Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ladyandthetramp]

Someday, I plan to start writing books to help Korean-learners, so I was hoping to here from all of you what you didn't like about your books.

For that matter, I'd like to hear anything you thought was great, too.

Finally, what would you like to be included in a book for learning Korean?

For example, my main complaint about all Korean books is the lack of structure. In other words, grammar points are seemingly thrown out at random and never tied in together. English books usually structure it (present simple, present progressive, etc.) so the learner can more easily grasp one thing's relation to another. That's the first thing I plan to change...

[Chillin' Villain]

I just wish there was more variety to the textbooks. There are definitely a lot out there, but they all sorta fall under the all-inclusive category: grams, vocab, reading, etc.... Always all in one book.

Koreans studying have a huge wealth of stuff to choose from if they want to focus on certain aspects, like business, structure, vocab, listening, whatever.... Sometimes I actually like 'reverse-studying' and using my girlfriend's English books to learn Korean from.

I sorta understand why there aren't so many Korean textbooks like those though, as there just isn't the market. So for now I guess I'll just stick to the SNU series, the kickass red and blue vocab book, and all the other stuff I've been using.

[waterbaby]

I've used the Ganada "Korean for Foreigners 1 Elementary" book and I really grew to hate it. At first, I didn't know any better. Now that I've been reviewing it, I'm finding problems all over the place.

First of all (and I'm sure you wouldn't have this trouble!) the English explanations are appalling! Some sentences do not make sense... for example:

[cutebecca]

hi

im using the ewha women's university textbooks. i like it that the books dont have any english in them because the teachers have to explain everything really well (versus other programs where the teachers half-ass their teaching, thinking the students can just study from the books).

i do not like it that vocabulary is only used in 1 dialogue. it makes it very difficult to use the vocabulary in any other setting than that specific situation. as in english, words can be used many ways and likewise some words cannot be used in certain situations.it is helpful to see vocabulary used in various settings so that the full wealth of each word can be understood.

lastly, and most importantly, a lot of grammar i am learning seems to replace earlier grammatical patterns i previously learned. similar grammatical points should be linked together (or at least include a bubble clarifying that pattern A can be used interchangeably with pattern B). and also, an explanation of when one would choose pattern A over pattern B and vice versa.

i agree with everyone else's point too and especially agree with your frustration with structure.

[Ya-ta Boy]

Mine's already been taken but it so infuriates me that I want to say it again.

I get totally frustrated when they throw in new vocabulary that isn't part of the unit. I especially hate it when I'm trying to focus on a grammar point and they add words I've never seen before. Any idiot would know that you only use words the students know when teaching grammar. Or at least restrict yourself to the new words in the unit. Grrr.

I also don't understand why they don't rip off all the excellent activities from the many English programs available and use them in translated, modified form in the Korean language programs. Why isn't there a picture of a messy room where the student has to practice the prepositions of location? The sock is under the bed. The pen is next to the computer.

[waterbaby]

[bosintang]

Yata-Boy sort of touched on this, but I'll repeat it. I hate how non-descriptive and irrelevant the situational dialogues often are in KSL books. For example, in one beginner book (I can't remember the name of it), the first dialogue (Annyeong Haseyo?) was a situation at customs/immigration at an airport. First off: how high of a level of Korean would you need before you would ever even think about speaking Korean to an immigration official? How natural is a beginner-level dialogue in that context? Secondly: What kind of detail could be provided for natural conversation in a dialogue like this?

Even dialogues where the situation is appropriate (a supermarket for instance), the picture and dialogue will not include any detail. For instance, in a supermarket example, the picture may be just you and the storekeeper talking.

Yata-Boy gave a perfect example of what should be in Korean textbooks, but isn't: A messy bedroom. In the supermarket example, why not include a picture of a grocery aisle? Why not add some details to the picture to add to natural situational discussion and reinforcement of previous lessons? For example, besides the new vocabulary and grammar introduced in the supermarket theme, perhaps you could review prepositions by talking about where the items are on a shelf.

Off the top of my head, one more example. One beginner book I have has a dialogue of people just talking about where the bathroom is, a perfectly fine situation, but again, the picture has no detail. Rather than a picture of two people yapping away, it should include something like a map with several different places on it to allow learners to practice giving directions in a natural context (i.e. by looking at the map).

[ladyandthetramp]

So, you want pictures, eh? I've acquired a bit of experience with such media in my days teaching kids. In fact, I've made quite a few such materials myself, so that should be easy to incorporate. Good idea.

Actually, I've always wished that their was a picture dictionary for Korean. Either KO-KO or KO-EN. It could include simple pictures like a grocery store all the way to the under the hood of a car. I've seen one, but it's fairly small and includes lots of outdated or simply awkward Korean expressions. I'd like one like the German one made by Duden, only in color. Of course, that's something that Koreans should make, not me.

Also, I think a book on daily expressions for everyday activities could be useful. I don't mean a conversation book, I mean a categorical study guide with common phrases in all kinds of situations. You may have even noticed this with your own students: you know lots of academic words, put you can't even think of how to say everyday things like "fold the laundry" or "take your hat off the table."

There are lots of such books for English, French, German, etc. learners, but not Korean. Namely, there's no market for them. Good thing I'm not expecting to get rich...

[Hater Depot]

Waterbaby is spot on about every textbook I've ever encountered. One major sin I see is that the chapters are given topic names (the weather, clothes shopping, etc.) but then except for a vocab list and short dialogue, the chapter has nothing to do with that topic.

I would love to see similar grammar points grouped together, with clear explanations of their similarities and differences. This is something I too have fantasized about writing.

[bosintang]

[little mixed girl]

all the ones i've used have some structure...
honestly, i'd say maybe copy off of the GENKI (japanese) series for ppl learning japanese.

also, don't make textbooks that cater to korean-americans, cuz i hate that ish.
don't even have korean-americans in the text. replace them with any other asian ethnicity. i'm tired or reading about some kyopo that went to korea and ish. i wanna read about jose who went to korea...or kenshika...something... <_<

[Qinella]

I've used Ross King's Elementary Korean.

What I Like

The vocabulary it introduces is very helpful in everyday conversations.
It teaches verbs, adverbs, nouns, adjectives and pronouns in relatively equal part.
It enabled me to form my own sentences very quickly.
There are plenty of translation exercises, with answers in the back.
After the first two lessons, there is no Romanization/transliteration.

What I Dislike

The vocabulary is sort of random. Categories would be easier to memorize.
It doesn't explain the nuances of the vocabulary. I've perused many Korean textbooks, and I've yet to see one that goes into detail about when to use certain words. English to Korean translation is typically not direct - it's very nuanced, because the languages think differently.
It doesn't explain the grammar very well. I'm often confused.
The answers in the back of the book are sometimes wrong.
There isn't much variety to the exercises.
There isn't much information about the culture. That's very important when learning a language, imo.

[cruisemonkey]

I'm teaching mostly middle school (some elementary) kids at a publicly funded English Camp. The book I'm supposed to use was written by the director of the camp who is a 'Professor' of English. There's so much wrong with it, I won't even begin to make a list. However, according to this 'book', one of the answers to the question "How are you?" is... "Fuc*ing terrible."

[Son Deureo!]

I used the same book as Qinella, and I more or less agree with him(?), except I actually thought the grammar explanations were pretty good.

The one thing I would recommend for any Korean book is to include some basic, useful hanja roots, even at the beginner level. IMHO, the sooner you deal with hanja, the easier it is to learn Korean vocab. Not ODing on it, just maybe introducing two or three hanja per chapter along with lists of words that include them to help make students aware of the importance and usefulness of knowing hanja roots.

[joe_doufu]

The Ga-Na-Da books have a couple problems. First of all, they use the "-imnida" / "shipshiyo" / "imnikka?" forms of verbs which is really annoying because every time I try to speak Korean outside of class, Koreans wonder what I'm trying to say and when they realize it they laugh.

Second is that the gramattical particles and question words (I'm in the beginning class) are introduced with incredible slowness. In one chapter they introduced "e" (to) and "e seo" (at/from). In separate chapters they introduced "where" and "when". This is what we do for kindergarteners. Adults can handle five or six question words in one lesson, thanks. Then every once in a while, our teacher drops on us a printed handout with like fifty new nouns or fifty new adjectives. Wow! Let's even things out. Give us five or six new postpositions or question words in each chapter, and maybe 20 new nouns/verbs/adjectives, and I think that would be about right. Otherwise I like the Ga-Na-Da books.