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처음에는 means at first or in the beginning.

It is made of:

• 처음 = first, beginning
• 에 = at, in, on
• 는 = topic marker

So 처음에는 literally gives a sense like as for at first. In natural English, we just say at first.

The 는 helps set up a contrast with the second part of the sentence:

• 처음에는 = at first
• 지금은 = now

So the sentence is contrasting then and now.

이 is the subject marker here.

• 발음 = pronunciation
• 발음이 어려웠어요 = pronunciation was difficult

In Korean, adjectives like 어렵다 often describe the subject directly, so 발음이 is the thing that was difficult.

A learner might expect something like 발음을 어려워했어요, but that would mean someone found pronunciation difficult or struggled with pronunciation, which is a slightly different structure.

Here, the sentence simply states:

• Pronunciation was difficult at first

So 발음이 is the natural choice.

어려웠지만 breaks down like this:

• 어렵다 = to be difficult
• -었- / -았- = past tense marker
• -지만 = but, although

So:

• 어려웠지만 = was difficult, but...

This form connects the first clause to the next one.

The whole structure is:

• 처음에는 발음이 어려웠지만
• At first, pronunciation was difficult, but...

Then the second clause explains the contrast:

• 지금은 조금 쉬워졌어요
• now it has become a little easier

Because the speaker is describing how things were at first.

• 어려웠어요 = was difficult
• 어려워요 = is difficult

Since the sentence contrasts past and present:

• 처음에는 ... 어려웠지만 = at first, it was difficult, but...
• 지금은 ... 쉬워졌어요 = now it has become easier

Using the past tense in the first part makes that time contrast clear.

지금은 means now.

It is:

• 지금 = now
• 은 = topic marker

Just like 처음에는, the 은/는 here highlights contrast:

• 처음에는 = at first
• 지금은 = now

This is a very common Korean pattern when comparing two situations.

So the sentence is structured almost like:

• As for at first...
• As for now...

In natural English, that becomes:

• At first..., but now...

This is an important point.

• 쉬워요 = it is easy
• 쉬워졌어요 = it became easy / it has gotten easier

쉬워졌어요 comes from:

• 쉽다 = to be easy
• 쉬워지다 = to become easy

So -아/어지다 often means to become + adjective.

That means:

• 쉬워요 focuses on the current state: it is easy
• 쉬워졌어요 focuses on change over time: it has become easier

Because the sentence compares before and now, 쉬워졌어요 is the better choice.

Because 쉽다 is an irregular-looking adjective in this conjugation pattern.

When 쉽다 combines with -어지다, it becomes:

• 쉽다 → 쉬워지다

So:

• 쉬워졌어요 = became easier / has gotten easier

This happens because the stem changes in a standard way during conjugation. Korean learners usually just memorize this form:

• 쉽다 → 쉬워요
• 쉽다 → 쉬워졌어요

So 쉽어졌어요 is not correct.

조금 means a little or a bit.

So:

• 쉬워졌어요 = it has become easier
• 조금 쉬워졌어요 = it has become a little easier

It softens the statement and makes it sound natural. The speaker is not saying pronunciation is completely easy now, only that it is somewhat easier than before.

This kind of adverb is very common in Korean:

• 조금 어려워요 = it’s a little difficult
• 조금 괜찮아졌어요 = it got a little better

The sentence does not explicitly say for me, but that meaning is understood from context.

Korean often omits subjects or other information when they are obvious.

So 지금은 조금 쉬워졌어요 literally means something like:

• Now, it has become a little easier

From context, English speakers understand it as:

• Now it’s a little easier for me
• or Now pronunciation has gotten a little easier

Depending on the situation, the omitted subject could be:

• 발음이 = pronunciation
• or the experience for the speaker

Both are naturally understood.

It most naturally means pronunciation was difficult at first, but now it has gotten a little easier.

In English, we might interpret that as:

• Pronunciation was hard
• It was hard to pronounce things
• Learning Korean pronunciation was difficult

Korean often allows this kind of slightly broad wording. 발음 can refer to pronunciation in general, and the sentence naturally implies the speaker’s experience with it.

So while the Korean literally mentions pronunciation, the real meaning is often closer to:

• At first, pronouncing Korean sounds was difficult, but now it’s a little easier.

Yes, it is in the polite informal style, often called 해요체.

You can see it in:

• 쉬워졌어요

And the first clause also fits that polite style even though it ends in -지만 as a connector.

This style is very common in everyday conversation and is appropriate in many situations.

Compare:

• 어려웠지만 지금은 조금 쉬워졌어요 = polite
• 어려웠지만 지금은 조금 쉬워졌어 = casual
• 어려웠지만 지금은 조금 쉬워졌습니다 = formal polite

So the sentence is polite, natural, and commonly used in normal conversation.

A casual version would be:

• 처음에는 발음이 어려웠지만 지금은 조금 쉬워졌어.

The only major change is the ending:

• 쉬워졌어요 → 쉬워졌어

You could also hear slightly more casual spoken versions depending on context, but this is the straightforward casual form.

Polite:

• 처음에는 발음이 어려웠지만 지금은 조금 쉬워졌어요.

Casual:

• 처음에는 발음이 어려웠지만 지금은 조금 쉬워졌어.

A natural pronunciation would be close to:

• 처으메는 바르미 어려웓찌만 지금은 조금 쉬워져써요

A few helpful pronunciation notes:

• 처음에는 sounds like 처으메는
• 발음이 often sounds like 바르미
• 어려웠지만 is pronounced close to 어려웓찌만
• 쉬워졌어요 sounds close to 쉬워져써요

You do not need to force every written consonant separately. In natural speech, sounds connect smoothly between syllables.

Yes. You could say:

• 처음에는 발음이 어려웠어요. 하지만 지금은 조금 쉬워졌어요.

This means essentially the same thing:

• At first, pronunciation was difficult. But now it has gotten a little easier.

The difference is mainly in structure:

• -지만 connects two clauses inside one sentence
• 하지만 starts a new sentence or clause more independently

So:

• 어려웠지만 ... = was difficult, but...
• 어려웠어요. 하지만 ... = it was difficult. But...

Both are natural. The original sentence with -지만 feels smooth and compact.