한글 - Hangin' with Hangul Since 1443

The Korean written language has been called one of the most logical alphabets in history. It's an alphabet, not a sign system, like Chinese. Its 24 "letters" consonants and vowels, can be combined in combos of 2-4, arranged in "stacks" or "blocks" to make a syllable. Each stack contains at least one vowel and one consonant

The letters in the Korean alphabet have a required order ("Now I know my ABCs"...), and children learn them in a song, which one can hear/see here

Many Korean words (names, nouns, institutions, etc.) have a Chinese letter behind them, much like English has Latin, Old English, and German among its grandparents. 

That's the lesson for today, October 9, the day each year Korea sets aside to commemorate the invention of the written language by then-King Sejong. The story is that he wanted a more simple way (than Chinese) for uneducated people to write.

Koreans are proud of their language; wouldn't it be kinda cool if we English speakers had a day devoted to its heritage? Here is a game that involves knowing the alphabet:

Class dismissed!

Marc