오늘은 한글날! 

Today is Hangul Day! 

한글날은 한글을 책으로 펴낸 날을 기념하는 공휴일입니다. 

Hangul Day is a national holiday of South Korea that celebrates the day Hangul, the Korean written language, was published and distributed. 

한글은 1444년에 세종대왕이 한국어를 한자로 표현하는 데 많은 어려움이 있다는 것을 안타깝게 느끼고 백성들의 문맹률을 줄이기 위해 창제했습니다. 

King Sejong created Hangul (on his own!) in 1444 because he was saddened by how so many Koreans were illiterate due to the difficulty of Chinese characters and their incompatibility with the Korean language. 

‘훈민정음’의 서문에 어리석은 백성이 이루고자 할 바가 있어도 자신의 뜻을 펴지 못하는 사람이 많다는 것을 가엽게 여겨 쉬운 문자를 만들었다는 말이 있습니다. 

In the preface of his book ‘Hoonminjeongeum,” he says he wanted to create an easy written language so that even the slow or uneducated Koreans may have the means to achieve their dreams. 

오늘 1시간만 투자해서 한글을 배워보는 것은 어떨까요? 

Try learning Hangul in just an hour today! 

https://youtu.be/85qJXvyFrIc 

https://www.optilingo.com/blog/korean/korean-writing-practice/ 

P.S. 오늘날까지도 국악에서 많이 사용되는 ‘정간보’도 세종대왕의 발명품이랍니다. 

A fun fact: “Jungganbo,” the sheet music system of traditional Korean music, was also developed by King Sejong. There are sheets of poongmul beats in this format (Hansori does not carry any, but you can find some on the internet)! 

한국 여행을 가게 되면 꼭 국립한글박물관에 들러 보세요! 

If you ever visit Korea, I really recommend the National Hangeul Museum! https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g294197-d7717516-Reviews-National_Hangeul_Museum-Seoul.html