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37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Crash Landing, June 26, 2001
This review is from: In-Flight Korean: Learn Before You Land (Audio CD)
The blurb on the back of the package claims that if you work on this programme during your flight, you will learn enough of the language to get by. Unless your flight will be equal in length to a flight to Mars, you will certainly not be able to absorb enough of this 60-minute course to even nearly get by. This is a CD "update" to Fast & Easy Korean (also by Living Language). In Flight Korean boasts over 400 essential words & phrases (a 100 word increase from Fast & Easy). Less is sometimes better. Each phrase on In-Flight is only spoken once (rather than twice as on the Fast & Easy series), not enough if you want to gauge your progress. The native speakers sometimes mumble and speak WAY too fast. While there are people in everyday life that mumble, you certainly don't want to learn a language from them do you? It comes with a "boarding pass"(booklet with the entire script, but no Korean script, very bad when you end up needing help from a native speaker). If you are already familiar with the language, the In-Flight series might actually get you up to speed in between the in-flight movie & the meal (soda pop & peanuts). If you are trying to learn Korean, try Pimsleur's Korean Compact (expensive but effective). Pimsleur Korean has 10 lessons, and will get you SPEAKING (the course is audio only) in 10 days. If you are short on time and need a "survival" course, get Language/30 Korean (by Educational Services Corp). Language/30 comes with 2 tapes and a booklet (has Romanised script as well as Hang-gul, in case you need help from a native speaker). There aren't very many good resources for Korean Language learning around, In-Flight Korean proves the point. Great marketing, shoddy product.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Only useful for those who've had a year of Korean, January 8, 2009
This review is from: In-Flight Korean: Learn Before You Land (Audio CD)
I listened to the audio book version downloaded from my local public library website.
The product offers a selection of useful phrases, grouped by category - at the airport, at a restaurant, etc. Phrases are usually said once in English, once in Korean. (In the Numbers chapter everything is said twice.) The Korean speaker is female, so male students looking to imitate a native male voice will be disappointed. Some phrases are said too quickly, but listeners with media players such as OverDrive Media Console can slow down the playback speed.
At a minimum, listeners need good rote memorization skills, the patience to listen to the recording multiple times and a preference for auditory-only learning styles in order to use this product. Beyond that, only those who've studied Korean for one year at university AND who want a quick review before getting on the plane to Korea for the first time will benefit from listening to it. This is because typical first-year Korean courses don't usually include such information as "Help!", "Stop, thief!", or "Please call an ambulance."
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Useless Useless Useless, August 9, 2008
This review is from: In-Flight Korean: Learn Before You Land (Audio CD)
I knew no Korean, but was going to travel there, so I borrowed this item from the library (fortunately I didn't waste my money to buy it!) to try to learn a bit of Korean. I didn't learn a thing.
The lesson goes way to fast for a beginner. They jump right in with full sentences spoken at near-full speed. There is little effort made to build on previous vocabulary, no grammar, no breaking down sentences into pieces, no review, just one sentence of random (to me) sounds after another.
I can't believe anyone can learn a language with this CD. Maybe, just maybe, if one listens to it 25-50 times, but there has got to be faster ways.
The phrases themselves are OK, not great. They cover the basics, but some are a bit suspect. "I'd like to buy a roll of film" can probably go.
This might be useful to someone with 1-2 semesters of Korean, to learn some good phrases. But everyone else, avoid.
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