A Guide To Korean Characters: Reading and Writing Hangul and Hanja (A Mini Dictionary of Characters for Modern Readers) [Hardcover]

Bruce K. Grant (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 1979 | ISBN-10: 0930878132 | ISBN-13: 978-0930878139

For the first time in English, a practical 367 page handbook with all you need to read and write the written language of 60,000,000 Korean people including hangul, the Korean alphabet, and 1,800 Chinese characters taught in Korean schools.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 367 pages
• Publisher: Hollym International Corp. (February 1, 1979)
• Language: Korean, English
• ISBN-10: 0930878132
• ISBN-13: 978-0930878139
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #65,088 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #9 in Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > Instruction > Korean
  • #10 in Books > Education & Reference > Dictionaries & Thesauruses > Foreign Language > Korean
  • #10 in Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > Korean

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Hanja Reference, July 28, 2001

By 

Brian Denslow (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Guide To Korean Characters: Reading and Writing Hangul and Hanja (A Mini Dictionary of Characters for Modern Readers) (Hardcover)

This book was given to me while I was studying Korean at the Defense Language Institute. The format of the book is pretty straight forward: count the number of strokes in the character and start searching. Although its obvious that "hanja" plays a diminishing role in "survival korean", it can provide useful insight into meanings of more complex words. Be sure you've learned "hangul" before you consider adding this book to your library. With a bit of study, you'll find that you'll be able to learn more "hanja" than the average Korean knows. I know I have.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Two Languages in One, July 17, 2001

By 

A Customer - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Guide To Korean Characters: Reading and Writing Hangul and Hanja (A Mini Dictionary of Characters for Modern Readers) (Hardcover)

Along with my Korean-English dictionaries, grammar guides, and textbooks, GUIDE TO KOREAN CHARACTERS: READING AND WRITING HANGUL AND HANJA, is my ticket to the cosmopolitan side of Korean life. The Korean language uses two alphabets, hangul and hanja. Hangul was invented by a group of Confucian scholars commissioned by King Sejong in the 15th Century. However, even today, most of the Korean found in newspapers, books, and on television is of Chinese origin. Like the Japanese, Koreans use Chinese characters, but pronounce them differently. Hanja, or Chinese characters, are required for most adult discourse and counting.

The book starts with simple characters, or "radicals", progressing to complicated ones. Students can follow the graphs and learn to write the characters. Each character is also translated into English and Korean. Hangul is provided in the jacket of the book, but this is not a Hangul textbook. A further index also organizes the characters for quick reference.

Because the Korean educational system authorizes and halts Hanja education seemingly every decade, learning Hanja gives the non-Korean student an advantage over Korean students. Sino-Korean words are also easier to remember, because they are shorter. Learning Hanja opens up a whole different world to the non-Korean student.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Hanja reference guide, April 18, 2000

By 

Jeffrey L. Guthery (Seoul Korea (South)) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Guide To Korean Characters: Reading and Writing Hangul and Hanja (A Mini Dictionary of Characters for Modern Readers) (Hardcover)

Given a choice between this book by Bruce K. Grant and other (sparsely) available works on this subject, I would unhesitatingly stick with this one. Even after entering its third decade in print it is still the definitive hanja reference guide. The 1,800 characters are presented in stroke order, although a phonetic listing can also be referred to. A stroke- order chart along with corresponding Hangul phonetic equivalent and English translation is presented with each character. I feel there are a few minor shortcomings - DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK IF YOU ARE PRIMARILY INTERESTED IN LEARNING THE KOREAN PHONETIC WRITING SYSTEM (HANGUL). I think that the inclusion of Hangul in this book was a waste of time, as any basic textbook and even some phrase books I've come across do a better job of presenting Hangul to a beginner. Remember, 99% of the text is HANJA reference. I also feel that some of the example vocabulary (listed beside each character to show how it can be combined with other characters to form [mostly] bisyllabic words) is useless in terms of practical usage. In spite of these minor flaws it is a fantastic book. I initially attempted to memorize all 1,800 characters in stroke order, but got distracted at the half-way point. It believe there are better books out there to learn Hanja as it is used with written Korean (for example, A First Reader in Korean Writing in Mixed Script by Fred Lukoff, and MANY excellent materials produced by the Defense Language Institute Korean Language Department). As stated earlier, this book is best used as a REFERENCE source. In the many years I have used this for reference I can only recall one character that was not listed. The 1,800 characters listed are those that are taught to Korean students throughout middle school and high school. Hats off to Bruce K. Grant for this most helpful book.