- When ㄹ is at the start of the syllable it's prounced 'R' - When ㄹ is at the end of a syllable it's prounced 'L' So 라 = Ra, 알 = Al, 를 = Reul The reason it's pronounced like an 'R' in 일어나요 is because of a thing called batchim (받침) which means 'sound change rule'. When one syllable ends in a consonant, and then next syllable starts with a consonant, sometimes there is a sound change. You might have seen it in 입니다. It's pronounced 'imnida' not 'ibnida' because ㅂ + ㄴ together is a batchim so it becomes an M sound. There are many difference batchim rules but the one that's relevant to 일어나요 is that when any consonant is followed by a ㅇ (silent consonant), when you pronounce it, the first consonant moves to the position of the ㅇ. So for example 일어 is pronounced like 이러. Since the ㄹ is at the start of the syllable now, it's pronounced like 'R' instead of 'L'. Extra note: When the first syllable ends in a ㄹ and then the next syllable starts in a ㄹ you pronounce is like 'L' so 에라 - Erra 엘라 - Ella

You may know Korean words consist of three kinds of structure; an initial consonant(초성), a vowel(중성) known as 모음 and an final consonant(종성) commonly called as 받침. For example, 밥 can be divided up into 초성 'ㅂ', 중성 'ㅏ', 종성 'ㅂ' Most of consonants in Korean words are variously pronounced depending on where they are. Before taking up the main subject, I'd like to give you my opinion. I really have no idea why Korean Language learners have to understand it even though 95% of Koreans aren't aware of such difference as it's negligible for non-linguist. To get back to the point, 'ㄹ' can be pronounced in two ways, /l/ and /r/ (not identical to English and German): 1. /l/ - ㄹ is at an initial consonant of the first letter; 라디오, 라면. - ㄹ is at an final consonant; 말, 달, 꿀벌 - ㄹ is at an final consonant and an initial consonant of the next syllable is ALSO 'ㄹ'; 진달래, 벌레 (for convenience, /r/ is changed to /l/) 2. /r/ - 'ㄹ' is at an initial consonant of the first letter and the previous syllable has no consonant; 사랑, 바람, 오락, Let's practice. 커피를 - The first 'ㄹ' is at an initial consonant, the second 'ㄹ' is at an final consonant. so both are /l/ 식사하러 - 'ㄹ' is at an initial consonant, but the previous letter has no consonant. 'ㄹ' is /r/ All syllables are usually shortened, converted or merged into one in order to pronounce an word easily. There are many complicated irregular rules to understand though, I'll let you know most important one. Note that if every final consonant meets /ㅇ/, they are merged into one and become an initial consonant. For instance, 밖에 나가요[바께 나가요(bakke nagayo)], 볶음[보끔(bokkeum)]) So, 일이 -> 이리 -> 이/i/ + 리/ri/ 일주일에 -> 일주이레 -> 일/il/ + 주/ju/ + 이/i/ + 레/re/ 동료들과 -> 동뇨들과-> 동/dong/ + 뇨/nyo/ + 들/deul/ + 과/gwa/ (Too difficult for you this time, please ask me later :-p)