Tense consonants — ㄲ ㄸ ㅃ ㅆ ㅉ

Korean has a third volume knob: tense consonants. ㅂ is soft, ㅍ is pushed air, ㅃ is neither — it's gripped, tight, no air.

Listen pairs: 불/뿔 (fire/horn), 아빠/오빠 (dad / oppa), 싸다/사다 (cheap vs buy). Tense sounds feel 'pressed' when you say them — bite the syllable.

Rule of thumb: ㅃ ㄸ ㄲ ㅆ ㅉ sound 'pressed.' When a word feels like you're biting it, you've found one.