Basic Korean Vowels Flashcards: 10 Cards with Audio and Notes

Basic Korean Vowels Flashcards: Study the 10 Cards

The deck follows the teaching order of the lesson: first each simple vowel, then its y-version. Because the cards use real words, you also learn that a vowel on its own needs the silent ㅇ in front, as in 아 and 오. The lesson behind the cards is basic Korean vowels.

How Do I Use These Flashcards?

Use the deck above in four steps. It works with tap, click or keyboard, and nothing plays until you press an audio button.

1. Choose a mode. Start with recognition (Hangul to meaning). Switch to recall (meaning to Hangul) or listening (audio to meaning) once recognition feels easy.
2. Show the answer. Think of the answer first, then press Show answer (or Space). Turn on the romanization toggle only if you need it; the 10-card table below always shows it.
3. Grade yourself. Press Got it if you answered correctly without help, or Not yet if you hesitated or guessed.
4. Finish the session. A session holds up to 20 cards (you can set 10, 20 or 40). With 10 cards, one session covers the whole deck, and a quick second pass 10 minutes later helps ㅓ and ㅡ.

What Do the Three Modes Do?

Recognition shows the Hangul and asks for the meaning, which trains reading. Recall shows the meaning and asks for the Hangul, which trains remembering; you may type the answer with your Hangul keyboard or just recall it in your head. Listening plays a clip and hides the letters, which trains the ear. Listening mode only uses a card once its audio is approved, and cards without approved audio are skipped in that mode with a note.

What Do Got It and Not yet Do?

Got it moves the card up one Leitner box, so it returns later. Not yet sends the card back to box 1, so it returns in the same session or within 10 minutes. The grades are your own judgement; the deck does not score you or claim fluency.

Deck Scope: What Is and Is Not Covered

The deck covers the 10 basic vowels ㅏ ㅑ ㅓ ㅕ ㅗ ㅛ ㅜ ㅠ ㅡ ㅣ. These are the 10 vowels in the Hangul spelling rules (한글 맞춤법), with the other 11 treated as combinations. Each card gives the sound, the Revised Romanization and one example word.

What Is Left out of This Deck?

The 11 compound vowels, such as ㅐ and ㅘ, are in the Korean compound vowels flashcards. All 21 vowels in one set are in the Hangul vowels flashcards. Consonants, syllable blocks and final consonants have their own decks.

All 10 Cards in One Table

All 10 cards appear below in deck order. The table is plain HTML and works without the deck.

How Do I Read the Table?

Hangul is the vowel letter on its own; in a real word a vowel with no consonant before it takes a silent ㅇ, as in 아. Revised Romanization (RR) is a learning aid: ㅓ is written eo and ㅡ is written eu, which confuses many beginners. Meaning gives a sound hint. The Note column gives an example word, and the last column lists the audio assetId, with a second ID for any slow clip.

Usage Notes for These Cards

Learn the six simple vowels first: ㅏ ㅓ ㅗ ㅜ ㅡ ㅣ. The four y-vowels ㅑ ㅕ ㅛ ㅠ are the same shapes with a second short stroke, and they add a quick y sound before the vowel.

ㅏ ㅓ ㅣ are vertical vowels and sit to the right of a consonant, as in 가 and 거. ㅗ ㅜ ㅡ are horizontal and sit below it, as in 고, 구 and 그. The vowels on these cards teach you where to look in a block.

A syllable that starts with a vowel takes a silent ㅇ in front. So "a" is written 아, "o" is written 오, and "i" is written 이.

The pair 어머니 (eomeoni, mother) and 오이 (oi, cucumber) shows ㅓ and ㅗ side by side, which is the pair learners confuse most.

Which Sounds Do Not Match the Spelling?

ㅓ is written eo in Revised Romanization, but it is not "eh-oh". Open your mouth wider than for ㅗ, as in the vowel of "cut", and keep your lips unrounded. ㅡ is written eu, and it is a short, flat vowel with spread lips, not the "oo" of "moon", which is ㅜ.

ㅕ is a glide like English "yuh", and the first part is very short. ㅛ and ㅠ are glides toward ㅗ and ㅜ, so 요 sounds like "yo" and 유 like "yoo".

ㅡ has no English twin. In 스키 (seuki, ski) and 음악 (eumak, music) the vowel is short and unrounded.

What Mistakes Do Learners Make with Basic Korean Vowels?

• Reading ㅓ as "o" because the spelling "eo" ends in o.
• Reading ㅡ as ㅜ. Check that your lips stay spread for ㅡ and round for ㅜ.
• Skipping the silent ㅇ, so 아 and 오 look like single shapes instead of blocks.
• Reading horizontal-vowel blocks from the bottom. Read the consonant first and then the vowel below it.

Listening practice fixes most of these confusions, so use listening mode with the approved audio.

How Does the Review Schedule Work?

The deck uses a simplified Leitner system with five boxes. A new card starts in box 1. Each Got it moves it up one box, and each Not yet returns it to box 1. The box sets how long the card waits before it is due again.

Each session shows due cards first, oldest due first, and then up to 10 new cards a day by default. A deck of 10 cards fits in one session, and ㅓ and ㅡ usually return sooner than the others when you grade them Not yet. Progress is saved only in this browser, so clearing site data deletes it. Use the export button to save a small JSON file with card IDs, boxes and due dates, and import it on another device. No account is needed.

Cultural and Practical Context

In Revised Romanization ㅓ is written eo and ㅡ is written eu. These two spellings confuse beginners more than any other, which is one reason the site teaches Hangul before relying on romanization. Names such as 서울 (Seoul) show ㅓ in a place name you may already know.

Limits of This Deck

The deck gives approximate English sound hints, and the real vowels do not match any English vowel exactly. Vowel quality also varies a little by speaker. All Korean text is generated, and Min-ji Park reviewed and signed off the text and audio on 15 October 2026. The deck assumes the lesson pages group the vowels as basic and compound in the same way.

Next Steps after the Basic Korean Vowels Flashcards

After this deck, continue with the Korean compound vowels flashcards. To see all 21 vowels in one session, use the Hangul vowels flashcards. Write the vowels by hand with the Korean vowels writing practice, explore them in the interactive hangul alphabet, and find every deck in the Hangul flashcards list or the Korean flashcards hub.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Are the Basic Vowels in Korean?

The basic vowels are ㅏ ㅑ ㅓ ㅕ ㅗ ㅛ ㅜ ㅠ ㅡ ㅣ, ten letters in all. Six are simple vowels (ㅏ ㅓ ㅗ ㅜ ㅡ ㅣ) and four are y-vowels (ㅑ ㅕ ㅛ ㅠ). The other 11 vowels, such as ㅐ and ㅘ, are combinations and have their own deck.

Why Does 어 Look Like It Starts with a Consonant?

The circle in 어 is the silent consonant ㅇ. Every Hangul syllable block needs a consonant slot, so a block that starts with a vowel puts ㅇ there as a placeholder. Only the vowel ㅓ is pronounced, so 어 sounds like "eo". The same is true of 아, 오, 우 and 이.

How Do I Say ㅡ?

Spread your lips as if you were smiling, keep your tongue back and say a short "uh" without rounding. It is not the "oo" of moon, which is ㅜ. Revised Romanization writes ㅡ as eu, so 스키 is seuki. Listen to the audio and copy the flat, relaxed mouth shape.

Which Vowels Are Y-Vowels?

The four y-vowels are ㅑ (ya), ㅕ (yeo), ㅛ (yo) and ㅠ (yu). Each is a simple vowel with a second short stroke: ㅏ becomes ㅑ, ㅓ becomes ㅕ, ㅗ becomes ㅛ and ㅜ becomes ㅠ. They add a quick y sound before the vowel, as in 야구 (yagu, baseball).

Is My Progress Saved If I Close the Page?

Yes, in the same browser on the same device. Card boxes and due dates are stored locally and nothing is sent to a server. Clearing site data, using a private window or switching browsers removes them, so use the export button to keep a backup file that you can import later. No account is needed.