Active Korean 1

Active Korean #1

by Language Education Institute, Seoul National University

Seoul National University presents an ideal series for short-term Korean study!

Active Korean series developed by the Language Education Institute of Seoul National University, helps learners develop their communicative skills in Korean in effective ways within a short period of time.

Genres: Nonfiction

158 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

잘 했어요!

[Megan M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent for a quick Korean review if you are already familiar with many of the concepts, but I would say that this book would not be ideal for self-study learners who have never been in the classroom. Many of the activities require a partner. Pros for self-study include a good grammar reference section and answer keys throughout. The dialogues and reading practice however was a bit short.

[Jascha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Active Korean is the typical series of books to learn a language that provide a generic overview of culture through typical daily conversations: A meets B, A gos to the Restaurant and so on.

Conversations are generally very short, with translation and glossary. Thankfully, there is no romanization. The audio is ok, but not really necessary.

The series is meant to be used in a class, with multiple people playing roles and practicing conversations. For a solo person, well, the only thing you can get off this book is some generic culture tip and words to learn.

[Cameron · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Active Korean series is fairly flexible textbook for students of the Korean language. The primary textbook and accompanying workbook each have their own audio CD's and contain a variety of exercises for testing one's budding grasp of the language. The book is broken into nine units, each unit utilizing three or four grammar points or key expressions and applying them to language associated with some aspect of life, such as telling time, making appointments, or handling phone calls.
The only reason why I hesitate to give this the full 5-star rating is because, as an independent learner, some of the activities in the book were useless unless I had a partner to work with. Having a Korean girlfriend was useful in this case but other people, especially those NOT living in Korea may have a hard time finding someone to spar with. On the other hand, Active Korean 1 is published by Seoul National University, so ideally this book is intended to be used in a classroom. Nevertheless, I still claim it a 4-star book since it's on the slim size for a school textbook. All gripes aside, this was a great book overall that deserves to be used and read by aspiring Korean-speakers.