Learn Korean by reading what you love
Otto swaps a share of the words you read into Korean: on any website, in books and in podcasts. You still follow everything, and the Korean you understand grows a little every day, without setting aside time to study.
The same sentence at all seven levels
This is the sentence Otto uses to show its levels, taken straight from the app. At A few words only the most common words are Korean; at Confident the sentence takes Korean word order too; at Native it is all Korean.
city council 예정이며 repair old bridge 올 winter, mayor promised 고 pedestrians 와 cyclists 수 있다 still cross footbridge.
city council 예정이며 repair old bridge 올 winter, mayor promised 고 pedestrians 와 cyclists 수 있다 여전히 cross footbridge.
시 의회는 예정이며 repair 오래된 bridge 올 겨울, mayor promised 고 pedestrians 와 cyclists 수 있다 여전히 cross footbridge.
시 의회는 예정이며 수리할 오래된 다리를 올 겨울, mayor 약속했다 고 pedestrians 와 cyclists 수 있다 여전히 건널 footbridge.
시 의회는 올 겨울 오래된 다리를 수리할 예정이며, 시장은 보행자 와 cyclists 여전히 footbridge 건널 수 있다 고 약속했다.
시 의회는 올 겨울 오래된 다리를 수리할 예정이며, 시장은 보행자 와 자전거 이용자가 여전히 footbridge 건널 수 있다 고 약속했다.
시 의회는 올겨울 오래된 다리를 수리할 예정이며, 시장은 보행자와 자전거 이용자가 계속 육교를 건널 수 있다고 약속했다.
The most common words come first
A few hundred words make up most of what anyone reads, so that is where Otto starts. In this sentence, the first Korean you would meet is:
Korean words appear in Hangul, as a Korean speaker would write them. Tap one and Otto shows what it means and says it aloud, so the script comes to you word by word, in sentences you can already follow.
How you learn Korean with Otto
- Pick your level. Start with a few everyday words, or most of the page.
- Read as you normally would. A book in the app, a podcast, or any website in Chrome, Safari or the app's own browser.
- Tap any word you don't know. See what it means and hear it. Save it with one tap.
- Practise and move up. Short games in Learn use the words you saved, and as you learn more, Otto shows you more Korean.
Everything you read, in Korean at your level
Any website
News, blogs, Wikipedia, recipes: Otto weaves Korean into the page in Chrome, in Safari and in the app.
Books and podcasts
A library of classic books, and podcasts in which some of the words you hear are Korean, both at your level.
Your word bank
Every word you save goes to Learn, where quick games bring it back until it sticks.
Your tutor
Working with a tutor? They can set your reading and see the words you looked up.
Questions
Can you learn Korean just by reading?
Reading things you can mostly understand, with a few new words each time, is one of the best-supported ways to build vocabulary. Otto keeps your reading at that point, and pairs it with short practice games for the Korean words you save.
What level of Korean do I need to start?
None. At the first level Otto swaps only a handful of the most common words into Korean, and it adds more as you learn them, all the way to reading entirely in Korean.
Is Otto free?
Yes. Everything Otto does is free, with a daily limit. Otto Pro (£3.99 a month) lets you read five times more and work with a tutor; Otto Max (£9.99 a month) five times more again.
Where does Otto work?
On iPhone, iPad and Mac, and as an extension for Chrome and Safari, so it works on the websites you already read.
Do I need to read Hangul before I start?
No. Words appear in Hangul, and a tap shows the meaning and plays the sound, so you learn to recognise them as you go.