Difficult to learn Korean

Hi Betty!

A year is very short indeed - but you could definetely get to the level of having a basic conversation.

For an introduction to only speaking Korean, I recommend the following:
Making Out in Korean, by Peter Constantine, 1995 Yenbooks (slightly racy terms included, but very fun, trendy and colloquial).
Korean in Plain English, by Boye De Mente, Passport Books, 1988.
Korean in a Hurry, by Samuel E.Martin, Charles E. Tuttle Company
A formal and more comprehensive guide to learn to speak, write and read, I recommend:
Mastering Korean, by B.Nam Park, with cassettes, Barron's, 1988, this is the Foreign Service Institute guide developed by the U.S.Government, and it is effective though dull (no pictures or illustrations).
Also highly recommended are:
Colloquial Korean; A Complete Language Course, with cassettes, by A.I. Kim, 1997.
Korean: Instant Vocabulary, Vocabulearn, Levels I and II, 1986.
Pimsleur Language Program by Sung-Hyun Kirk Kim, 1998. Only 10 lessons are available so far, but eventually the full 30-lesson package would be most beneficial.
If you can read Japanese, there is an excellent book with cassettes to teach vocabulary and writing for beginners: Kankokugo Kihontango purasu 2000, by Kim Dong Hahn, Goken Publishers.
In buying a dictionary, you have to decide if you want to get one that uses one of the romanization systems listed above, which are confusing and incompatible with each other. I strongly recommend instead that you learn the script and get a good Hangul (script) dictionary, which may have pronunciation guides, but does not rely on a romanization system.

Brian 19 May 2007, 04:52 - Report