Korean Job Discussion Forums

Ruthdes · Joined: 16 Oct 2008 Location: Seoul

Can anyone recommend any good applications (paid or free) to learn/practice Korean for an iPod Touch (2nd gen)?

(Mods, I posted this here b/c while it is a tech question, it is also relevant to living in Korea).

Gaber · Joined: 23 Apr 2006

There are a few good ones. Koreanclass101.com has published a couple - a collection of classes, and a slightly aenemic word book. They also made a free word a day app which is just the word book drip fed to you. Also, if you've got a jailborken one there is a program called weDict which is an oped dictionary platform. I was able to figure it out, but I've talked to people who have managed to install a full Korean/English dictionary on that.

Ruthdes · Joined: 16 Oct 2008 Location: Seoul

Thanks Gaber.

Does anyone else have any other suggestions?

Ed Provencher · Joined: 15 Oct 2006

I have two dictionaries. They are both good, but one only works when connected to the internet. I didn't know internet was required for the one, so I was upset that that information was not posted and complained but never received a reply.

The Koreanclass101.com podcast is good. It's all the podcasts from all the lessons on the site. I'd recommend paying for just one month. You will get every lesson up the the end of the month. If you are a beginner, you will have a lot of learning to do with what you get and there is no need to continue paying for more lessons until you finish the library of lessons already there. Also, the 10 most recent lessons of each level are online so if you keep up with studying, there is no need to ever purchase the feed again.

I like the "Korean English Dictionary" by Cole Zhu Inc. Only $5.99 and has really high reviews. You can search in English or Korean. Interface is really easy. If you see a word in the definition that you don't understand, click on it to see its definition too.

The other dictionary is called "Korean - English Dictionary" by Loop Tek. It's nice because of the "related phrases" function, but it only works online. $4.99

If you are interested, I also have a Korean subway map program called "Subway in Korea" by Sungmin Kim. It costs $2.99 and has Korean, English, and Japanese display options. If you don't have a map in your phone, this will suffice. His new version is called "iKorway Korean Subway" and has much higher ratings.

Let us know what you choose and if you like it.

kimuchiii · Joined: 02 Dec 2007

I'm not for sure how to give you links to the applications themselves but if you type in 'Korean" you get a few apps. Some of the better ones have lite versions that are free so you can test them out to see if you like them.
For studying Korean I really like AccelaStudy Korean and Declan's Korean Flashcard app. Both are mostly for learning words and phrases. Accelastudy is nice because it has the charts to tell you what words you have "mastered" and not also it uses spaced/planned repetition to help you remember the words. Both have audio but Accelastudy also has quizzes. The thing I like most about Declan's though is words/phrases are grouped into small chunks and you study them in four ways-and one of the ways you study them is by spelling the word in Korean. Typing the word for me really helps me remember them I have found.
If you are learning hangul there are a couple of free apps for that too... good luck with your studies!

Ruthdes · Joined: 16 Oct 2008 Location: Seoul

Thanks people! I've been here for 18 months and have been able to read for almost all of that. I can order food, direct a taxi like a champ, and have a very stilted, limited conversation about familiar topics with people whose English levels are similar to my korean level, but my vocab needs a lot of work and my grammar (beyond rote learning of sentences), is non-existant.

I'm currently making some decisions about how much longer I'm going to stay here. If everything works out as I hope it will, I should stay for at least another year. When I know I'll take up Korean lessons again too. I'll def check out some of those apps for the extra help and study Smile

crossmr · Joined: 22 Nov 2008 Location: Hwayangdong, Seoul

avoid the janggi app. There are much better apps for the cell phone if you want to play Korean chess. The Ipod one is horrid. The piece movement absolutely sucks and it leads to a lot of incorrect moves, there is no way to fix the move so you're stuck with it. Its like playing with a stump.