This book contains essential Hanja characters that can be understood by most Korean adults, are commonly used on signs and in advertisements, and/or is sometimes still used in formal or traditional writing and art. Learning and understanding Hanja will not only help you when reading Chinese characters, but it will also help you expand your Korean vocabulary and make conversing in Korean a bit easier.
TalkToMeInKorean
TalkToMeInKorean.com is a Korean language learning website that became popular overseas before it was recognized in Korea. Ever since its foundation in 2009, more than 5 million people have visited TalkToMeInKorean.com. TTMIK audio lessons have been downloaded over 50 million times while TTMIK YouTube videos have received over ten million views thus far. TTMIK was ranked as the #1 Language Blog by Lexiophiles in 2010 and 2013 thanks to votes from users all over the world. Additionally, TTMIK was one of the recipients of the Prime Minister Award at the 2013 Korea Content Awards.
KONG & PARK
Established in 2000, KONG & PARK INC. is a publishing company that has specialized in researching and publishing books for studying Chinese characters. The KONG & PARK research team has organized more than 3,500 Chinese characters, and based on their research, they introduced fun and faster way to learn Chinese characters by focusing on 250 root characters. After the introduction to the root characters, their book illustrates how different characters are added to the root characters, creating different meanings and words. Given the repetition of the root characters, it enables readers to easily learn and memorize the root characters as well as the derivation of different words from them. The company applied for a patent for this unique study method in 2008 and was granted one in 2012.
"Hanja(한자, 漢字)" refers to Chinese characters that are used in Korean, and even if you don't actually know how to read and write the Hanja characters themselves, knowing Hanja-based words will exponentially increase your Korean vocabulary, since many Korean words are based on these Chinese characters.
Over the past few years, we have received many questions like these and here are our answers.
Q: Do Korean people really know thousands of Hanja?
A: Many of them do! And most people can at least read and understand hundreds of Chinese characters but they may not be able to write everything from memory.
Q: Will knowing these Hanja characters actually help with my Korean vocabulary?
A: Definitely! Learning Hanja can be compared to learning Latin and Greek word roots when learning English, but much easier and much more applicable to everyday usages.
Q: So, even if I don't actually memorize Hanja characters, studying Hanja can still help me improve my Korean?
A: Yes! Studying Hanja will help you develop a sense of understanding and even guessing the meaning of new words you encounter for the first time!
Preface 11
How to Use This Book 12
People
Person 14
person 人/亻 16, enter 入 18, make 作 20, substitute / historical period 代 22, year 年 24, Review Quiz 26, Flow Chart 27, earlier 先 28, light 光 30, color 色 32, fish 魚 34, Review Quiz 36, Flow Chart 37, change 化 38, flower 花 40, north 北 42, old 老 44, long / elder 長 46, die 死 48, Review Quiz 50, Flow Chart 51, child / suffix 子 52, study 學 54, teach 敎 56, woman 女 58, good 好 60, necessary / essential 要 62, mother 母 64, Review Quiz 66, Flow Chart 67, Body 68, body 身 70, big 大 72, beautiful 美 74, character / script 文 76, oneself 自 78, Review Quiz 80, Flow Chart 81, pain / pungent 辛 82, intimate / parent 親 84, new 新 86, meaning 意 88, Review Quiz 90, Flow Chart 91, mouth 口 92, name 名 94, article / object 品 96, add 加 98, country / nation 國 100, the people / subjects 民 102, Review Quiz 104, Flow Chart 105, old 古 106, high 高 108, center 中 110, bear (fruit) / tie 結 112, Review Quiz 114, Flow Chart 115, mind / heart 心/忄 116, must / without fail 必 118, nature 性 120, love 愛 122, feeling 情 124, Review Quiz 12, Flow Chart 127, Hanja Sadaritagi (Ghost leg) Game 128
Hand 130
hand 手 132, father 父 134, time 時 136, special 特 138, Review Quiz 140, Flow Chart 141, right 右 142, left 左 144, have / exist 有 146, opposite 反 148, Review Quiz 150, Flow Chart 151
Foot 152
foot 足 154, go out 出 156, right / correct 正 158, subject 題 160, Review Quiz 162, Flow Chart 163, summer 夏 164, back / after 後 166, winter 冬 168, Review Quiz 170, Flow Chart 171, go 行 172, move / transfer 運 174, way / morals 道 176, pass through 通 178, Review Quiz 180, Flow Chart 181
Life
Shelter 182
house / -ist 家 184, peaceful 安 186, room 室 188, Review Quiz 190, Flow Chart 191, door / gate 門 192, ask 問 194, interval / between 間 196, Review Quiz 198, Flow Chart 199, inside 內 200, south 南 202, city / market 市 204, rain 雨 206, Review Quiz 208, Flow Chart 209, Hanja Yut-Nori 210,
Tools 212
fire 火 214, autumn / fall 秋 216, nothingness 無 218, dot / spot 點 220, Review Quiz 222, Flow Chart 223, power 力 224, man 男 226, move 動 228, Review Quiz 230, Flow Chart 231, eat / food 食 232, gather 會 234, metal / gold 金 236, Review Quiz 238, Flow Chart 239
Nature
Animals 240
cow 牛 242, half 半 244, divide / minute 分 246, public 公 248, truth 眞 250, Review Quiz 252, Flow Chart 253
Natural Scenery 254
tree 木 256, east 東 258, west 西 260, heavy 重 262, cart / car 車 264, Review Quiz 266, Flow Chart 267, school 校 268, come 來 270, music / pleasure 樂 272, taste 味 274, Review Quiz 276, Flow Chart 277, mountain 山 278, world / lifetime 世 280, tea 茶 282, be born / life 生 284, Review Quiz 286, Flow Chart 287
Heavenly Bodies 288
day / sun 日 290, spring 春 292, moon / month 月 294, bright / next 明 296, a lot of / many 多 298, front 前 300, Review Quiz 302, Flow Chart 303, soil 土 304, land 地 306, place 場 308, Review Quiz 310, Flow Chart 311
Miscellaneous 312
small 小 314, work 事 316, water 水 318, alcoholic drinks 酒 320, Review Quiz 322, Flow Chart 323, up 上 324, down 下 326, Review Quiz 328, Flow Chart 329, Hanja Board Game 330
Index 332