LingoDrop
Korean · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "예약" in Korean?
ye-yak. Two y-glides in a row over different vowels, and a final ㄱ that closes without releasing.
yeyak
Two beats. Both blocks begin with the same glide and end on different vowels, so the word is a small drill in keeping ㅔ and ㅏ distinct when the same onset precedes them.
Listen: 예약
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Sound it out
Hear it in a sentence
호텔을 예약했어요.
Hotereul yeyakaesseoyo.
I booked a hotel.
Listen: 호텔을 예약했어요.
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호텔을 예약했어요 puts the past tense on the -하다 verb, and 예약했어요 fuses the ㄱ of 약 with the ㅎ into an aspirated ㅋ, then resyllabifies the ㅆ, giving ye-ya-kae-sseo-yo.
Where English speakers slip
Running the two together, so that they become one, vowels so both syllables sound alike is the main error, and it comes from the repeated glide -- keep ㅔ front and mid and ㅏ fully open. Releasing the final k is the second habit, and it turns a clipped ending into an English burst.