How to tell if a word starts with ㅈ or ㅊ?
I read somewhere that ㅈ makes a ch sound if its at the beginning of a word and j if it's in the middle of the word, is that correct? How can I tell if a word starts with ㅈ or ㅊ if they make the same sound?

Question

Answer

ㅈmakes a "j" sound at the beginning and a "tch" sound at the end on a syllable. ㅊ makes a "ch" sound.

Answer

At the beginning of a word, ㅊ needs more air coming out and more stress on it. Try to sound 자 and 차 with a hand in front of your mouth. You have to feel air puff with 차.

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you can tell if they are speaking very clearly
but best way is to just know how to spell words.

so if someone says 잘 자~ you know it's not 찰 차 just because you know how to spell korean.