Hangul, grammar, and the workplace conventions that arrive with them — worked up from the HMGICS Korean lessons.
14notes, newest first.
Sixteen lessons of Korean language and Korean work culture, run at HMGICS between May and July 2026. This is the index — one note per lesson, plus a topic map for when you know what you want but not which Tuesday it was.
언제 회의해요? Days of the week, months, dates, and the time particle 에 — plus the two months that are spelled irregularly and the five words that refuse 에 altogether.
Position words, and the N이/가 N에 있어요 frame that puts them to work. Plus the table at a company dinner — what to say before and after, and the one thing never to do with your chopsticks.
One verb for both "there is" and "I have", its negative twin, and the 이/가 vs. 은/는 problem. Plus 눈치 — the social radar Korean has a word for, and which turns out to be built from this exact grammar.
아요 / 어요 / 해요 and ㅂ니다 / 습니다 — the two conjugations you actually need, and how to pick between them. Plus places to go, and which seat to take in a meeting room, a car, and a lift.
아니에요 — how to say something is not the case — with a vocabulary of occupations to practise on. Plus the workplace yes/no set, and why 네 means about nine different things.
저는 싱가포르 사람이에요. Countries and the two ways to build a nationality from one, plus the topic particle that makes the sentence work. And what not to wear to a Korean office.
The copula 이다 — Korean's "to be" — in its casual and formal polite forms, the six question words, and the four-line self-introduction you give on your first day.
Eight ways a Korean sentence is not an English one — word order, particles, six speech levels, and why spacing changes the meaning. Plus how Korean names are built and what to call a 책임님.
The eleven doubled final consonants, and 연음 — the rule that makes 한국어 come out as [한구거]. This is where Korean spelling and Korean sound formally part company. Plus family terms, hold on, and congratulations.
Twenty-seven letters can close a syllable, and they make seven sounds between them. The mapping, with practice words. Plus the two goodbyes — which one you use depends on who is walking away.
The first lesson where you read actual words — every one of them consonant + vowel, no 받침 yet. Plus thank you, sorry, and the thing Koreans actually say instead of "you're welcome".
Fourteen basic consonants, five doubled ones, and the three-way plain / aspirated / tensed contrast that English does not have. Plus 명함 — how to hand over a name card without getting it wrong.
How a Hangul syllable is assembled from three slots, where each vowel sits in the block, and the twenty-one of them. Plus the formal greeting: what to say, and how far to bend while saying it.