Speak
Korean speaking practice 따라 말하기
Short answer: listen to a Korean sentence, say it, and see which syllables a Korean speech recognizer heard — green for heard, red for missed. 55 sentences in 6 sets, free in your browser.
Choose a set
- Everyday greetings 인사The first ten things everyone says in Korea: hello, thank you, sorry and goodbye.10 sentences
- At a café or restaurant 카페·식당Order, ask for water and pay — the sentences you need at a Korean café or restaurant.10 sentences
- Getting around 길 찾기Find the restroom and the subway, take a taxi and ask how long it takes.10 sentences
- Talking with people 대화Introduce yourself, ask someone to slow down and keep a conversation going.10 sentences
- K-drama & K-pop phrases 드라마·K팝The short phrases you hear in every K-drama and K-pop song — say them like the stars.10 sentences
- Korean tongue twisters 잘 말하기 어려운 문장Traditional Korean tongue twisters (잰말놀이). Native speakers stumble on them too.5 sentences
How it works
- Listen. Tap Listen, or Slowly for a slower version. The study list under each set shows how the sentence is really said, like 감사합니다 [감사함니다].
- Say it. Tap the microphone and say the whole sentence. The first time, your browser asks to use the microphone.
- See what was heard. The recognizer writes what it understood. Syllables it heard as written turn green, the rest red, and your best score for each sentence is kept in this browser.
Want to know why Korean is said differently from how it is written? The pronunciation tool explains every sound change.
Questions
Is my voice recorded or stored?
KoreanSum never receives your voice or the words you say. Your browser turns your speech into text with its own speech recognition — in Chrome, for example, the sound is sent to the browser’s online recognition service. Your best scores are saved only in your own browser.
Does a high score mean my pronunciation is perfect?
No. The score shows how many syllables a Korean speech recognizer understood. Recognizers guess whole words, so they can fill in a sound you did not quite make, and they can also miss a word you said well. Use it as a quick check that you are understood, and compare yourself with the audio.
Which browsers work?
Chrome on a computer or Android phone, Safari on iPhone, iPad and Mac, and Samsung Internet. Firefox does not support speech recognition, and Microsoft Edge may not work. Some apps that open links inside themselves may not allow the microphone. If the button does nothing there, open the page in your browser.
The microphone does not work. What can I do?
Allow the microphone for koreansum.com when your browser asks. If you blocked it before, open the site settings next to the address bar and allow the microphone. On iPhone, also check that Safari may use the microphone in the Settings app. Speech recognition also needs an internet connection.
Why did it hear a different word?
A recognizer writes the most likely Korean words for the sounds it hears. If one syllable is unclear, it may choose a similar-sounding word. Listen to the slow audio, copy the rhythm, and say the whole sentence in one breath.