Customer Reviews

Elementary Korean Second Edition

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Elementary Korean is simple and has a very easy and honest approach to learning korean.

Although I am using it by myself (without the support system of classes and a teacher)I have found that it is increasingly easy to read and speak the language.

It has a lot of exercises (with the answers included) and also a great audio cd so you can pick up the correct wording.

I recomend it to anyone how wants to learn korean, by yourself (as I do) or as a support book for classes.

Went through many korean textbooks, and this is one of the better and more comprehensive ones. Though all elementary books generally have the same material, this book is formatted/organized well and easy to read through quickly.

The second/intermediate book should be bought together with this if you are serious about learning korean.

The information presented in Elementary Korean is essentially the backbone of my present Korean ability. In each lesson, aspects of Korean grammar are nicely layered on to what you have already learned in the previous lessons. Plus, this book forces you to learn Hangul because romanization is not given after the fourth lesson. This makes it a good resource for those intimidated by the Korean writing system.

This book is an authentic textbook (like something one would certainly use in an university Korean language course), but it is well-equipped for the self-learner as well. The vocabulary presented in this text is clear and relevant; however, you won't realize this until the sixth lesson (Lesson 5 introduces some odd vocabulary like "imported goods"). Also, the grammar notes are just detailed enough so that one can grasp the information without much external help.

The dialogues presented at the beginning of each lesson are informative and sometimes amusing. And, usually, there are additional sentences for reading after the dialogues. The book provides many examples for each of the Korean grammar concepts it teaches, so you will learn exactly how to use them. It should also be noted that this book mainly deals with the polite style of Korean speech, but it introduces the other styles as well.

The audio CD contains native speakers acting out the dialogues and reading the example sentences used in each lesson. Unfortunately, only the vocabulary from Lesson 5 is read on the CD. Personally, I find that the readers speak too quickly, but this can be easily remedied by slowing down the audio with Windows Media Player or something similar.

The end-of-lesson exercises are highly pertinent to the material presented in the text, and the answers for every exercise is presented in the back of the book. I have noticed, however, that a few of the answers are incorrect. Ultimately, I suggest buying Elementary Korean Workbook along with this text. The lessons are thoroughly expounded in the workbook, and you get additional listening practice as well.

On a final note, there is an index and glossary in the back. The Hanja for certain terms are displayed in the glossary, but this feature is not that useful for beginners with no background in Chinese characters.

I thoroughly recommend this textbook for any newcomer to the Korean language.

I love this book so much. It came with the CD as promised and its very simple. With a little more time after my semester finishes, I'll definitely be able to practice more. The best part about this book is that any question that appears in the book has an answer in the back. That's a huge plus for someone who is learning on their own with the help of [...] for more pronunciation.

I started studying Korean with this book for TOPIK exams. It's nice for self-study, contains lots of information and exercises with answers too. However, the material at times appears to be too dense and requires supplementary explanatory material. Good for use in conjunction with any good Korean online lessons.

Although I have yet to use this book very much, I have looked it over and used a few lessons. The content is laid out very well, in my opinion. In the very beginning, basic expressions are taught with the hangul and romanisation, then you are taught the hangul. After that, which in my opinion is very important and was a very good decision, the text only uses hangul. The grammar and pronunciation of Korean is put in understandable terms which I feel anybody could learn from easily. Many dialogues and readings are provided, as well as extensive vocabulary lists. I feel this book is a very useful book for students of Korean, or people wanting to learn Korean on their own, like me.

Elementary Korean is helping me alot in my Korean Language studies. The CD that comes with it also makes a huge difference when it comes to pronounciation (though the dialogues go a bit fast). Overall I think this book is definitely a great introduction to learning the Korean Language.

I love this book so much. It came with the CD as promised and its very simple. With a little more time after my semester finishes, I'll definitely be able to practice more. The best part about this book is that any question that appears in the book has an answer in the back. That's a huge plus for someone who is learning on their own with the help of [...] for more pronunciation.

Firstly, only chapters 1, 2, and 5 have vocabulary. The rest of the audio disc comprises all of the conversations and parts of exercises. Also, the vocabulary words don't have any English. In other words, they don't say "English (pause) Yong-oh" but instead just say the Korean. This might not be a problem for some people, but if I'm trying to learn straight vocabulary and can't look at the book or my notes, it's very convenient to have this.

Secondly, there are a lot of errors in the book. Sometimes they just say the wrong word or have a typo. However, for a second edition, I would have expected that this was cleared up.

Item came promptly, and was in new condition; but I did not use it much because it failed to keep my interest, and I found other "learning Korean books" more helpful and interesting.