Fast and Easy Korean (Living Language) [Audiobook] [Audio Cassette]

Living Language (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0609603442 | ISBN-13: 978-0609603444 | Publication Date: September 29, 1998

300 essential words and phrases on cassette

Audioscript with pronunciation guide

Fast        
If you've always wanted to learn Korean or need to learn it in a hurry, here is a quick, stress-free introduction to the basics. This 60-minute audio course features more than 300 essential Korean words and phrases.
        
Easy        
A narrator guides you through the program, providing brief explanations of the foreign phrases. All you have to do is listen and repeat after the native speakers.
        
Effective        
Brief quizzes in this interactive course help you think in Korean. Lessons include short dialogues so you can hear Korean spoken naturally. Learn both pronunciation and comprehension skills. To help with memorization, each phrase is spoken twice, with ample pauses for repetition.
        
Portable        
A transcript with pronunciation guide is included, but the cassette may be used alone. It's easy to learn on the go: in a car, on a plane, even while walking or jogging.

Contents
Greetings                Shopping
Polite Expressions        The Post Office
Directions                The Airport
At the Hotel                The Train Station
At the Restaurant        The Telephone
Numbers                Questions
Telling Time                Days and Months

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

300 essential words and phrases on cassette

Audioscript with pronunciation guide

Fast        
If you've always wanted to learn Korean or need to learn it in a hurry, here is a quick, stress-free introduction to the basics. This 60-minute audio course features more than 300 essential Korean words and phrases.
        
Easy        
A narrator guides you through the program, providing brief explanations of the foreign phrases. All you have to do is listen and repeat after the native speakers.
        
Effective        
Brief quizzes in this interactive course help you think in Korean. Lessons include short dialogues so you can hear Korean spoken naturally. Learn both pronunciation and comprehension skills. To help with memorization, each phrase is spoken twice, with ample pauses for repetition.
        
Portable        
A transcript with pronunciation guide is included, but the cassette may be used alone. It's easy to learn on the go: in a car, on a plane, even while walking or jogging.

Contents
Greetings                Shopping
Polite Expressions        The Post Office
Directions                The Airport
At the Hotel                The Train Station
At the Restaurant        The Telephone
Numbers                Questions
Telling Time                Days and Months

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Living Language (September 29, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0609603442
• ISBN-13: 978-0609603444
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 4.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,998,932 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #18 in Books > Books on Cassette > Languages > Korean
  • #22 in Books > Books on Cassette > Languages > Portuguese

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good at teaching, but doesn't teach you the right words., April 25, 1999

By 

Jon Olson ([e-mail]) (Detroit, MI, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fast and Easy Korean (Living Language) (Audio Cassette)

This is good at teaching you the words, but it doesn't teach you the right words. If you want to know how to say, "Up the corner to the right.", cool, but you're going to need more than that. This only teaches you 300 words or phrases. If you are going to learn Korean, you need to start with the basics. This teaches you some useful phrases, but most of it is useless. Unless you are going there on a 2 day buisness trip.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A good start, but not substantial, January 19, 2000

By 

Minerva Rheault - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fast and Easy Korean (Living Language) (Audio Cassette)

If you need a quick crash course in tourister Korean, this tape is a good start. The narrator gives you brief English-Korean quizzes, and you practice listening to short Korean conversations. However, the transcription is romanized, not actual hangul. This is ok if you only want a basic introduction, but it will essentially render you illiterate in Korea. If you are at all serious about learning Korean, find a tape that has actual hangul script. It is more difficult to read at first, but the alphabet is completely phonetic and quickly mastered. This course is a good beginning, but not complete.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A low cost, easy entry into the language, March 1, 2007

By 

Charlotte A. Hu (San Antonio, TX, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fast and Easy Korean (Living Language) (Audio Cassette)

I love the Living Language series because it doesn't cost much and gives a great basic introduction. I've listened to Living Language sets for Japanese, Arabic and Spanish. After learning that I would be sent for two years to Korea with only a couple of weeks to prepare. I listened to the Living Language tapes on the treadmill and during lunchbreaks. It was a great start. By the time I arrived in Seoul, I was repeating from rote whole phrases to my Korean professors.

Of course, for less than 10 bucks, it will not make you fluent in Korean. It is, however, a great introduction. From there, you can get much more value out of language classes or move onto a more pricy, extensive CD or CD ROM program.

Yes, it's true that the series doesn't explain much. For example, the phrase on the tape for "How old are you?" is extremely formal and typically used only with people who are over 50 years old, if you are below 40 years old. This created a lot of laughs when I used this very formal sentence to ask a 10-year-old child how old she was.

Korean, like other Asian languages and similar to the "Tu" and "Usted" distinctions in Spanish, Portuguese, French or Italian has formal and informal structures. This basic introduction to the language does not delve deeply into cultural understanding or accurate usage and as a result, the speaker will have to accept some comedy for speaking a bit oddly. Nonetheless, everyone understood what I was asking.

For pure functionality, this set is great.