Korean Job Discussion Forums

[MaestroCantus]

Just wondering if any of you know a good place in Bundang, or Seoul that would sell children's books in English.

I am particularly interested in finding Dr. Seuss books (esp. Green Eggs and Ham).

If you know of a place, please reply with subway station, exit number, and rough directions (and a name of the place, even if it's in Korean, if you can).

[hossenfeffer]

What The Book in Itaewon has an impressive selection of childrens books. I was there last week and noticed lots and lots of Dr. Seuss books.

Hoss

[MaestroCantus]

[nuthatch]

I also was there last weekend and bought Green Eggs and Ham and The Cat in the Hat

however, the books they had in the shop had also Spanish in them along with the English...the beauty of these books is the page by page visual/phonics stuff, and to squeeze Spanish in is not helpful for the ESL children, IMO, so when I told the clerk she very nicely said she could get the regular copies out of the "warehouse" ...god knows where she got them from...and that she could send them to me...and she did...very efficiently...the store was great to deal with...

I was only in Seoul for a day, my first time ...from the rural south...so I could not tell you exactly where they are...but up a little street which on the corner is a fire station...in the area of what I had been told was "hooker hill"...

their bookmarker here has no address, but here is their website:

www.whatthebook.com

if you email them at

[email protected]

I am sure they will help you with the location

[CutebutPsycho]

I've been told that the bookstore down from the US embassy has a large selection. Haven't been yet, but I've had several people say it is diverse.

[icicle]

Most of the big bookshops in Seoul have a wide range of children's books in English, including some of the best ones such as the Dr Seues Books. I have seen them in both Kyobo and Bandi and Lunis. They are popular because of the number of children who study English here ... so they are used in hagwons a lot ... I am not sure of the cost because my hagwon has such a wide range of what I class as the "best" english children's books ... But the one book that I did buy was much cheaper than I could have bought the same book in Australia .... So it is worth a look. I live on the North side of the city so mainly use the bookshops in the centre of the city now ... But last year I did go to one which was in Coex ... so that will be closer to you than the ones in the city itself ...

[MaestroCantus]

I got to the "What the Book" store.

Any suggestions on what kinds of books older, low-English level students would like having read to them? (They are bored stiff with the prescribed classroom material, and I thought it'd be fun to end a class off with a "fun" book).

[peppermint]

how old is old? IF they're mid elementary school, Roald Dahl would probably go over well. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, or James and the Giant Peach. Unless you've got them for a full school year, I'd avoid Harry Potter, simply on length

[KumaraKitty]

I find that "The Twits", "The Magic Finger", "George's Marvelous Medicine" and "Fantastic Mr. Fox" are all excellent Roald Dahl books to use with Elementary students and they can generally be found at every book store I've visited in Korea. Most stores have a small English book section with a few novels and usually include a few of these.
"Amelia Bedelia" books are pretty good for lower level elementary.
I recommend What The Book, as you can order and have them delivered as well. You can do a bank transfer so you don't need to use your credit card and they do free delivery over a certain amount.
If you want to go to a book store, Bandi and Luni in COEX is probably closest to you. Samseong Station is where COEX mall is, and they are a very big bookstore in the middle of the mall.

[MaestroCantus]

Sorry, when I said "older," I meant grade 4 students . . . sorry, I deal with them and kindergarten students. They have VERY limited understanding of English, and their vocab is very small.

I'm thinking books that are funny, yet repetative in their use of Vocab would be good.

[nuthatch]

for kindergarten, you could do Are You My Mother? a nice repetitive question and answer, pronouns, etc., easy to follow

also for K, Brown Bear, and so many more, I'd have to look at the list

[Scamps]

Another choice is to go to Toys R Us. They have 2 locations. One is at Jamsil Station, Lotte Mart and the other is at Guri Station's Lotte Mart.
They have English books, games, flashcards, just like in the US but better!
Jamsil is closer to Bundang. Guri is on line 0 the Jungang line.

[Ya-ta Boy]