How to Type In Korean & Learn The Keyboard Layout

If you own an English keyboard (or one in another language), you might be wondering whether it’s possible to type in Korean, and if so, how. We’ll show you how to type in Korean, whether you’re using your iPhone, an Android phone, an Apple Mac, or a Windows computer. We’ll help you get to grips with learning how to type, as well as how to get acquainted with the Korean keyboard layout.

Choose Between The Two Main Korean Keyboard Layouts

There are two main keyboard layouts that Korean speakers use: 두벌식 (Dubeolsik) and 세벌식 (Sebeolsik). However, the vast majority of Koreans use 두벌식 (most sources estimate that 99% of Koreans use this layout) and would likely struggle if they had to use 세벌식 as the layouts for these two keyboards are completely different.

For now, I would suggest you use 두벌식 as this is more widely used and therefore more widely supported across different devices.

I’ve added some information about the two different input methods to the bottom of the page because I found it interesting and there’s hardly any information about 세벌식 online in English so I did some sleuthing in Korean to find out more!

How to Type In Korean On Your Phone

The methods for adding a keyboard to your phone in a different language differ slightly depending on if you use an iPhone or Android phone.

Typing In Korean On Your iPhone

1. Click on Settings
2. Tap General
3. Scroll down to Keyboard and click on this option
4. Here you’ll see the list of languages you already have on your device. Click the Add New Keyboard option
5. Scroll down until you find Korean, or type it into the search box
6. Use the Standard Korean keyboard version

Now test it out to see if it works! Go to an app that allows you to type. There should be a black and white image of a globe on the bottom left hand side. You can click this to switch between languages.

If you have multiple languages installed and want to switch quickly to the Korean keyboard, long press the image of the globe and select 한국어 (hangukeo; Korean).

Typing In Korean On Your Android Phone

1. Click on Settings
2. Scroll down to Additional Settings and click on this option
3. Click on Language & Region
4. Click Edit
5. Scroll down until you find Korean, or type it into the search box. The two-set method is the default.

Now test it out to see if it works by navigating to an app that allows you to type. There should be a black and white image of a globe on the bottom left hand side, just next to the space bar. You can click this to switch between languages.

If you have multiple languages installed and want to switch quickly to the Korean keyboard, long press the image of the globe and select 한국어 (hangukeo; Korean).

How to Type In Korean On An Apple Computer

1. Click on the Apple icon in the top left hand corner
2. Tap System Settings (on old versions of MacOS, this is System Preferences)
3. Click on Keyboard
4. Under the Text Input section, click Edit
5. In the pop-up that appears, there should be a small + symbol on the bottom-left corner. Click this
6. Scroll down or search for Korean
7. Select the 두벌식 or two-set Korean keyboard (usually the default) and click Add
8. Before you try to type anything, go back to “All Input Sources” and make sure the first option is selected. It should read “Show input menu in menu bar”
9. Click Done
10. You can also change the Global icon to “Change Input Source” to switch quickly between languages. This is under the Keyboard options.

Now go to an app that allows you to type. In the top right menu, you should see an icon on your top bar which shows EN (or another two letters to symbolize the language you have selected). Click this to toggle between languages and select Korean.

Alternatively, if you changed the Global icon shortcut, you can simply press this to change between languages. Another shortcut you can use without changing the Global shortcut is Control + Spacebar.

Now you should be able to type in Korean!

How to Type In Korean On A Windows Computer

1. Go into Settings by clicking the Windows key on your bottom navigation and finding the Settings button or typing it in the search bar
2. Click Time & Language
3. Tap Language & Region
4. Click Add a Language
5. Scroll down to Korean or search for it using the search bar
6. Click Next
7. Click Install

Once installed, you should see an icon on the bottom right of your toolbar which shows ENG if your keyboard layout is in English or another three letters if it’s in another language layout. This is usually next to the WiFi button.

Click this button to toggle between languages. You can also press the Windows key + Spacebar, which is a shortcut to swap between languages.

Once Korean is selected, go to an app that allows typing and follow our guidance below to try to write something in Korean!

How to Use a Korean Keyboard

Before we start, make sure you know how to read and write 한글 (Hangeul), the Korean alphabet. Typing in Korean will be virtually impossible without knowing the alphabet and how words are structured in the language.

You might want to start by using your phone to type in Hangeul. As your keyboard is visible while typing on a mobile device, this will help you understand and memorize where each character is.

Thankfully, even if you do want to type on your laptop or computer, there are some tools to help you learn where all the Hangeul characters are (explained below).

How Do I Know Where Each Character Is?

The consonants are on the left hand side of the keyboard and the vowels are on the right. You can see this easily in the image just above this paragraph. This makes it super easy to remember where each character is (though there is still a bit of a learning curve with this!).

Take a look at the image above of where each Korean character is placed on the keyboard. I’ve left the English character on each key too. You can print this out and use it as a reference while you’re learning if you’d like.

Also, note the keys that also include a small Korean character to the left of the English letter. To type these, you have to hold down shift and then press the relevant key. This is the same for both phones and laptops or computers.

As you can see in the image above, this is how the Korean keyboard layout looks on an Android phone when you hold down shift. Only the keys that include a second Korean character change.

Buy Stickers, Keyboard Covers or a Full Keyboard To Help

You can purchase Hangeul stickers and stick them onto the existing keys on your keyboard. This is particularly useful when you’re just starting to learn how to type in Korean. They’re usually pretty easy to apply and remove.

Alternatively, you can also find silicone Korean keyboard covers which go over your existing keyboard. This can be used and removed whenever needed without leaving any sticky residue on your computer keys. However, you’ll have to make sure you find the right one for your specific keyboard model, which isn’t always easy.

The third option is to purchase a separate Korean keyboard. These are often Bluetooth connected, though some are wired. They also include the Latin alphabet so you will still have access to both.

Or you can do as I did and keep trying (and failing!) until typing Korean becomes muscle memory. This probably takes the longest – but it’s free.

How Do You Learn to Type In Korean?

The key is to keep practicing. Just like any other skill, it’ll take a bit of time to get the hang of it, but if you use stickers or a keyboard cover, this can really help.

Let’s try an example together. Open up a blank document and follow along!

Let’s start with a word everyone needs to know when studying Korean: hello, which is 안녕하세요 (annyeonghaseyo). Here’s me typing it into a note.

Notice when I type the 하세요 (haseyo) part, even though the 하 becomes 핫 after I type the ㅅ, when I keep typing, it turns into 하세? The same goes for 요; at first glance, it changes the 세 to 셍, but as soon as I type the ㅛ, this changes to 하세요.

I remember when I first started learning Korean over a decade ago, I couldn’t figure out how to move onto the next syllable. But actually, Korean is really easy in this regard. You can just keep typing and, based on the character(s) you select next, the characters will arrange themselves into neat little syllables.

Based on the Korean keyboard layout, for 안녕하세요, we would have to type DKSSUDGKTPDY on a QWERTY keyboard. Try typing those letters now, making sure the keyboard language you’ve selected is Korean, and this should result in you typing 안녕하세요.

You typed your first Korean word – congratulations!

That’s really all you need to know to get started. Now all you need to do is to practice, practice, and practice some more. Referring to the keyboard image above, try typing these words and phrases out next:

• 사랑해요 (saranghaeyo) – I love you
• 잘 지냈어요? (jal jinaesseoyo?) – How are you?/Have you been well?
• 학교 (hakgyo) – school
• 동물 (donmul) – animal
• 바지 (baji) – pants

Once you’re ready, you can also try this little Korean typing game I made. Try to score as many points as you can!

Challenge: Korean Typing Game

Once you’ve familiarized yourself with typing in Korean, try out a Korean typing game as an extra challenge! I really like this Korean typing game; you just have to press 게임 시작 (geim sijak; start game) and you’re in!

The aim is to type the Korean words before they reach the bottom of your screen (desktop only).

Challenge: Korean Typing Speed Test

Once you’ve been typing for a few months, why not challenge yourself to a Korean typing speed test? You can find these online by typing “타자속도 테스트” (타자/taja = typing, 속도/sokdo = speed, 테스트/teseuteu = test) into most search engines.

For instance, here’s a speed test you can use immediately (the default text is cute too). If you’d prefer the interface to be in English, Monkey Type is a good option.

Let me know how you get on!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What Does a Korean Keyboard Look Like?

Contrary to what you might think, Korean keyboards actually tend to show both English and Korean characters. Some also include a toggle button so users can switch to 한자 (Chinese characters that are occasionally used in Korean), though most Koreans don’t use this feature much nowadays.

So You Promised More Information About 두벌식 & 세벌식?

Ah yes, see below for the key differences and use cases!

두벌식 Layout (Two-Set Method)

Essentially, the 두벌식 layout allows you to type each character out letter by letter, just like in English.

The characters are organized in a really easy way to memorize: the consonants are on the left, while the vowels are on the right.

Like anything new, there is of course a learning curve to being able to type in Korean, especially on an English keyboard, but it’s a fairly easy system that, with practice, can allow you to type in Korean with ease.

세벌식 Layout (Three-Set Method)

Whereas with the 두벌식 method, you must type out each individual character as you do in English, the 세벌식 layout allows you to tap multiple characters at once. This means you can type out whole syllables by pressing a few letter at one time.

This is because the keyboard is split into three sections, not two (hence the name “three-set method” in Korean (세/se = three, 벌/beol = set, 식/sik = method or way)). The sections are split into how a Korean syllable is structured:

1. Starting consonants (in a Hangeul syllable) are on the right hand side of the keyboard
2. Middle vowels are in the center of the keyboard
3. End consonants are on the left hand side of the keyboard

In addition to this, whereas on the 두벌식 layout, you must hold down shift plus a letter in order to some of the characters in the Korean alphabet, the 세벌식 method places some characters on the number row so you don’t have to press shift as often. For double consonants too (e.g. ㄲ; kk), you can simply type two ㄱ (g) which will then turn into a ㄲ.

Which Is Better?

That really depends. That being said, 두벌식 is so widely used that you might struggle to install the three-set layout on most computers. In some cases, you would have to install a third-party app as 세벌식 isn’t always natively supported.

Whilst the 세벌식 keyboard layout does have its advantages, such as the ability to type faster and the fact that you barely have to use the shift key at all, it might be worth sticking with the most popular layout. Because 세벌식 isn’t available on all devices, it’s likely that you’d have to learn the 두벌식 layout anyway if you ever want to type in Korean on devices that don’t support the three-set method. Learning both methods would be twice more work than simply learning 두벌식.

In addition to this, all the gadgets (i.e. the stickers, keyboard covers, etc.) you can use to help you learn how to type in Korean are in 두벌식.

There is very little, if any, information in English on the 세벌식 layout, so I took to Korean blogs to find out a bit more about them.

One person (the man in the video above) noted that, because he was having to type a lot for work and therefore had to constantly press the shift key using the two-set method, he started to develop pain in his left shoulder. He decided to try out 세벌식 as a result and found the system worked a lot better for him.

So, it seems as though 세벌식 is only useful in very specific situations. But seeing people type using the three-set method is interesting as nothing like it exists for English!