Soho Korean teaches Korean from the very first letter, in the order you actually need it. The name comes from our two guides: Sori and Hoya.
Sori 소리
Magpie · the teacher · her name means “sound”
In the old Korean folk paintings called hojakdo, a magpie sits on a pine branch above a tiger. Sori is that magpie. For as long as anyone can remember she read letters aloud for people who could not read them — magpies, in Korea, are the birds that bring good news.
She is patient and precise, with a dry sense of humour. She sighs, but she never scolds. And after all these years she has decided it is better to teach you to read the letter yourself.
안녕하세요. 저는 소리예요. 한글, 같이 읽어 봐요.
Hoya 호야
Tiger · the learner · about your age
Hoya grew up in the forests far to the north, where Korean tigers still live today. His family left the peninsula generations ago. What they kept was a letter from his great-grandmother, written in Hangul, that nobody at home can read.
So he came to learn. He is eager, clumsy and never gives up. He makes the mistakes you are about to make — flipped letters, a missing stroke, spelling by ear — and he makes them for a reason, so you can see the reason too.
안녕하세요! 저는 호야예요. 저도 지금 배우는 중이에요!
How we make things
Every lesson is written once and used everywhere — online, in the workbooks and, soon, in the app — so what you hear on this site is exactly what you write on paper.
Korean content is read by a native Korean speaker before it goes on sale, and corrected where a Korean reader would say it differently.
Stroke order follows the order most Hangul guides teach: top to bottom, left to right.
Romanization follows the Revised Romanization of Korean and is only a pronunciation hint.
The illustrations and the voices of Sori and Hoya are made with AI tools. Sori’s voice is a text-to-speech voice chosen for clear standard Korean.
Get in touch
Found a mistake, or have a question about a workbook? Write to hello@sohokorean.com. Every message is read.
