RemloriStart free

Remlori › Korean › Korean vocabulary mnemonics: connect sounds to pictures

Korean vocabulary mnemonics: connect sounds to pictures

A mnemonic gives an unfamiliar sound a connection to a meaning. Remlori uses recurring picture cues for sound units, then combines them into a scene for each Korean word.

Work through 나무 (namu, tree)

First play the recording. Open its picture below and follow 나 (na), then 무 (mu), through the scene. The sound cues lead to the tree. Close the story and recall “tree” from 나무 alone.

나무 · tree

namu

Picture and sound mnemonic
A plate of nachos with thin legs vaults onto a glowing crescent moon wedged in the branches of a big leafy tree.
A plate of Nachos on thin legs sits on a sleepy Moon wedged in the branches of a sprawling Tree.

나 (na) → Nachos + 무 (mu) → Moon

고기 · meat

gogi

Picture and sound mnemonic
A traffic light glowing green is wired to a giant gear that turns a roasting spit loaded with a big sizzling piece of meat.
A traffic light flashes Go, and a giant Gear starts turning a spit of sizzling Meat.

고 (go) → Go + 기 (gi) → Gear

고양이 · cat

goyangi

Picture and sound mnemonic
A karate master chops a green traffic light, knocking a little ping-pong ball into an eagle's nest where a cat hides.
A traffic light flashes Go; a red panda in a karate gi chops it with a loud Yah, sending a little ping-pong ball off with a bright Ping into an eagle's nest, where a Cat is hiding.

고 (go) → Go + 야 (ya) → Yah + ㅇ (ng) → Ping + 이 (i) → Eagle

Keep the hook separate from the pronunciation

English cue words approximate a Korean sound. They cannot teach every vowel distinction, tense consonant or connected-speech change. Keep the word's Hangul spelling and recording beside the picture. For example, 고양이 has three blocks, 고 / 양 / 이; a picture does not replace reading them.

Use recall after the picture

  1. Listen and read the word.
  2. Follow the sound pictures to the meaning.
  3. Cover the story and try recalling the meaning.
  4. Come back later and test it again. Reopen the picture for words you miss.

Try the three words

Choose a mode and a group. Each round has up to ten questions. Wrong answers go into a retry round.

Try these questions, then open the answers. The interactive version needs JavaScript.

  1. What does 나무 mean?
    Answer and explanation

    tree — 나무 (namu) — tree. A plate of NACHOS on thin legs sits on a sleepy MOON wedged in the branches of a sprawling TREE.

  2. What does 고기 mean?
    Answer and explanation

    meat — 고기 (gogi) — meat. A traffic light flashes GO, and a giant GEAR starts turning a spit of sizzling MEAT.

  3. What does 고양이 mean?
    Answer and explanation

    cat — 고양이 (goyangi) — cat. A traffic light flashes GO; a red panda in a karate gi chops it with a loud YAH, sending a little ping-pong ball off with a bright PING into an EAGLE's nest, where a CAT is hiding.

For reading first, try Hangul reading practice. For more examples, use the animal mnemonics.

Written by Remlori using examples and media from our beginner course. Alphabet reference: National Institute of Korean Language, Hangul principles. Romanization approximates the sound; use the recordings when practising.

Learn your first sounds, words and sentences. Lesson 1 needs no account.

Start Korean Lesson 1