Product Description
College Korean offers a comprehensive introduction to the Korean language designed for American students. Rogers, You, and Richards have used their many years of teaching to devise and test an approach that balances reading and writing with the spoken language. The result is a well-rounded textbook suited to a yearlong course in which students learn to conduct conversations about their own lives and interests, read texts written in hangul, and write simple compositions.
The book systematically introduces basic Korean grammar, a contextualized vocabulary, and styles of speech that are sociolinguistically appropriate for college students. Each of its 26 lessons contains a dialogue or a reading, practice patterns, relevant grammar notes, and exercises. Approximately 150 Sino-Korean characters are also introduced, and complete glossaries and grammar indexes are provided. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (19)

College Students-Use other texts with it.
I was assigned this text with my Intro Korean course.I had been studying Korean on my own off and on for a few years before the class started.I was well ahead for a few weeks, but after that point I struggled.The text was a huge part of the problem.

When I first started learning Korean I found that using several sources helped me.I would see something more clearly in one source rather than another and vise versa.Once I started to go deep into the grammar I should have done the same thing.

I would confirm some of the negative (and some positive) what a lot of people have already written about this text book.I would add that the esthetics of the book are none.Trying to go back and find something you forgot is difficult.Rather than some bold and larger texts there are no colors, illustrations, charts, or pictures of any sort.It is very dry and academic.Which is fine, but I guess I am used to Spanish text books which show a lot of pictures.

No matter the textbook, I seriously recommend using various sources to point out new things you might have missed or at least review something you do know in a fresh way.

If you are aself lerner...
First off I'd like to let you know, that didn't invest much time in reading this book.This is mainly due to the fact that I've found the book a rather dull read and not very a helpful read either.I speak fluently two languages,and over the past few years i've invested a lot of money and a lott of effort in foreign language books.I'm not very good at reviewing books though,so I'll only give you an amature's review.

Firstly one on the main disadvantages to this small books,is that it's not very helpfull for self learners.In fact i think that even students with the aid of a tutor might have considerable difficulty in getting the most out of it.When reading it,i felt that there was not a very good presentation of grammar and language structures.

Unlike Elementary korean and Continuing korean,which,i think use the best way of introducing grammar syntax and vocabullary this book seems as if it where writen by someone not really familiar with the teacher's profesion.(i know this book is called college korean,but some things from the previous series could really make this book much much better in terms of presentation).

The books structure is also hard to follow and difficult to get used to. (ok,this last part is actually not an objective comment,still i feel that most people will have a hard time getting used to using this book properly).

And lastly, i feel that i should mention the matter of price.Which,in my opinion is too high.There's neither an audio cd nor anything else that would justify it's hgih price.I feel that this book is only for people who have a very good knowledge of the language and have gone through most other books related to korean.Even then,i'm not sure if this book is worth buying.Buy it only if you can find it at a price around 25/35 usd.In any other case,it's a waste of money.

Tough for self-study, good for classes
I bought this book when I was taking a college course in Korean and used it was the class textbook. In the context of a class it's a great book to go with along with the guidance of a teacher. However, it would be pretty tough to teach yourself Korean with the book alone as it starts off very quickly and gets advanced too soon.

The Best Korean Language Book
Let's put this in context, I'm marrying a Korean this year and her family don't speak good English. It's therefore quite important that I understand Korean! So. What does this book give you that the others don't: -

01. All the Korean words ... are in Korean!

So many times I've seen book reviews where people slate books that are heavy on a languages natural form. STOP WHINING! Hangul is ridiculously easy to learn! Also, guess what? My Korean friends don't understand romanised Korean so that makes MSN conversations really short!

02. This book gives you the ACTUAL words Koreans say!

I've tried speaking phrases out of other books and been laughed at "you are talking like a baby/girl/Shakespeare"!!! This is the only book that clearly distinguishes the modes of speech in Korean and bizarrely the only Korean book that hints about talking in the First Person!

03. Clear Explanation of the Grammar.

This is the only book that explains the grammar of Korean. This is very useful. I also have "Teach Yourself: Korean" that book keeps explanations short and in my opinion keeps you in the dark about the true nature of the language whereas this book tells you everything!

Good book! Buy it!
I bought the Mastering Korean book (publ. 1988!) and found the layout and typography serious roadblocks to learning what good information was in there. The type in the Mastering Korean book is simply horrendous!

Taehak Hanguko (College Korean) however has a much better layout, and much better type, which actually allows me to stare at the book without my eyes going cross-eyed after a couple minutes, which is a real pleasant change in study conditions!

The content is very complete. I am teaching English in South Korea right now, and I want to learn better Korean to help grease the wheels with the students and my Korean friends. This book will get me well on my way to do exactly this. My only complaint: the authors published a CD-ROM for listening and speaking exercises. One problem: they made it for Mac only. Derned liberal Berkeleyites!


... Read more

Product Description
This volume contains a collection of articles reflecting the dynamic and lively state of Korean linguistics today. Areas represented include theoretical phonology and syntax, semantics, historical linguistics, discourse/pragmatics, and first language acquisition. The papers were chosen from those presented at the Eighth International Conference on Korean Linguistics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Extremely satisying grammar book
This book contains a wealth of information.The author describes working on this book for 40 years, and it seems clear that at least 40 man-years of work went into it.If you are linguistically inclined, this book makes terrific bedside reading. I have been enjoying reading this book, a few pages every night before I go to sleep.

It is refreshingly precise and wonderfully illustrated with examples.It has both breadth and depth-- covering Korean from the early days to the present through the full range of linguistic attributes of the language in both North and South Korea.The detective work on historical linguistics contained in this book is very interesting.

If you are anthropologically inclined, you can learn a lot about the Korean people both from their grammar and from the examples given.

A lot has been said about the romanization in this book, and I think those people are missing the point.The romanization system isn't any harder than any other, and there really isn't a standard way to romanize and be true to all the sounds of the language. Anyone who is dissatisfied with the romanization can take comfort in the fact that anything in Hangul can be easily transposed into the Yale system and vice-versa.It really isn't hard to get the hang of if you know any Korean and you have a reasonable amount of patience.

It's true that the book presupposes a certain amount of linguistic maturity, as well as overall maturity.I don't think this book could be used in a high school class, although I think it's not beyond the understanding of a bright and intelligent high school student. For anyone who is serious about the Korean language it is well worth the price.

For organization, clarity, precision, and scholarship, this book ranks up there with other landmark grammar books like this author's "Reference Grammar of Japanese" and Denniston's "the Greek Particles."

uncessarily confusing
The Hangul script has got to be one of the most logical and one of the easiest written languages to learn.I cannot believe any serious studentof the Korean language would not first invest the time needed to learn thewritten script.Thus I find a book on Korean grammar using Romanization ofKorean words to be uncessarily confusing.I have been eagerly searchingfor a thorough book on Korean grammar in English; this book however, was oflimited use.

An excellent refence work
Yes, this book uses romanization, but there are advantages to using such a system over the native alphabet in analyzing the language. If you're a casual Korean language learner, this book is not for you. If you're anadvanced student or Korean linguist, you'll appreciate this book a lot.

Difficult, of little practical value to most
I would like to stress the comments of the previous reviewer. This book should come with a warning label: uses a non-standard romanization system (why use a romanization system at all when writing for an audience this advanced?) that is HARD to pick up, and this book would only be of use toKorean Linguists and the very most advanced students. I think that thereare better Korean grammars for student purposes that are easier tounderstand, even when they are entirely in Korean.

An indispensible reference work
This book is a must have for any Korean linguist, as well as the serious student of the language. The Yale romanization system will take a lot getting used to for those who are not familiary with it, but the content ofthe book makes it well worth the effort. ... Read more

Product Description
Roadmap to Korean is the most complete and thorough introduction to the Korean language of its kind. A sweeping journey through thousands of years of history, the book is an essential study guide for students of the language, from novices just beginning their studies to the most advanced learner. Roadmap to Korean is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the country and its people on a more intimate level. By revealing fascinating insights through easy-to-follow examples and stories, the book is also a unique look into the more than 70 million people who speak the language around the world today. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Language guide good for all levels
There's a lot of resources out there for students of Korean. Some are written by Koreans for he benefit of foreigners. Most of said resources are laughably bad while few and far between are quite good. On the other hand, some are written by foreigners for the benefit of other foreigners. Most of said resources are either for learning slang or are simply MIA. An exceptional resource is Richard Harris's Roadmap to Korean. Interestingly enough, his previous effort (Faces of Korea) is also hard to find and also very valuable.

Don't let the textbook-like cover fool you because this is a resourceful heart-to-heart conversational with you and the author. Harris has compiled his personal notes, stories, charts, tips and tricks all into this neatly presented package. Imagine a super-awesome blog written on paper. It's a very light read and written casually; almost spoken-like. The author has lots of advice to give whether you've never studied the language before or have been for years. There's some history and culture as well as some grammar pitfalls and speaking taboos that are enough to learn from as well as laugh at. His perspective is golden and there's a lot to learn from his book, make no mistake.

I don't have much to say about this book that hasn't already been said. It's a great guide. The only thing I want to criticize is the author's plea to learn hanja. Although I also strongly encourage learning hanja because of its usefulness, he does little in terms of pointing one in the right direction of how to actually study hanja. A minor gripe for such a fabulous study guide. Yes, this book is enough to warrant me saying the word "fabulous".

I would also like to point out that this book is the book I should have written. If I ever had aspirations to publish a "Guide to Study Korean" book, this would have been it. Everything to the comical voice to the practical breakdown of a simple phrase such as "How are you?" Thanks a lot Harris for beating me to the punch and doing a better job than I probably would have done.

I wish I read this years ago.

Long, but invaluable, read for a non-Korean
I bought this book along with 3-4 others in order to start learning Korean on my own.Although it does have an extensive list of "useful phrases," conjugations, and vocab, it is NOT (in my view) a workbook or a step-by-step instructional guide to learning to read/write/speak Korean.I saw this more as a very successful attempt to explain the language/cultural pitfalls that a non-Korean can and will face, while also teaching the basics of Hanguel, grammar, culture (current and background), and conjugation.

Listed are two, of the many, "simple" things he pointed out in the book that my Korean friends never realized (because it was natural to them) until I asked them to verify, which they did, surprised that it never occurred to them.1) With time, hours are counted using Korean and minutes/seconds with Chinese Derivatives; 2) there are 23 ways to say "Do you know?" IN THE SECOND PERSON, IN THE PRESENT TENSE, depending on who you are speaking to.This, along with the countless examples of insightful personal experience, made it both humorous and extremely practical.

Although I have already read through it once, I am going through it a second time (now that I have a basic understanding of Korean) and continuing to learn and pick-up tips that I didn't understand the first time though.I foresee multiple readings through this book in the months/years to come.

Nice addition to your Korean studies...
First, I want to say that for me personaly, Korean is a hard language to learn.I am the type of person that needs to know the WHYs and not just the HOWs of learning something.This can very, very hard with languages sometimes...Think about it, as a native english speaker, do you know everything about the english language?Can you recite every rule of the english language, spell every word correctly, etc?NO.Neither can I, but I can speak english fluently...SO, when I ask my Korean friends for help, it is the same with them.They don't always understand WHY something is the way it is, they just know it has to be that way.The author of this book did the research for us and provided answers to many questions that I personally had.

This is where "ROADMAP to Korean" comes in.This book will not TEACH you Korean.What it will do is add the extra SPICE and answer many WHYs that you might be searching for.It will explain things that my Korean friends don't fully understand and it is all done from the perspective of a native english speaker who struggled to learn the language.

My close Korean friend is studying to be a teacher and she was really impressed with this book...If you are looking for a TEXT book, go somewhere else...if you are looking for a companion to your text book, BUY THIS BOOK!!!

Helpful for an absolute beginner
This book has a lot of good information that will probably be helpful in learning Korean, but if you are looking for in depth explanations of grammar systematically, this is not the book for you.I suggest you find a book used in a classroom.The author gives lots of insight into the culture and history of the language and points out a few of the barriers that he had to overcome, but all in all, this book did not help me actually work with the language.He explains the problems that you will have, but he does not actually introduce the grammatical conundrums that bring about those problems.If you have a grammar book to go along this one, that might be a winning couple, but I do want people to know the limitations of this book.It is not a systematic and comprehensive Korean Grammar.You'll have to find that somewhere else.

Roadmap to Korean
As a beginner in Korean, I was looking for something more than a dictionary, but with the understanding of an English
speaking person who has learned Korean. This is it! Richard Harris explains the joys and pitfalls of learning
Korean in an entertaining way. It's just shy of having a conversation with the author. Very enjoyable learning
experience! ... Read more

Product Description
Comprehensive Korean II includes 30 additional lessons (16 hrs.), plus Readings, which build upon the language skills acquired in Level I. Increased spoken and reading language ability.

Level II will double your vocabulary and grammatical structures while increasing your spoken proficiency exponentially. Upon completion of a Level II, you will be able to:

* engage in fuller conversations involving yourself, your family, daily activities, interests and personal preferences,

* combine known elements into increasingly longer sentences and strings of sentences,

* create with language and function in informal situations,

* deal with concrete topics in the past, present, and future,

* meet social demands and limited job requirements,

* begin reading for meaning.

Note: In order for the Pimsleur Method to work correctly, you must first complete the Level I language program before proceeding to the Level II language program. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Now I have the confidence to speak and communicate in Korean
I had been attempting to learn Korean for a while before I read about Pimsleur. I have now completed Pimsleur Korean Comprehensive I and II.

The courses are expensive, but very good value for money, they helped me in a way that no other course has. Pimsleur Korean engaged my interest, held my attention, and actually got me to SPEAK and LISTEN to Korean.

I have been astonished by the reception I have had with native speakers since using this course. When in a Korean restaurant I asked for the bill in Korean, and the waiter (a 2nd generation Korean) said in astonishment "your accent is better than mine!".

These courses have given me the confidence to speak Korean and try and communicate with Korean speakers that I simply did not have before.

I cannot recommend the Pimsleur Comprehensive Korean I and II courses highly enough; I would happily give them six stars out of five.

Very good product
Pimsleur's Korean II continues in the vein of their Korean I series of CD conversational lessons.The format enables the student to learn while driving, among other things, and permits as much repetition as necessary to get the vocabulary and pronunciation fairly correct, realizing that there are regional idioms in Korean as there are in other languages.Since this is Korean II, the conversations move appropriately faster and with greater complexity than they do in Korean I.This is all fine. The only real complaint I have about the series is that, at least in the lessons I've gone through so far, they employ a female speaker who talks as though she has something in her mouth.As a result, her pronunciation is not always clear, which hinders learning.All in all, however, it's a good series and worth the investment if one can not commit to a more thorough, structured approach. ... Read more

Product Description
A Korean Reader for Chinese Characters will help students of Korean master basic Chinese characters that are frequently encountered in everyday situations. More than five hundred characters are targeted in exercises that aid in the efficient study of the forms, meanings, and sounds of individual characters and their compounds. Although the primary goal of the Reader is recognition of basic Chinese characters, students are encouraged to learn to write them properly by inclusion of a section on stroke order.The Reader is also designed to reinforce skills in reading and writing in Korean while studying Chinese characters.

Forty lessons are preceded by an introductory chapter on the principles of Chinese character formation and reading and writing characters and followed by appendices on stroke order, English translations of the main reading text of each lesson, and an index of characters. The lessons are organized into seven parts: new characters, reading text, glossary, notes, new words in characters, more words in characters, and exercises. After every fifth lesson, there is a section reviewing all the characters introduced in the preceding five lessons. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Fun and effective
This was recommended to me by a professor of Korean Language, who suggested it for those students of Korean who speak well and are familiar with hangul, and are ready to try out Korean-Chinese characters. So far, very good! As the prof said, it is intended for use by English speaking students of Korean who wish to learn the 500 most commonly used Chinese characters in Korean literature. Introduces, forces repetative use, and is really rather quite fun!

crucial Hanja for intermediate learners
This is a book on learning Hanja - the Chinese characters used extensively in South Korea (ROK) - for those who already know intermediate-level Korean.

You will gain most from this book if you have done intermediate material such as Modern Korean: An Intermediate Reader, Intermediate College Korean, or the KLEAR books on the intermediate level: Integrated Korean: Intermediate 1: Text: Intermediate Level etc.

This book does not cover any new grammar beyond the intermediate level - it only teaches you Hanja.
The vocabulary is not new either, depending on your background study.

I used this book for two purposes: to learn the most important Hanja, and to improve my reading skills.
Because this book pretty much revises the things you learned in the basic and intermediate stages, using this book gives you a good opportunity to perfect your basic reading skills.
The book also gave me a really nice break before I went into more intense textbook studies again and allowed me to re-cap what I knew and still learn something new at the same time.

Each chapter starts with a text to read and is in mixed script, i.e. Hangul and Hanja.
This is followed by vocabulary lists but only of the Hanja words, not of the regular Hangul words, so I recommend that you have a dictionary at hand.
Next is a large number of exercises of various sorts for learning the Hanja: reading, writing etc.
These were very effective and not that difficult.
There is no romanization at all, by the way.

The text-topics are very varied, everything from politics and history to sports.
The appendix of the book shows you how to draw Chinese characters, and also has English translations of the texts.

There are 40 chapters in this book, and in the book they say it should take you 1-2 years to complete it depending on whether you use it by itself or together with another textbook.
I used the book by itself and it took me on average one week to complete a chapter, so you could complete it in 40 weeks or less.
Keep in mind that you are not really learning any new grammar or vocabulary, and so your time is concentrated on the Hanja alone, therefore the speed of your progression depends on how quickly you are able to memorize the Hanja. For the same reason you could use this book at the same time as you are studying an advanced-level textbook or advanced grammar book.

I really liked this textbook: the print is large, the explanations are clear and non-technical, the exercises effective, and there are usually drawings and photos in each chapter - which is always very nice and helps you connect the language you are learning with People!.

Korean Reader for Chinese Characters
Korean Reader for Chinese Characters (Klear Textbooks in Korean Language)

I feel this is an excellent book for studying Hanja. Not only does it include the radicals and show stroke order for each character, but chapters begin with reading selections that incorporate the Hanja vocabulary that is learned. Starting off with basics, and proceeding to more difficult characters and increasingly higher level text selections. Activities are included for memorizing meanings of each character, however you must provide your own space for repetitive practices of writing each character. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (1)

Full of Errors-Quality out the Window
If there were fewer stars than one to give, I would do so.As a teacher, I picked up this book thinking it would be a good extra-curricular conversational guide.It is filled with errors, errors of pronunciation, errors of translation, errors of grammar.To a student just learning the intricacies of the Korean language, this book would do more harm than good.Tuttle should pull this book from the shelves and fix it.Obviously, their rush for money overwhelmed their concern for quality.

In short, do not buy this book.The publishers should be embarrassed that it was released in its current state. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

You need to know 400 words BEFORE using this book!
Have you gone through a Korean language learning textbook series, by self-study or with a teacher in class, and have tried hard to acquire a minimum of ~1000 vocabulary items (e.g. with the intro text by Ross King 'Elementary Korean, 2nd Edition')? And of the 1000 vocabulary items you had learned, you even tend to forget half of them after just a few months, because memorizing Korean words are incredibly hard for Western-culture, non-Asian learners, so in the end you can really remember only 400 items and still struggle with the other 600 you've been forgetting? Then you are experiencing the same difficulties like me and I am from Europe and dont know any Hanja or Chinese. Good news, this old, very old book helped me to consolidate those remaining 600 items and to add another bunch of hard-looking words! Try to work with the book the following way:
Mark with a yellow coloured pencil the full line of those 400 entries which you really really(!) know, already, by heart. Then mark only the Korean word, i.e. not the full line, of those entries which sound very familiar to you (incl. all of the just mentioned remaining 600 items) AND are easy to deduct from the roots given. Thus, you will have fully/partially marked more than 1000 items. During this tedious marking task you will be automatically referred back to the lists which you have seen before. By the repeated or repetitive revising of the same lists, from time to time 'increasing in coloured-pencil marks', you will be gaining a true grasp of the meaning of the head root (the main handbook entry) and its sublisted compounds and just by re- and again re-reading the lists the words and their word formation will remain in your memory. And all of a sudden, trying to recognize and memorize a at first hard-looking vocabulary item becomes, at last, all logical, natural and almost fluent of a task. And for sure much easier than the brute-force attack method of memorizing single arbitrary vocabulary items you encounter in textbooks, during class, on the road with friends, or elsewhere. This book is old and looks old, not very attractive at first sight, I know. But I promise that it is indeed highly useful and almost invaluable. Caution, the book was printed and reprinted under different ISBN-10 numbers. Since 2007 a Korean publishing company has been selling a licensed 'camera-copy' of this title, with a different paperback cover, at bargain prices on the internet. However, the print/ink/copy quality is horrible, the Hanja characters are not sharp or clear anymore. Try to avoid buying the reprint versions and get the original book version from here Amazon! The original book version comes in top paper and print quality. Also, a good supplementary book to accompany this handbook is Paul DeGennaro's little book How to Master Korean Vocabulary. In fact, DeGennaro's work is fully based upon this handbook, as you can read from its preface!

Very useful book
I have been studying Korean on and off for about a year now and I have struggled with retaining vocabulary. This book has already immensely helped me understand the roots in Korean and has increased by Korean dramatically. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is seriously trying to learn Korean.

Excellent approach to learning Korean using the Chinese roots
This book takes a method of using Chinese root words as the basis for Korean vocabulary. It clearly demonstrates how to create the Korean "compound words" from Chinese characters and then shows how the words are related based on the roots. For certain types of learners like myself, this is an excellent approach to learning groups of related vocabulary. Thumbs Up!!

You Need This Book If You Want to Learn Korean
Some of the definitions are awkward (EX: "lucky freckle" for a word in Korean that means a birthmark with symbolic significance, "economization of time" instead of "time management"), but it's nothing you can't handle. Also would be nice if the definitions were contextualized, so you know if you're using the right word for what you want to say. A word index would make this book almost perfect, so you could use it as a dictionary and not just as a textbook. Very comprehensive. Will speed up your acquistion of vocabulary by 10 or even 20 times, and memorizing vocab is about 80% of picking up a new language, so don't give yourself a hard time by not getting this book.

A good handbook for beginner-intermediate level
The beauty of this handbook is it's written in both Hangul and English.A good handy book for improving one's vocabularies and phrases.
It is not a replacement for a Korean-English dictionary and NOT for ABSOLUTE beginners! ... Read more

Product Description
This is a valuable pocket-size dictionary containing 12,000 useful and essential entries and special *Hangul-in-a-hurry* charts. Each word includes key situational tips. There s also a Romanized table of the Korean alphabet specifically designed for easy access by English speakers. This softcover volume is sturdy, compact and easy to carry, yet its contents are comprehensive. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Standard English-Korean Dictionary for Foreigners: Romanized
The book is a convenient size to carry around and contains 12,000 words so you can find much of what you are looking to say.The front and back inside covers also have quick guides to the Hangul alphabet, which is very helpful.Be aware that this book only translates from English to Korean.If you want the Korean to English translations you have to buy that edition of the book.I'm not sorry I bought it and will probably get the Korean to English version also.

Good...
It's a good dictionary, but I wish it was also Korean-English.Also, you wouldn't know it, but the book is the size of your hand.So, it's almost like a pocket dictionary.

Very useful
I bought this as a gift for my little sister for her birthday. She was very excited and happy. Her rating on this scale she says she gives it a 5, jokingly, she says if it was one to ten, she would give it a 20. I schemed through it and its actually very useful. She has been using it while watching her korean movies and she understands it clearly now. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Somewhat Misleading Title
If you are looking to learn the written Korean language, this might be just the book for you.If you are looking for a pronunciation guide, i.e., in conjunction with an audio language program and needing a back-up for poorly enunciated words, this is not for you.Also, do not let your 30 day return limit slip past you.

Good Investment
I never learned another language, but I'm nuts about Korean culture in general and movies in particular. What I like about this book is that it takes pronunciation right down to the finest detail it seems.With diagrams and explanations of how the sounds are formed by the tongue, jaw, lips, voice box, etc.. and a very understandable CD with examples of how things should sound, it should insure that the correct pronunciation is learned.The book also touches on how the Korean language is spoken in everyday usage, that is, in the same way we often run words together and drop beginnings, endings, entire syllables in everyday conversation in English.I suppose one could just imitate phrases of chit chat and sound reasonably fluent without truly understanding the language, but if you are a person who likes to do things in a thorough manner, I would say that a book and CD like this are indispensable.

Very Detailed!!!
Although almost half of the book was practice accompanied with the cd, It still made the most of what of the few pages it had. It is very detailed and its not romanized examples and practices are good for me. It brings up previous topics as a reminder when the current topic is related to it, which helps me understand and not get confused and have to go back and see what I have forgotten. Anyways, It is a very detailed and informative book that will ensure that you understand every chapter, every page, and every sentence. One of the best books on foreign language I have ever read. Take my word for it, I have read to entire book in 4 days. Thats how easy it is to comprehend, but I didn't sell it yet, I'm still working my brain muscels with all that practice with aswers at the back. So, I peaked :)

The Sounds of Korean; Choo and O'Grady
This is a well written and detailed summation of the main elements of Korean pronunciation.It is designed for students learning Korean; and it deals in simple, clear language (despite technical terms) with the pronunciation issues and problems the English-speaking learner of Korean will meet.I would have liked a chapter on the pronunciation problems Korean learners of English have. ... Read more

Product Description
This pocket-size phrase book, as a quick and easy reference, will help you communicate in everyday Korean life. The handy guide to practical phrases and conversation covers such everyday situations as greetings, leave-takings, expressions of appreciation, shopping, dates, numbers. Useful notes and intersting travel tips help you cope with real life situations and enjoy traveling throughout Korea. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Fantastic books from HollyM
Holly M provides english-language books on Korea, its history, culture and language.As far as I know they publish only about Korea.While I lived in Korea for almost a decade I regularly used their books to learn the language - including this phrase book.

Anytime I saw a book with Holly M as the publisher I knew it would be useful, interesting and top quality!Eventually I specifically looked for them.

Without a doubt this book is better than Lonely Planet's phrase book.

Korean Phrase Book For Travelers by B.J. Jones
This book will help you to survive in Korea. ... Read more

Product Description
This textbook is the eighth volume in a five-level series (Beginning 1 and 2, Intermediate 1 and 2, Advanced Intermediate 1 and 2, Advanced 1 and 2, and High Advanced 1 and 2) developed collaboratively by leading classroom teachers and linguists of Korean. All series' volumes have been developed in accordance with performance-based principles and methodology--contextualization, learner-centeredness, use of authentic materials, function/task-orientedness, balance between skill getting and skill using, and integration of speaking, listening, reading, writing, and culture. Grammar points are systematically introduced with simple but adequate explanations and abundant examples, exercises, and drills.

Each lesson of this volume consists of pre-reading activities, one or two main reading texts, new words, useful expressions, exercises, comprehension questions, related reading, discussion and composition, and English translation of the reading texts.

Integrated Korean is a project of the Korean Language Education and Research Center (KLEAR) with the support of the Korea Foundation. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Good Study
The book is good overall but the layout with the english in the back is cumbersome. ... Read more

Product Description
Over 63 million people speak Korean worldwide, and the Korean Peninsula has become one of the globe's most important business and financial centers.This guide, with its bilingual dictionary and practical-minded phrasebook, is an essential tool for students, travelers, and businesspeople.

• More than 5,000 total dictionary entries
• Korean words presented in Hangul script
• Romanized pronunciation included
• Comprehensive phrasebook
• Easy-to-use pronunciation guide
• Special section devoted to Korean grammar
... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Basic Book To Learn Korean
This book isn't really good for people who are really interested in the Korean language, mainly for foreign travelers. I find the hangul alphabet section to basic, not in depth enough to learn. There's a lot of traveling phrases, so this book is basically the best for travelers.

Korean Dictionary
TRULY AWESOME! everything that i would need to know is in it AND it teaches me how to speak korean! <3

Mostly basic
I bought this book because of the hangul to english section. That was very important especially knowing the alaphabet. But further view of it, I realized that the vocabulary used was very basic. Half of the book is a tourist's guide to speaking phrases. If you're looking for a dictionary purely to find the korean translation of an english word, I wouldn't reccomend this one. I'm returning it. ... Read more

Product Description
Readings in Modern Korean Literature provides advanced students (those with at least four years of college-level training in Korean) with materials that will help them understand and appreciate modern Korean literary traditions as well as challenge them to use their Korean-language competence to the fullest extent. It offers the student a wide range of literary writing, including three different genres of poetry, short stories, and essays. Each piece is accompanied by a vocabulary glossary and notes, explanations of socio-cultural details, an introduction to the author, and a translation. The textbook is distinguished by a variety of exercises designed to enhance students' proficiency in referential reading, writing, and comprehension skills.

Readings in Modern Korean Literature fills a serious gap in learner-oriented comprehensive texts for students of Korean literature and culture. It will give them the opportunity to explore the most salient themes, forms, and techniques that inform Korean literary texts and give them a sense of the flow of modern Korean literature. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

advanced reader with glossary and excercises
This is a very large volume for those who have advanced skills in Korean, it comes with glossary and exercises.

Since this book is part of the Klear Korean-textbook-series, the obvious pre-requisite for this book is the Klear 'integrated'-series at the advanced level. Personally I used this book Selected Readings in Korean (Klear Textbooks in a Foreign Language), it explained grammar at the advanced stage and was fine as pre-requisite.

This reader textbook is very large and took me about a year to get through. But speed is really unimportant at this stage.
It covers readings from 1920 to the 1990s and includes poems, essays, and short stories. After each text is a glossary of the words and some comprehension questions and similar exercises. At the end of each chapter you get the translated version of the text. The text also contains Hanja-words, but they are optional and are included in parenthesis only.

The editors have tried to make this reader as interesting as possible by choosing very different sorts of stories and topics and I really enjoyed reading through it, you learn a lot about Korean culture and history.

The book is graded in that you get longer and longer texts to read the further you go, and more and more vocabulary of course. It starts out with shorter articles and poems, but the last chapter is 16 pages long with a vocabulary list of 16 pages. The topics deal with just about everything: some are autobiographic, some are about Korean history, some are love & nature poems etc.

I think this books achieves what it sets out to do: introduce the advanced learner to Korean literature. The book is a good transitional medium and gives you confidence to find books on your own, and books more in line with your personal interests (novels, popular science, poems etc).
If this is what you are after then I don't think you will get disappointing, but be prepared that this is a large volume and will take time to work with.

... Read more

Product Description
The issue of how interpretation results from the form and type of syntactic structures present in language is one which is central and hotly debated in both theoretical and descriptive linguistics. This volume brings together a series of eleven new cutting edge essays by leading experts in East Asian languages which shows how the study of formal structures and functional morphemes in Chinese, Japanese and Korean adds much to our general understanding of the close connections between form and interpretation. This specially commissioned collection will be of interest to linguists of all backgrounds working in the general area of syntax and language change, as well as those with a special interest in Chinese, Japanese and Korean. ... Read more

Product Description
Korean Slang invective and euphemism - An irreverent look at Language within Culture

Learn what the kids are really saying; all the Korean they will never teach you in class. The insider's guide to Korean slang. Korean is rich with the dynamic linguistic expressions and freshly coined language. A Rat's Tail dives into the intricacies of modern Korean slang introducing the hip, hot, spicy and sexual, the irreverent and inspiring, the cultural, crass and comical.

This is the Korean not covered in the language books, full of color and infused with philosophy. With A Rat's Tail in hand, you can impress others with your verbal acumen as you complement their fashion sense, dish out dirty words, or text up a storm, as you gain insight into the mind and culture of the Korean people.

Get 'street' with A Rat's Tail Get the lingo on:

• expressions so necessary they're like rice
• a little something on the side
• stuff to say (and do) while drinking
• spicy language and swearing
li>something sexy to say
• Konglish and what they say in the halls, not the classroom!

Customer Reviews (4)

Things you'll never learn in Rosetta Stone ...
This book is simply a godsend for those learning Korean slang.I have been studying Korean on my own and have been learning random slang words from my time chatting online.Although I have ownedMaking Out in Korean: Revised Edition (Making Out Books) for awhile, it doesn't really give any useful examples of how to use the words.It's just straight word and definition.However, this book gives real conversations in Korean that include the slang word that it's trying explain and also includes English translations.What's also intuitive about this book is that it includes some cultural explanations to some words as well as onomatopoeias that Koreans love to use!Try out this book!You'll definitely impress your Korean friends.As usual, there are some words in here that should never be used with people you don't know.However, that's just common sense stuff.Enjoy!

A Rat's Review
Forget the textbooks!This is what the kids are REALLY saying on the streets.

This is a well thought out, well laid out, and well organised text.Not only do you get the vocabulary, each page gives you a true-to-life dialogue along with the background and origin of each slang term.

Full credit to the authors.

Use some of these gems with your Korean friends and you're sure to raise more than a few eyebrows ;)

AMAZING!
This book presents an amazing grasp of the Korean language and culture.It was a very easy read, with lots of information and useful phrases - both to use and NOT to use!I have enjoyed surprising my Korean friends with some of the phrases, but more than that, it gives great insight into the Korean world.

The real deal
I've got a copy of the Korean edition which is fantastic. I'm an English language instructor at a Korean university in Seoul. I've used this book as a conversation starter in my classes and the Korean students are amused, shocked & amazed. I've often heard exclaimed, "Teacher, you shouldn't learn these bad words!" Well, red rag to a bull...Anyway, this is the most practical Korean you'll find in any book about the Korean language. Bust these lines on your new Korean friends and watch their jaws drop at your masterful and deep understanding of their language...

Beautiful layout & good organisation, easily accessible information, all the lists you need with all the words you need to know, example phrase usage in sample dialogues (in Korean and in English using the Korean phrase). unlike any other Korean slang books, there are explanations of everything so you can know that you're using the material right!

Very cool guys. Thanks for making this book! I keep it with me at all times now :) ... Read more

Product Description
Korean language students must give priority to the spoken langauge.For the great majority of students learning Korean, the study of Chinese characters cannot keep pace with progress in the spoken language.Therefore, it is a great temptation to ignore them.But neglecting the study of Chinese characters will seriously limit one's progress in language study, because more than seventy percent of Korean words are derived from Chinese characters.In order to really master the Korean language, spoken as well as written, the study of Chinese characters is absolutely necessary.This is the standard textbook used by most universities in the United States.It is directly related to Speaking Korean Books I and II. Therefore, it is highly recommended to begin this book after studying the introductory course in Speaking Korean Book I.Most of the sentences in Speaking Korean are repeated in this book for easier learning. ... Read more