Today, October 9th is Hangeul Day (한글날) in Korea. This day marks the celebration of the introduction of the Korean script Hangeul by King Sejong the Great in 1443. The purpose of introducing this scientifically developed script was to improve the literacy among the Korean people who until then had to rely on Chinese characters in order to read and write. This obviously meant that literacy was very limited which is in stark contrast to present-day Korea, which is now among the most educated nations in the world.  As all Korean learners know this unique alphabet is an invaluable tool when learning Korean as this alphabet more than any other may convey the true sound of Korean.

This morning I was greated by this beautiful picture when I visited Google Korea:

Google written in Hangeul as 구글
Google written in Hangeul as 구글 

I will be celebrating Hangeul Day by having an extra long session with my Korean teacher today, and then we will celebrate a belated Hangeul Day on Sunday when we will get together at my place and cook Korean food.

A complete overview of the Korean script Hangeul
A complete overview of the Korean script Hangeul

Don’t know Hangeul but want to learn it? Check out this awesome book and these two videos by Talk To Me In Korean:

How will you celebrate Hangeul Day?

1 Comment »

  1. I have a really neat long shirt printed with the Romanized names of the cities Seoul, New York, Tokyo, Paris, and Milano on the back of it and New York printed on the front, but one letter of Hanguel is incorporated into each word. It was dress-down day, and I wore it to work for the first time in celebration of Hanguel Day. (Well, it was Hanguel night in Korea!) Several people asked me what it meant, so I got to tell them! I just love that I’m learning Korean and always feel happy when I wear that shirt!

    Like

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