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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I've tried a few books, and the Rosetta Stone software, with which to start studying Korean.
So far, this seems to be the best.
It is an updated version of an original book released about 10 years ago, incorporating much feedback from (American) students and teachers. The book isn't as dry as Yonsei University's offering. However, it is still quite technical, particularly the introduction, but is worth persevering with. Once you get to chapter 1, you'll find it is quite a user-friendly book. A particular benefit is that all of the audio files (5 for each chapter: 2 conversations, a set of vocabulary for each conversation, and a short paragraph) are downoadable free-of-charge from the publisher, which are great for listening to in the car.
I would have 2 suggestions for improvement. Firstly, it would be useful to have more audio files, particularly for pattern drills. Secondly, it uses the McCune-Reischauer system for representing the Korean alphabet in the Roman alphabet. The Korean governent did away with this in 2000, replacing it with the much more intuitive "Revised Romanisation of Korean". For some reason, however, academics persist with using the old-fashioned McCune-Reischauer system. Hence, if you go to Korea and expect to read road signs, you would be better off learning the newer system - or, even better still, learn the hangeul alphabet. In the book's next revision, I would want it to use the Revised Romanisation of Korean.
Once I have finished this book, I will buy the next in the series.
So far, this seems to be the best.
It is an updated version of an original book released about 10 years ago, incorporating much feedback from (American) students and teachers. The book isn't as dry as Yonsei University's offering. However, it is still quite technical, particularly the introduction, but is worth persevering with. Once you get to chapter 1, you'll find it is quite a user-friendly book. A particular benefit is that all of the audio files (5 for each chapter: 2 conversations, a set of vocabulary for each conversation, and a short paragraph) are downoadable free-of-charge from the publisher, which are great for listening to in the car.
I would have 2 suggestions for improvement. Firstly, it would be useful to have more audio files, particularly for pattern drills. Secondly, it uses the McCune-Reischauer system for representing the Korean alphabet in the Roman alphabet. The Korean governent did away with this in 2000, replacing it with the much more intuitive "Revised Romanisation of Korean". For some reason, however, academics persist with using the old-fashioned McCune-Reischauer system. Hence, if you go to Korea and expect to read road signs, you would be better off learning the newer system - or, even better still, learn the hangeul alphabet. In the book's next revision, I would want it to use the Revised Romanisation of Korean.
Once I have finished this book, I will buy the next in the series.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I bought this after listening to Pimsleurs learn Korean audio course which I would also recommend as a great introduction to the language.
The book is well paced, it doesn't throw too much at the reader at any one time which makes it easier to recall previously learned rules without tripping over yourself and mixing them up. I feel that this is especially important for a language which has such different grammar from English.
I've seen other books which seem to have mountains of information crammed into them. These books didn't appeal to me as I'd much rather a more structured and gradual approach to learning Korean (as I'm learning through self-study) and after completing this book I think that it does that job quite well. I don't mind buying a series of books that increment my knowledge slowly.
One a side note the pages are nicely designed and structured and overall the book looks well, some people obviously won't care about this but when you're studying a difficult subject it can be a welcome attribute of any textbook and makes it seem less arduous to get through.
One thing I would recommend is writing out all Questions and Answers and Narrations rather than just filling in the blanks in the book as otherwise you won't have written out the words enough to remember them properly.
The book is well paced, it doesn't throw too much at the reader at any one time which makes it easier to recall previously learned rules without tripping over yourself and mixing them up. I feel that this is especially important for a language which has such different grammar from English.
I've seen other books which seem to have mountains of information crammed into them. These books didn't appeal to me as I'd much rather a more structured and gradual approach to learning Korean (as I'm learning through self-study) and after completing this book I think that it does that job quite well. I don't mind buying a series of books that increment my knowledge slowly.
One a side note the pages are nicely designed and structured and overall the book looks well, some people obviously won't care about this but when you're studying a difficult subject it can be a welcome attribute of any textbook and makes it seem less arduous to get through.
One thing I would recommend is writing out all Questions and Answers and Narrations rather than just filling in the blanks in the book as otherwise you won't have written out the words enough to remember them properly.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
52 reviews
111 of 113 people found the following review helpful
An exceptionally promising series
28 Jun 2001
Format:Textbook Binding
I have been trying to self-study Korean for a fairly long time now and I definitely agree with the other reviewers that the currently available Korean language materials are not of the highest quality. This fact becomes particularly apparent when one wishes to learn the language on his/her own. Every publication that I have encoutered so far seems to have some severe deficiency ("College Korean" - not enough exercises and small vocabulary; "Teach Yourself Korean" - oversimplification; "Elementary Korean" - too many dialogs, not enough prose; etc.) The KLEAR series with "Beginning Korean" as its specific representative appears not to contain any of these shortcomings, as it provides a large (and useful) vocabulary to master, a wide selection of readings, and the workbooks provide ample practice in terms of the grammar as well as reading and writing. Furthermore, the book contains exhaustive cultural notes that provide a truly solid introduction to the intricacies of the Korean culture. However, the series contains one exceptionally annoying flaw - it does not have tapes coming along (at least as far as I know). In the classroom environment it may not be a problem but this deficiency makes the series quite awkward for self-study. Once one knows hangul it may be possible to cover the material but the sound of the language is necessary to reinforce learning and to reduce the accent - attempting to learn any language with a limited contact with its sound inevitably leads to an incorrect pronounciation, bad speaking habits, and additionally deprives the language learning process of its most fundamental and enjoyable dimenstion. To summarize, I find the KLEAR series to be the most thorough Korean language publication so far but have to agree with one of the previous reviewers that it is more appropriate for classroom use, and leaves self-learners nothing else but to grind and gnash their teeth.
55 of 56 people found the following review helpful
Great text
24 Dec 2005
Format:Paperback
I finished Book 1 and just started on Book 2. The material is well paced out, without too much crammed into one chapter. Good division of the new vocabularly in each chapter into Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives, Adverbs, etc to aid learning. There is also a small section on difficult to pronounce words. The Grammar is clear but not as well organized as Ross' Elementary Korean, which I considered the best in terms of grammar exposition for beginners. Dialogs are well crafted and practical. A narrative prose passage after the dialogs summarizes the contents of the dialogs. This provides valuable training in reading prose, complementing the direct speech in the dialogs.
A few easy exercises come after each topic segment covered, to reinforce the key points. Pictorial sketches go with some of the exercises to stimulate visual memory as an aid to learning, which I find quite helpful. I dont have the WorkBooks so I c'ant tell if there are enough good & challenging exercises there to reinforce the rather easy exercises provided in the text.
Some have complained about the lack of a CD to aid aural comprehension. However, most of the audio material is available on the web at:
http://languagelab.bh.indiana.edu/korean101.html
http://www.indiana.edu/~korean/K101/week1.html
I found the web material generally well recorded and adequate providing valuable aural training.
Overall, this series, without doubt, ranks with Ross' Elementary Korean as best in its class.
A few easy exercises come after each topic segment covered, to reinforce the key points. Pictorial sketches go with some of the exercises to stimulate visual memory as an aid to learning, which I find quite helpful. I dont have the WorkBooks so I c'ant tell if there are enough good & challenging exercises there to reinforce the rather easy exercises provided in the text.
Some have complained about the lack of a CD to aid aural comprehension. However, most of the audio material is available on the web at:
http://languagelab.bh.indiana.edu/korean101.html
http://www.indiana.edu/~korean/K101/week1.html
I found the web material generally well recorded and adequate providing valuable aural training.
Overall, this series, without doubt, ranks with Ross' Elementary Korean as best in its class.
26 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Very Usefull for Korean 101
14 Nov 2006
Format:Textbook Binding
I am currently taking Korean 101 in college, and this is the textbook we are using. The textbook is very affordable and very easy to learn from. Perhaps most important is the books usefullness as a vocabular and grammar reference. Here is a short list of some of the parts of the book:
-An introduction to Korean
-An explanation of the Korean alphabet (easy to learn)
-Short sections on Korean culture
-Dialogues at the begining of each chapter and throughout the chapters
-Online audio files of each dialogue and vocabulary list
-Clearly organized vocabulary lists (by word type and subject)
-Usefull Korean to English and English to Korean dictionary
-Very usefull grammar reference at the back of the book
I found the explanations very clear, and the chapters well organized. The references are especially usefull for looking up words or grammar usage. Although there is not as much Korean culture mixed in as there is in French textbooks that I have used. I don't see this to be a problem since there is plenty more up to date cultural information online. Information about how culture influences the language is mixed in, which is important for understanding concepts like which form of speech to use (honorific, polite, etc.), as well as using "Our brother" instead of "My brother."
Additionaly and perhaps most important is the fact that no romanization is used except perhaps in the introductory chapter.
There isn't that much audio from the book online, so I would really suggest either talking with someone who knows Korean, or listening / watching something in Korean, but that's true for any language. However, vowels are really important and you're likely to mess them up if you don't have someone correct you.
My friend Leo says the cover is ugly, but I disagree.
-An introduction to Korean
-An explanation of the Korean alphabet (easy to learn)
-Short sections on Korean culture
-Dialogues at the begining of each chapter and throughout the chapters
-Online audio files of each dialogue and vocabulary list
-Clearly organized vocabulary lists (by word type and subject)
-Usefull Korean to English and English to Korean dictionary
-Very usefull grammar reference at the back of the book
I found the explanations very clear, and the chapters well organized. The references are especially usefull for looking up words or grammar usage. Although there is not as much Korean culture mixed in as there is in French textbooks that I have used. I don't see this to be a problem since there is plenty more up to date cultural information online. Information about how culture influences the language is mixed in, which is important for understanding concepts like which form of speech to use (honorific, polite, etc.), as well as using "Our brother" instead of "My brother."
Additionaly and perhaps most important is the fact that no romanization is used except perhaps in the introductory chapter.
There isn't that much audio from the book online, so I would really suggest either talking with someone who knows Korean, or listening / watching something in Korean, but that's true for any language. However, vowels are really important and you're likely to mess them up if you don't have someone correct you.
My friend Leo says the cover is ugly, but I disagree.
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