Korean Job Discussion Forums

[KwardBound]

Initially when I started posting in June I said that I might go to Korea, but now its becoming more of a yes than a maybe, so I figure some language skill would be cool to have. So, when I studied Japanese, there were some books that were commonly held as thee standards for learning. What about in Korean, what are the standard books?

[furtakk]

I would say that there isn't really a standard when it comes to learning Korean. It's much less popular and has been learned by foreigners for a much shorter time.

Anyhow, a lot of people here (myself included) recommend the Darakwon book. It's pink and it is called Korean for Beginners if I remember correctly. They only have 2 or 3 books in the series, but the introductory book is great. When you get past the beginner level it's really up to you (I like the Seoul University books). If you plan on taking a class when you get to Korea, then wait until then to study further. If you finish the first book, you will know more Korean than most other native speaking English folk anyhow.

[KwardBound]

At the moment I'm not really interested in learning the language, but I believe this book you recommend should be alright for my survival Korean. When I was learning Japanese, my standard was the Genki textbook.

[furtakk]

If you're just looking to learn survival Korean, the first book accompanied by random stuff you pick up while out and about will be more than sufficient.

[morrisonhotel]

I like the Integrated Korean series published by the University of Hawaii. I also like Yonsei University's grammar books (Korean Grammar for International Learners and the other main Yonsei one that I can't remember the name of at this precise moment) . Elementary Korean by Ross King is a good book as well for starting off. I would not recommend the Ganada series. Some people on here will but I have shown the book to a few friends and every single one has said that that is not how Koreans speak.

[Chet Wautlands]

Also, check out Talk to Me in Korean (http://www.talktomeinkorean.com/)

It's a great resource for learning basic Korean.

[notinKS]

Any of the Darakwon books are fantastic. I'm getting ready to start the second of their "Korean Language for a Good Job" books and it's been wonderful in teaching grammar, proper usage, listening, and writing. It's a little short on everyday vocabulary, so I've been supplementing it with "2000 Essential Korean Words," also published by Darakwon. These have both been handy books for me.

[laguna]

[Weigookin74]

Study the characters first and then a few phrases. Finally, choose 500 everyday words (questions, numbers, verbs, nouns, etc). After you have a handle on this, try to progress to Rosetta Stone V3. Its good, but you need to know some basic Korean before you use it. While going through it, write down words you dont know and look it up in the dictionary. Naver has something called: 서전 - dictionary. Type in the word there under 영어 - 한국어 English - Korean. Should give an approximate translation. Then you can write these down and ask Koreans you know for clarification. Be patient, it is a long uphill battle. But when you start to get it, you will feel like you have some power and like a million bucks. More foriegners need to know this language so they can challenge things when need be.

[ThingsComeAround]

In America I found the blue book Korean through English- its got some simple dialogue with cartoons, songs, cultural explanations, etc.
I've also heard from a friend that Integrated Korean is a good book. The Darakwon "Korean made easy for Beginners" you should search for online. I didn't find it on Amazon, only in the Korean book store Bandi Luni's. I don't know if the Korean book websites ship overseas, or if its possible to order w/o a Korean ID #.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51H2PuFEP-L._SS500_.jpg
http://www.darakwon.co.kr/koreanbooks/images/books/klb_002.jpg

[mimi belle]

In the US, you can use hanbooks.com. They have a pretty decent selection. Here's their language section: http://www.hanbooks.com/koreanlanguage.html

The book everyone is recommending is about halfway down that page along with a few other books by that publisher. (Darakwon)

I actually liked Survival Korean. It covers the basics and would be good for someone who just wants to not feel lost. (FYI I already know some korean but he explained stuff I didn't know.) It's very readable.
http://www.hanbooks.com/sukoasebofor.html

I am considering one of the following:
http://www.hanbooks.com/kogrinusewmp.html
or
http://www.amazon.com/Elementary-Korean-Second-Ross-Ph-D/dp/080483976X/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1282792068&sr=1-4

If anyone has used either of these, I'm interested to know how they are.

[gogophoto]

mimi belle, I have "Survival Korean", the Darakwon "Practical Korean", and the first edition of "Elementary Korean". Of the three, I prefer "Elementary Korean". However, it is definitely only for the dedicated learner. Ross King delves deep early on the idiosyncrasies of pronunciation and the conjugation of all types of verbs--even irregular ones. It is absolutely dense with information. I like this approach as I like to learn rules, but you will definitely have to invest a lot of time in this book before it begins to pay dividends.

"Survival Korean" is okay if you just want to learn enough to get by, but I think it is rather poorly organized. Darakwon's "Practical Korean" is much better, but does not explain the grammar nearly as well as King does in "Elementary Korean". I've also heard that the 2nd edition of "Elementary Korean" has added some color and pictures to make learning on your own a little more exciting--if you need that sort of thing.

For the serious individual learner, "Elementary Korean" is my recommendation. His detailed explanation of the subtler parts of the language, even early on, has already made me realize several embarrassing mistakes I've been making--mistakes I STILL wouldn't know I was making if I had stayed only with the other two books.

[asc422]

You will learn fast and effectively by mixing resources. All the best resources are previously listed:

(1) Start with "Korean Made Easy For Beginners". This book is fantastic. http://hanbooks.com/komaeaforbeb.html. If you finish this book (a few months) you will be light years ahead of most foreigners speaking/reading ability.

(2) Mix in lessons from www.talktomeinkorean.com ... most of the stuff will overlap from the book but this will further encode it and give you more listening practice.

(3) Pick up "2000 Essential Korean Words For Beginners" once you have a firm grasp on hangul. If you can't do basic conjugations yet, stick to learning nouns.

My daily study routine was something like:
- Practice sounds from hangul everyday for 10 minutes - precision is key in this langauge
- Study 1 chapter from KMEFB for 1 hour (I would review the chapter several times - usually tried to complete 1 chapter per week)
- Complete 1 lesson from www.talktomeinkorean.com every day or two ... sometimes I would do the supplementary material, sometimes not
- Memorize anywhere from 20-30 vocab words each day

In total, I probably spent around 3-4 hours each day studying Korean. Within a month I could speak better than any of my friends, some who had lived in Korea for 3 years. Within 2-3 months I was able to lightly participate in basic conversations and could understand about 25-30% of what was being said around me. By the time I completed all the books (around 5 months) I was able to go on dates and hold conversations entirely in Korean and hang out with groups of Korean friends with no English ability.

My Korean is far from perfect and I still make lots of mistakes, especially with verbs and markers.

But, you wouldn't believe how much Korea opens up once you get a grasp of the language. It doesn't take much effort and goes a long way.

Do not listen to people who say that learning Korean is a waste of time. Foreigners in Korea are some of the laziest people you will ever meet.

Plan your lessons, finish work, hit the gym, study, THEN go to the bar around 10 p.m. And, remember, the best lessons in Korean come from chatting with Koreans while drinking soju at the bar. If you have any college friends, head to the hof to learn fun games, songs, and chants. Just try to bow out before "o cha".

[mimi belle]

Thanks gogophoto.
It sounds good. I am looking for something thorough like that.

[computermichael]

I really like the Pathfinder in Korean books published by Ewha University press. I can't speak for the beginner level books because I didn't start out with them, but I've been using the intermediate ones. There are usually a few grammatical points, something about vocabulary, and then a few pages of reading in every chapter. There's also a workbook that you can buy to go along with each book. I've supplemented it with stuff from the internet a lot, but I've been happy enough with these books to not feel the need to buy anything else. There are lots of pictures and discussion topics, so they're also a great set of books to use if somebody is teaching you.

Moreover, the dictionary on naver.com is the best online one I've found. I'm sure you'll be looking into that eventually if you try learning more than just a few phrases.