Korean for Beginners: Mastering Conversational Korean

by Kyubyong Park

Have you ever considered learning Korean, but been put off by the unusual look of the characters? Don't let yourself be scared away! Korean has been called the most logical language there is, and with this friendly and thorough introduction you will soon see why.

The best way to learn Korean--this book uses a lighthearted, humorous approach. Korean for Beginners starts by showing you just how reasoned and logical the Korean alphabet, hangeul, actually is, and helps you master it faster than you learned the English alphabet. Realistic situations you might encounter in Korea in Korean-speaking environments are described, and new words are explained in terms of how you'll find them useful to communicate. Numerous illustrations enliven the text, and online audio content lets you listen and repeat phrases in the book. Soon you'll be able to say with pride, I know Korean! Features of Korean for Beginners
Learn to read Korean writing with ease.
Practical phrases help you converse with confidence.
A lighthearted guide walks you through, bringing the language to life.
The audio features native Korean speakers help you to speak Korean like a pro.

As the more than 1 million Americans who speak Korean can attest, the Korean language is here to stay, and generations of young (and older) adults are determined to learn it. This book is for people who want a grasp of how to speak, write and understand Korean--and who want to enjoy things while they're at it!

All disc content is alternatively accessible on tuttlepublishing.com/downloadable-con....

Genres: Language, Nonfiction, Reference

322 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 10, 2010

About the author

I work in the field of information technology, and have also been an editor at an educational publishing company focusing on language practice books for Koreans learning English. Although my occupation is in the field of natural language, my main personal pursuit has been aiding foreigners in their studies of the Korean language through the many titles. I live in Anyang with a woman who calls me husband. You can send an email to longinglove@nate.com if you have something to talk to me or if you need to know my home address that your generous present will be delivered to.

Reviews

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been ostensibly learning Korean on duolingo for more than a year now. However the owl app has gamified to the point of not telling you rules of grammar; it is essentially a pattern-identification game. Although I find this utterly addictive, it's nonetheless frustrating not to know exactly what the patterns I'm learning actually mean. I found a copy of this book in a charity shop and was delighted to find it describes the actual rules of Korean grammar! The tone is delightfully chatty and readable, making it an unusually fun textbook to read. It's supposed to be accompanied by a CD for listening practice, but this was missing in my copy. No matter, as duolingo is great for that side of things. The owl app also makes learning the hangeul alphabet easy and enjoyable.

In Korean for Beginners: Mastering Conversational Korean I particularly appreciated the explanation of Korean numbers and counting units, which deeply confused me on duolingo. Korean has two number systems, one Chinese-influenced and one entirely Korean. They are used in different situations, but also together for reporting the time - the hour in entirely Korean numbers then the minutes and seconds in Chinese-influenced numbers. Yet the actual construction of the numbers in the Chinese-influenced number system is much more logical than English, French, or German as twelve = ten two, twenty = two ten, etc.

As well as useful information of this nature, each chapter throws in some interesting cultural details about Korea, idiomatic phrases, proverbs, or tongue-twisters. In fact, I discovered that the most difficult sentence duolingo subjected me to is a variation upon a well-known tongue twister:

네가 그린 기린 그림은 못 그린 기린 그림이고 내가 그린 기린 그림은 잘 그린 기린 그림이다.

Phonetic: nega geurin girin geurimeun mot geurin girin geurimigo naega geurin girin geurimeun jal geurin girin geurimida.

Translation: Your giraffe painting is a poorly drawn drawing of a giraffe, and my giraffe painting is a well-drawn giraffe painting.

Oof. Anyway, Korean is fascinating to learn if, like me, you've only ever previously studied Western European languages. I'm really enjoying it and this textbook further encouraged my enthusiasm. I definitely recommend it, in combination with duolingo.

[Alana Le · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is by far the best korean language book for complete beginners and well worth the $20. Let me just say that i had purchased Elementary Korean (Second Edition) and was rather dissapointed in it, especially since i spent over $70 for it (luckily i could still return it). Although Elementary Korean contained a lot more information, all the lessons were too thorough and superfluous making it difficult to get through a single page without re-reading everything. Although this book doesn't hold as much information, it's written so much more efficiently and effectively than anything in Elementary Korean. This book covers exactly what i was looking for and does it in a way that is unbelievably easy to understand. Although i know Hangul-the korean alphabet, like the back of my hand, i still really appreciated the fact that they dedicated some space in the book to learning it in a very straightforward manner which i think true beginners would easily learn. What I loved even more was how simple they made grammar and sentence structure to understand. Honorifics and levels of politeness-and how they effect wording especially, was something i was struggling with but this book has made it super comprehensive (something Elementary Korean failed to do). One of the best aspects of this book though was the casual and engaging tone of the author/narrator. It's one of the many reasons why learning from this book was so easy and, could you believe it, fun? yes. learning has actually been made fun and entertaining, something i find many learning resources lack (cough cough, Elementary Korean being one of them). Not to mention, there's some illustrations in the book which may do nothing for you, but for me it's nice to have a few graphics to make it even more engaging. Now to make something clear: this book will not make you fluent, nor does it intend to. I mean come on, do you really expect to learn a whole language in a thin 150 page book costing $20? This book was made as an introduction for beginners after all. However, it will make the journey so much easier as you decrypt the language, in a sense. If you read this book cover to cover and pair it with a more thorough resource, especially one heavy on vocabulary, you'll be golden. I hope those of you reading my review aren't annoyed by my constant comparisons to Elementary Korean, but many times I see people contemplating the two and deciding on Elementary Korean beause it's bigger and more expensive (which does NOT always imply it's better). This book is a holy grail for beginners and i'd definitely reccomend it to anyone serious about learning Korean.

[Jasper · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was such a delightful book!
i'd like to note that this book truly IS for beginners wanting to learn the language without having to take a class. the way Park Kyubyong Songsaengnim (with the help of Henry J. Amen IV) has set up the book works quite well with learning to read + write Hangul and the included cd-rom helps with pronunciation. i appreciate at how casually it's written as well, allowing you to take a breather at the more challenging parts while still hammering home all the needed details. the Further Vocabulary + Korean Style sections at the end of each chapter are an especially nice touch as we get to fill out everyday words and learn a little bit about the Korean culture along the way.
i certainly took my time (and lots of notes) getting through this book but having finished it now, i feel confident about conversing with my friends who are fluent in Korean. if you're interested in learning the language, i definitely recommend that you start with this book.

[Whitney · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book Korean For Beginners: Mastering Conversational Korean, was actually the first Korean book that I ever got. When you go to the bookstore to browse the Language Learning section here are only a small amount of books there for Korean most of them Dictionaries. I was very excited. I went home and started trying to read the book right from the start. To my major disappointment the book was hard to follow and didn't seem to be made for beginners at all. So I decided to leave it alone and pick another beginning textbook. After finishing that book Integrated Korean, I went back to this one. No use in wasting my money right.

There are no exercises in the book and through most of the examples the author seems to take joy in trying to confuse you about grammar points and pronunciation which I found really annoying. In reality I've learned more grammar and vocabulary from the free lessons and workbooks at Talk to Me In Korean dot com. Another disappointment is the audio cd that comes along with it. The cd is very dry and only says the sentences and words that have a picture beside them in the book indicating that they have audio. That's it. Not very friendly at all and I can honestly get better audio content from TTMIK or youtube videos.

Some good notes: There is a lot of vocabulary that I didn't get in Integrated Korean Beginning 1. So if nothing else my vocabulary as grown. Also,if you are like me and have trouble with the two number systems the author actually explains it very well and helps you with counting and telling time. Also, the book is probably the cheapest I've found so far.

To sum it up, I would use this book only if you need supplementary material.There are better resources out there some for free that have helped me understand Korean a lot better than this book.

[Miss Ryoko · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really really enjoyed this book! It was easy to understand, easy to follow, and had everyday, useful information in terms of the content taught. I'm really bummed their isn't an intermediate level follow up textbook

[ATry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was very helpful and it would be great to read more of these!

[Moon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't normally write reviews, but I felt this book was helpful enough that I should give it a review for future readers.

I am about to go into my freshman year in college, and I have been studying Korean on my own for about a year now. I come from a Korean family, but up until the past years my Korean has been limited to hello, mom, dad, and other family member titles.

I found this book to be very helpful to establish a basis for Korean conversational skills. I will warn you, the verb tenses can be overwhelming, and many words in the book have multiple meanings that aren't explained in great nuance. I, however, was only able to figure this out because I have used this book as a supplement to other Korean learning materials (including Talk To Me In Korean and my bilingual mother).

TLDR; I definitely recommend this book for beginners. It has a lighthearted approach to the language and helps create a strong foundation for learning Korean.

[Charlotte Toyne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have only made it half way through but it is such a wonderful book. Other things are taking priority for me as opposed to learning this language. I love the friendly tone and the authors lay the language out in a way that makes sense. They do a beautiful job of making the lessons clear and breaking the chapters up so it feels bite sized. Amazing resource and I 10/10 recommend

[Hedaya Diabi · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was a good book Iwould recomend it in my class

[Ahmed Galaa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good

[Dalia · Rating 4 out of 5]

got this as a birthday gift. I truly loved it

[Emily Davies · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Kindle edition has some very weird formatting which made it very difficult to use. I also didn't find the book that helpful in general.

[Balkaran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just adding this so I can say I read more books this year ngl.

[Iresha]

good

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely read.

[_sniper.force_ · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good beginner book for those who wants to learn Korean.

[Chels · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goes into enough detail for you to start to understand the language. I really loved how the text wasn't dry or boring, the narrator was a lot of fun and I'll probably reread a couple times to really figure it all out.

[Elizabeth H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book really covered the basics of (and went a little deeper into) Korean grammar. It would be best to have this book as a companion to any Korean vocabulary books you may have to really master the language!

[KR Rajkumar · Rating 5 out of 5]

BOOK DOWNLOAD

[Cute Army · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wANT TO LEARN KOREAN FROM THIS BOOK PLEASE CAN I READ THIS BOOK IN THE COMPUTER PLEASE HELP ME

[Sara Sara]

it is the most useful book >>