Korean for Beginners: Mastering Conversational Korean: Mastering Conversational Korean (Includes Free Online Audio)

This is not a textbook in the traditional sense of the word. If I were to propose a title for this book it would be "A Guided Tour of the Korean Language". It shows a very large part of the language in varying detail. For example it introduces, with examples, four levels of politeness in the verb (out of six or seven) and then for the rest of the book concentrates on one, honorific 1, the same level used in "annyeong haseyo". So you learn one level well, but at the same time know there is lots more, so you won't feel ambushed when you meet them later on in your studies. It briefly describes some 20 to 30 particles, but uses only a few; etc. The book does not cut corners or dumb things down; for one thing it gives the reader a solid basis in hangeul, the Korean alphabet; for another it covers most of the irregualr verbs. In line with the book's "guided tour" nature there are no exercises. There is, however, a CD, with a lady with a lovely voice, who pronounces almost all the Korean text in the book. (Why "almost", why stop there?) It teaches the reader about 500 words, which is not enough for a meaningful conversation, but is a very good start. I found it an excellent, easily accessible and certainly affordable pre-read for the Korean course I am going to start taking this autumn.

This is awesome! I also own the Japanese Tuttle book, and this Korean one is superior by far. There is hangul as well as romaji so if you want to test yourself you can! I like how they've organised the book; it's well structured and easy to learn from!

Concise but useful. Encompasses all the foundational knowledge I need. Super useful for getting a grip of the rules of pronunciation.

If it weren't for this book, I'd probably have stopped learning Korean a very long time ago. This book is for absolute beginners to Korean and teaches the very essentials, it is very laid back and not overly serious unlike some other books for studying Korean I have. I bought this as my first book for studying Korean, and I couldn't have made a better choice. It teaches verb conjugation, the Korean alphabet, a decent amount of vocabulary and even some little anecdotes from the author to add a slight personal touch to it. After reading this book I was able to have basic conversations with Koreans and understand some of what they were saying. For absolute beginners to the Korean language, this book is a must have. Right alongside the Billy Go books.

Pretty good book so far. I had been learning Korean in bits and pieces and so when i got this book, I just decided to start from scratch which helped a lot. This book addresses a lot of things I never quite understood and clarifies a lot of misunderstandings. I recommend this is you are just starting off learning Korean, it will give you really great foundation.

A great book. Would recommend to all who want to learn Korean from scratch. The book is well laid out and simple to follow. Rules are explained well and sympathetic to the fact you’re a beginner.

I've bought several language books before which were pretty thin and didn't cover much. This one, however, is pretty thick and full of information! Very happy with my purchase and I can't wait to start learning :)

Daughter happy to be learning a new language

J'ai acquis ce livre en Juin 2012, j'étais débutant en Coréen mais un an plus tard je suis à un niveau bien plus que raisonnable. J'ai lu ce livre dans son intégralité 4 fois (on ne pourra pas dire que je l'ai survolé): - 1ère fois, tout parait fun et intéressant, mais je n'ai quasiment rien retenu de très utile (débutant total) - 2ème fois, je comprends mieux et je retiens mieux le vocabulaire (débutant persévérant) - 3ème fois, je crois tout comprendre et je retiens tout (débutant commençant à apprendre sérieusement) - 4ème fois, je comprends tout et je savais tout des notions de vocabulaire et grammaire... mais uniquement grâce à une autre collection de livres que j'étudiais en parallèle! En effet, le manque de méthode de ce livre le rend très peu efficace. On apprend parfois sans comprendre avec seulement une poignée d'exemples pour illustrer les notions de cours, c'est très maigre. Le manque de rigueur sera très frustrant pour ceux qui veulent réellement comprendre des notions de langue, de plus le manque de texte en hangeul vous fera plus lire de l'anglais plutôt que de travailler le coréen. Il y a également le problème de la romanisation omniprésente qui vous ne encouragera pas à perfectionner votre lecture du hangeul. Au final l'atmosphère fun lui donne un air sympathique, mais il n'en reste pas moins un mauvais livre d'apprentissage. Tout n'est pas à jeter, car les leçons sont relativement pertinentes (même si elles sont trop courtes), les traductions très bonnes, mais manquent totalement d'efficacité sur un débutant (on se demandera alors à qui ce livre est destiné). Je recommande vivement n'importe quelle autre collection de livre d'apprentissage sérieux, en particulier les collections découpées en plusieurs niveaux (ex: débutant, intermédiaire, confirmé...), qui seront bien plus efficaces que celui-ci. Vous aurez cependant peut-être un peu de mal à visualiser toute la variété disponible sur Internet, si vous avez la chance d'aller en Corée, sachez que les grandes librairies sont très fournies dans ce type d'ouvrage. Le problème majeur de ce livre étant qu'il joue principalement sur la "mémorisation" (c'est à dire: enseigner, puis espérer de retenir la notion) alors que les livres de méthodes de langue jouent sur la "compréhension" (c'est à dire: comprendre pourquoi et comment utiliser la notion). Retenir une expression importante sera toujours utile, mais s'exprimer convenablement avec plus de 2 phrases apprises par coeur est définitivement "plus malin"! Je ne peux définitivement pas recommander ce livre à quiconque qui souhaite apprendre sérieusement le coréen.

I love the book exactly what I wanted

O livro é bem completinho, com as páginas de um papel bom para escrever e fazer anotações. Tem cd e material extra para download. Fiz bastantes pesquisas antes de escolher um livro para estudar o idioma e esse foi o que mais se encaixou nas minhas expectativas!

Para empezar a aprender es muy bueno!! trae desde los más esencial hasta temas más complicados, es mejor si lo complementas con algún otro libro de ejercicios, lo positivo es que vas aprendiendo a tu propio ritmo, lo recomiendo para los que estan interesados en el idioma.

I purchased the paperback edition from a local bookstore more than 4 years ago, but never progressed beyond using it to practice writing the hanguel characters. I did this off and on over the years. I liked that the (한글) characters were presented clearly with the proper stroke orders and directions. In the last few months, my interest in learning Korean has picked up. I went back and started reading the book all over again from scratch, progressing from chapter to chapter. I just finished a quick once-through the book, but am now going back and am studying for detail and retention. I intend to take copious notes at a mostly private website I recently started - to help me learn and organize what I learn. This will help me review and retain. I like the book's consistent use of romanization and its clear presentation of pronunciation "rules" (which I prefer to think of as "guidelines"). There is a lot of grammar that I glossed over the first time, which I plan to make more time for the second time around. For me, it is an excellent beginning textbook - it lays a great foundation. I will build upon what I learn from it, adding a little hanja along the way. (I have since purchased the Kindle edition from Amazon, but mostly use the paperback.)