Women kept diaries and wrote letters in Hangul, and many looked down upon Hangul as “women’s writing.” Today, those Hangul writings are invaluable historical sources! Then how did Hangul survive for centuries in between? Due to its simplicity, Hangul was more popular among commoners, especially women of all classes who had fewer opportunities to get educated. Chinese characters were still considered the more formal and sophisticated choice among the ruling class until 1894, when the Joseon Dynasty designated Hangul as Korea’s official writing system in an attempt to modernize the nation. Eventually, Korean got its own writing system, known as Hangul, which you can read more about here!īut it wasn’t until the modern era that Koreans officially started using Hangul. Picture yourself using hieroglyphs to take notes in English class! This meant reading and writing was accessible only to the elite class, usually male aristocrats, who could afford to spend years learning thousands of Chinese characters. Since the two languages have completely different grammar and word order, understanding what those writings originally meant in Korean required extensive education.
It had to use Chinese characters to convey the original Korean meaning in written records. But the Korean language didn’t have a writing system of its own until the mid-15th century. The Korean alphabet is said to be one of the easiest writing systems in the world. New Korean learners are joining an impressive, passionate community studying the language! But until the 20th century, Korean’s writing system was mostly used by women Korean is the official language in only a handful of regions: South Korea and North Korea on the Korean peninsula, and parts of Northeastern China where many Koreans live.Īccording to the 2021 Duolingo Language Report, Korean is the 7th most popular language to study around the world, and Korean is one of the fastest growing languages on Duolingo in countries as diverse as Brazil, France, Germany, India, and Mexico.
But if you still need convincing… here are a few fun facts about the language, its history, and why you should try it for yourself! Korean is one of the fastest growing languages in the world You’re not alone! Korean has been growing more and more popular in recent years, mainly thanks to the rising popularity of Korean soap operas (also known as K-dramas) and K-pop. Maybe you picked up new words while watching a Korean drama like Squid Game or listening to your favorite K-pop bop by BTS. Annyeong, Duolingo learners! If you’re interested in learning Korean, you might already know a few Korean words.
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