LingoDrop
Korean · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "산" in Korean?
san. One syllable: a light Korean ㅅ, an open ㅏ, and a tongue-tip n that leaves the vowel clean.
san
One syllable, and since it ends in a nasal it can be held slightly longer than a stop-final syllable without sounding wrong. Korean still keeps it brief in practice.
Listen: 산
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Sound it out
Hear it in a sentence
주말에 산에 가요.
Jumare sane gayo.
I go to the mountains on the weekend.
Listen: 주말에 산에 가요.
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주말에 산에 가요 attaches 에, so the ㄴ moves into the particle and the noun becomes sa-ne. The 주말에 in front does the same with its ㄹ, giving ju-ma-re, so both nouns dissolve into their particles.
Where English speakers slip
English nasalizes the vowel before an n arrives and Korean does not, so keep the vowel clean until the tongue actually touches. The ㅅ is the other point, because English friction makes the syllable hiss more than a Korean speaker would.