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Korean · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "겨울" in Korean?
gyeo-ul. Two vowels meet in the middle with only a syllable boundary between them, and the word ends on a bright forward l.
gyeoul
Both halves the same length. The lips go from flat to rounded between the syllables with no consonant to mark the change, which is the technical demand and the reason learners so often merge the two vowels.
Listen: 겨울
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Sound it out
Hear it in a sentence
겨울에는 아주 추워요.
Gyeoureneun aju chuwoyo.
It's very cold in winter.
Listen: 겨울에는 아주 추워요.
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겨울에는 아주 추워요 stacks particles on 겨울, so the ㄹ taps forward and gives gyeo-u-re-neun. Then 추워요 shows the ㅂ-irregular of 춥다, opening with an aspirated ㅊ.
Where English speakers slip
Merging the two vowels into a single sound gives 'gyul' and loses a whole syllable, so keep them distinct. The other habits are a glottal stop at the join, which English adds automatically, and a dark l at the end, which pulls the rounded vowel backward.