examples at hand, here is one sheet you can follow for each character:
Start by writing simple words with this style. At the beginning, it won’t feel natural and you will struggle. But just trust the process, and soon, you will write Korean like a native !
It you want to take it a step further, check out “Master the Korean Handwriting” !
Through this book, you will be able to study and learn new ways to write Korean letters and sentences. It will be a nice push towards a more natural handwriting for you. It will also help you read Korean handwriting with more ease! 🙂
Learning Korean is fun and akapinn is the right resource for me to learn Korean
I hope the website can help you in your Korean learning journey:)
I would like to write Korean like a native