· 7 min read
Learn Korean for Free: Official Courses
By Language Lab editorial team
Learn Korean for free with the Online King Sejong Institute, a free service backed by Korea's government, plus official TOPIK practice. Start with Hangeul.
You can learn Korean for free through the Online King Sejong Institute, which describes itself as a free online Korean language learning service, open to any foreign learner, with courses from introductory to advanced level on PC and mobile. Its Nuri site adds textbooks, grammar quizzes, speaking and writing practice and an online level test. The official TOPIK website has practice sections too: past questions, video lectures and a trial of the internet-based test. Start with Hangeul, the Korean alphabet. It has 24 basic letters, which are combined into syllable blocks. Korean is still a long road for English speakers, 88 weeks of classes by the US State Department's measure, so use the free courses as a steady routine.
The free resources at a glance
| Resource | Who runs it | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Online King Sejong Institute | King Sejong Institute Foundation | A free online Korean learning service with courses from introductory to advanced, in several languages of instruction |
| Nuri King Sejong Institute | King Sejong Institute Foundation | Textbooks, learning materials, grammar quizzes, speaking and writing practice, and an online level test |
| Study TOPIK | TOPIK official website | Past questions to solve, video lectures, and trial versions of the internet-based and speaking tests |
| King Sejong Institutes | Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Foundation | Korean language and culture classes at 252 institutes in 87 countries, as of the July 2025 designation |
Start with Hangeul
Korea's National Institute of Korean Language describes Hangeul as a phonemic writing system made of letters for consonants and vowels. What makes it unusual is that the letters are combined into syllable units instead of being written in a line. Its example is the word for bee, written as two blocks, 꿀벌, not as six separate letters.
| Hangeul fact | Figure |
|---|---|
| Basic consonants and vowels | 24 letters |
| Compound consonants and vowels | 16 letters |
| Consonant letters that can begin a syllable | 19 |
| Vowel letters that can sit in the middle | 21 |
A syllable block has up to three positions: an initial sound, a medial vowel and a final consonant. One letter, ㅇ, has no sound at the start of a syllable; it fills the space, as in 우유, milk. Learn the 24 basic letters first, then the compound ones, and practise reading blocks aloud.
The Online King Sejong Institute
The Foundation's description is direct: a free online Korean language learning service that lets you study anytime, anywhere on PC and mobile devices. Its main target audience is any foreign learner who wants to learn Korean.
- Levels: an introductory course, then Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced, each split into four stages from 1A to 2B.
- Formats: a self-learning type, and two assisted types that add live Zoom classes and assignments to recorded lessons.
- Languages of instruction include Korean, English, Vietnamese, Russian, Chinese, Arabic and Spanish.
- Extras: Business Korean, reading and writing courses, K-culture courses and a Korean level test.
- Courses with teachers run in terms. The first lecture day of the fourth term was 12 October 2026.
Official test practice
TOPIK is the official Test of Proficiency in Korean. Even if you are not planning to sit it, its website is a source of graded practice: you can solve TOPIK questions, watch video lectures and try the internet-based test format. If you do want a certificate, TOPIK I awards levels 1 and 2 and tests only listening and reading.
In person, if there is one near you
King Sejong Institutes are the Korean government's network for Korean language and culture classes abroad. When 11 new institutes were designated on 30 June 2025, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism put the network at 252 institutes across 87 countries, and said 210,374 students had studied Korean at King Sejong Institutes, online or offline, in 2024. The first opened in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, in 2007.
A free weekly plan
- Week one: the 24 basic Hangeul letters. Write them from memory each day.
- Week two: compound letters and reading whole syllable blocks aloud.
- From week three, four days a week: one Online King Sejong Institute lesson.
- Twice a week: a grammar quiz or speaking practice on the Nuri site.
- Once a week: review last week's lesson before you start a new one.
The plan leans on two study techniques that a 2013 review of learning research rated as high utility: practice testing and distributed practice. Rereading and highlighting were rated low.
How far it takes you
The free courses run from introductory to advanced. The scale of the task is still large: the US State Department places Korean in Category IV, its hardest group for English speakers, at 88 weeks or 2,200 class hours to a speaking and listening score of 3 on the Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) scale. Speaking with someone who answers back is the piece to add. Language Lab's Korean course is built around voiced real-life scenarios with an AI tutor, which supplies that practice.
Frequently asked
Can I learn Korean for free?
Yes. The Online King Sejong Institute describes itself as a free online Korean language learning service for any foreign learner, with courses from introductory to advanced levels.
What is the best free Korean course for beginners?
Start with the introductory course of the Online King Sejong Institute, after learning Hangeul. The Nuri King Sejong Institute site adds grammar quizzes, speaking and writing practice and a level test.
How many letters does Hangeul have?
24 basic consonants and vowels, plus 16 compound ones, according to Korea's National Institute of Korean Language. The letters are combined into syllable blocks.
Is the King Sejong Institute free?
The Online King Sejong Institute states that it is a free online Korean language learning service. For classes at a local King Sejong Institute, check with that institute.
Is there official TOPIK practice?
Yes. The official TOPIK website has sections for solving TOPIK questions, video lectures, and trying the internet-based test and the speaking test.
How long does Korean take to learn?
The US State Department allows 88 weeks, or 2,200 class hours, for English speakers to reach a speaking and listening score of 3 on the Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) scale in Korean.
Sources: King Sejong Institute Foundation, About Online KSI, Online KSI and Nuri King Sejong Institute; National Institute of Korean Language, About Hangeul; TOPIK official website (NIIED), Study TOPIK and TOPIK PBT Exam Introduction; Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Eleven New King Sejong Institutes designated in 2025 (1 July 2025); US Department of State, National Foreign Affairs Training Center, Foreign Language Training; Dunlosky et al., Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 2013. Checked on 13 October 2026. Photo: Hanok houses in Bukchon Hanok Village, Seoul, Basile Morin / CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons).
