Complete Korean with Two Audio CDs: A Teach Yourself Guide [Paperback]

This is a review of Complete Korean with Two Audio C/Ds: A Teach Yourself Guide by Mark Vincent and Jaehoon Yeon (2010). This is a revised edition of the authors' Teach Yourself Korean, first published in 1997 and reissued with revisions several times since.

I have to admit I approached this book with skepticism on two counts.

First, I questioned whether it was possible for a 300-page text to adequately introduce the basic elements of a "super-hard" language (one which typically requires two years of intensive study to achieve a S3/R3 rating on the Interagency Language Roundtable scale) at pace that a student working on his or her own could have any hope of keeping up with. Books in the Teach Yourself series (now being repackaged as "Complete...") for other "super-hard" languages - such as those for Japanese, Cantonese, and Chinese Mandarin - suggest that the textbooks' authors and students are being asked to bite off more than can be chewed in this abbreviated format.

But I'm happy to report that Complete Korean is an exception to the rule. I think a true beginner - one with no background at all in the language - can, with determination, work though this text and emerge with a fair knowledge of basic Korean - the rough equivalent of a first-year college-level course. Grammar and vocabulary (600+ words) are introduced in an orderly manner in manageable amounts. Both are immediately useful in dealing with Korean speakers in real-life situations; there is no "classroom only" material. There are a fair number of exercises - though one can always wish for more - and two of the 14 chapters are dedicated to review and consolidation. The accompanying audio recordings (identical to those included with Teach Yourself Korean) are clear and delivered at a "slightly slower than normal" pace I think best suited for the Korean language learner given the sometimes tricky phonetic changes. Hanja (Chinese characters) are not taught. Students wishing more practice than offered in the text might find the Sogang University course material available at www.korean.sogang.ac.kr useful.

Complete Korean uses both han'gul (the Korean script) and romanization side-by-side for the dialogues, example sentences, exercises, and lists of new vocabulary. Purists, of course, would object to the use of any romanization at all; this is a question that can be and has been debated endlessly. Han'gul, after all, is not difficult to learn (a couple of days?) and students find it quickly becomes easier to handle than a romanized version of Korean. And certainly no one can claim to "know Korean" who can't read han'gul. But, but I think romanization does facilitate progress at the beginning to some degree. More importantly, it helps confirm the phonetic changes that - hopefully - the student is also picking up from the audio materials. For the student working alone - the target audience of this course - I believe this is very important. Yes, indeed: The number "6" can be pronounced yuk, yung, nyuk, nyung, ryuk, ryung, lyuk, or lyung - depending on the surrounding syllables! This, and other phonetic changes, are not reflected in the han'gul script - as amazing as it is.

My second reason for skepticism: I approach each "new" book from this publisher with a healthy bit of suspicion. Is this really a "new" book, or have they just repackaged it (slightly or not at all) and put it out there for the unwary. Shrink-wrapped packages and online purchasing make this an easy trick to pull off.

The answer this time is that Complete Korean has the same content as the earlier version sold under the title Teach Yourself Korean with significant editorial changes: The layouts are much less cluttered; there is a "things to remember" checklist at the end of each chapter; a list of useful websites for "taking it further"; and han'gul is used throughout, not just for the dialogues. I'd imagine that students would find this a more appealing product, though I don't think there's any reason for someone who already has a copy of Teach Yourself Korean to buy it.

Complete Korean is a solid foundational course that will surely meet the needs of many travelers and temporary residents of Korea. Students wishing to take their study of Korean further - even a lot further - might wish to consider the Integrated Korean series prepared by the Korean Language Education and Research Center (KLEAR) and published by the University of Hawaii Press (available through Amazon.com). Integrated Korean is comprised of eight volumes (two each for beginning, intermediate, advanced intermediate, and advanced levels) with accompanying workbooks - in other words, a four-year, college-level course. FYI: Complete Korean introduces the same grammatical material as Integrated Korean: Beginning 1 and 2, but with "real-life," non-academic vocabulary. More advanced texts in the KLEAR series include Chinese Character Studies, Korean Composition, Selected Readings in Korean, Readings in Modern Korean Literature, Korean Language in Culture and Society, and A Dictionary of Korean Grammar and Usage.

Also, students living in Korea can find in the major bookstores a number of high-quality beginning-intermediate-advanced programs developed by Korean universities and language institutes. Koreans are immensely proud of their culture and their language - and this pride is reflected in the educational material they have developed so foreigners can appreciate these, too.

I do have this book, though I didn't buy it through amazon. I have studied some Korean. This book isn't really for a beginner. It's more for someone who has tried to study Korean before using various sources and can go through the dialogues many times and review a lot. It will help you improve your Korean.

The pros: A lot of good explanations, practical vocabulary.

The cons: Not good for someone who is a true beginner when it comes to studying Korean.

Good luck!

First, if you are looking for great audio... This isn't a good choice, the lessons are short and seem to be set up for someone already used to the language. You listen to a conversation, and then have to pick out a single word (like Annyong). And, well... That's pretty much the idea.
Other than that, it has a few lessons helping you to pronounce.
It's also pretty boring, I bet the people recording the audio were half asleep.

The book is okay, I don't prefer the way it intends to teach... To read, write, and speak korean at the same time.I personally feel that it's too overwhelming and chaotic to do all three at once.
I would really like it to set up your speaking and understanding the spoken language before we get into learning to read or write it. I mean, as a child we learn how to say tree and draw a tree before we ever learn how to spell it.
I feel it is harder to connect with the language when I'm trying to do everything at once.
And this book and it's interactive lessons are set up in a way which makes it impossible for you to skip around and get what YOU want out of it.
However, we all know you need more than one source to learn a language.

It also sort of takes away from the fun of learning.
I have basically put this on the shelf and left it after a while.
I would recommend going about it in a fun way if you are serious about learning the korean language.
I'd recommend getting (Dirty Korean), a (Korean/English Dictionary), watching some korean soaps like Boys over Flowers, and purchasing some KPop (Super Junior, DBSK, SHINee, Rain, etc...)
But this is just what's been working for me personally.