Korean resources?

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pilot_2270
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Re: Korean resources?

Postby pilot_2270 » Fri Jun 05, 2020 9:19 pm

For beginners, I recommend learning the pronunciation first. Don't rely on romanization except as a 'clue' about what the letter sounds like. Watch different youtube videos about pronunciation. To use an online dictionary, I suggest that you use your phone because it's easier to text in Korean than to type. And go through an established textbook series. It is much more efficient to read through some textbooks and then indulge in native materials. Don't dive into K-dramas just yet. My favorite textbook series are Darakwon's "Practical Korean" series and the more grammar-focused "Korean Grammar in Use" series. And learn the first 2,000 to 3,000 most common vocabulary words through a book like "Power Up! Korean Vocabulary" or Darakwon's "2000 Essential Korean Word" series. As for college-level textbooks, use University of Hawaii's KLEAR textbook series, "Integrated Korean." After that, watch some Korean dramas on Viki.com or watch vlogs on youtube (by vloggers who often have subs hardcoded into the video).
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księżycowy
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Re: Korean resources?

Postby księżycowy » Mon Jun 08, 2020 10:55 am

Has anyone used Practical Korean by Darakwon? I'm curious if it is well suited to self-learners.
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Re: Korean resources?

Postby pilot_2270 » Mon Jun 08, 2020 2:54 pm

księżycowy wrote:Has anyone used Practical Korean by Darakwon? I'm curious if it is well suited to self-learners.


I have used Darakwon's "Practical Korean" series in conjunction with the "Korean Grammar in Use" series. I think that Practical Korean is very well suited for self-learners because it has dialogues, readings (with accompanying mp3s on their website), a vocabulary list, and a grammar point in each chapter. And the book has nice pages with a sensible layout and pretty pictures. It is much friendlier than the Korean textbooks mentioned earlier in this thread, imo.

Below, I have attached some pictures of what the "Practical Korean" textbook looks like (sourced from Darakwon's book catalog).

vocabulary.png


dialogue.png


grammar.png


The only reason I can think of why these textbooks aren't more popular is because they're hard to get in the states. I know only one online bookseller that sells volumes 1 and 2. I had to get volumes 3 and 4 (and, by the way, volume 5 came out very recently) through GMarket, a Korean e-commerce website. A lot of the material I use for intensive/extensive reading, I had to also get through GMarket. And the shipping can be prohibitively expensive.

I am not a fan of the Korean language textbook series produced by Korean universities such as Ewha or Sogang. They are too dry and do not lend themselves to self-study. I think that online learning platforms such as Talk To Me In Korean are very good for their Iyagi series, but I didn't like their grammar instruction.
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Re: Korean resources?

Postby księżycowy » Mon Jun 08, 2020 3:01 pm

Thanks.

Yeah, that's one of my issues with Sogang, it's not self-learners friendly. Which I wish I knew before I bought it. Anyway, I'm weighing Practical Korean and Master Korean at the moment. Which ever I choose, I'm sure I'll also pick up the grammar textbooks too.

Edit: I ended up getting both Practical Korean and Korean Grammar in Use. Thanks a bunch! Shipping is overpriced (imo), but I was able to shave off 50$ or so by buying directly from the publisher.
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Re: Korean resources?

Postby eido » Mon Jun 08, 2020 7:59 pm

Darakwon is a renown publisher of Korean textbooks and/or coursebooks. If you ordered a textbook from them, consider yourself lucky.

However, I think Ehwa is a good competitor because of its heavy-hitting nature. It may be "dry," but it covers a lot of ground. I myself have 4, 5, and 6 and think they're all well-structured. They introduce uncommon grammar points that Korean Grammar In Use won't cover. The latter series is for basic acquaintance with the language. Ehwa is for really getting in there.

TIP: buying from Amazon or AbeBooks (used) always shaves off at least $7-8 from the price. Used textbooks aren't a bad option if you choose at least the "very good" condition.
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Re: Korean resources?

Postby księżycowy » Tue Jun 09, 2020 3:36 pm

I'm excited to get the books! My main issue is having an answer key. I like having something I can check and get a gauge on how well I'm getting stuff without constantly bugging native speakers. :P

However, I think Ehwa is a good competitor because of its heavy-hitting nature. It may be "dry," but it covers a lot of ground. I myself have 4, 5, and 6 and think they're all well-structured. They introduce uncommon grammar points that Korean Grammar In Use won't cover. The latter series is for basic acquaintance with the language. Ehwa is for really getting in there.

I have to admit, I'm curious if you mean the beginner book of Korean Grammar in Use, or the three books over all? I want to see how in depth the three books together go into. I fully expect to supplement my study with other grammar resources regardless, but if these don't go that deep, I have to admit, I'll be a bit disappointed.
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Re: Korean resources?

Postby Käfer » Wed Jun 10, 2020 1:38 pm

Just found this really good pronunciation video on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/WqGfsp2EY9U
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Re: Korean resources?

Postby Sayonaroo » Thu Jun 11, 2020 1:13 pm

Sayonaroo wrote:I just wanted to share this site with anyone who happens to already know Japanese or Chinese (mandarin/cantonese)

http://hanjaro.juntong.or.kr/text_translater.aspx?hu=1

When you paste the text it inserts hanja next to the words. You also have the option of choosing Chinese characters used in Japan, China, and Taiwan. It's not perfect of course. For one thing, there are homonyms in Korean. However, it's usually obvious when the hanja is wrong based on the context but when the hanja is correct it saves me so much energy and time.

Here's an example with the hanja option.
7일(日) 한 매체(媒體)는 ‘프로듀스 101’의 네 번째(番째) 시즌이 내년(來年) 4월(月) 방송(放送)을 목표(目標)로 제작(製作)을 준비(準備) 중(中)이라고 보도(報道)했다. 이에 대(對)해 Mnet 측(側)은 “새로운 시즌을 논의(論議) 중(中)이다. 하지만 편성(編成) 등(等) 자세(仔細)한 사항(事項)은 아직 확정(確定)된 부분(部分)이 없다”며 말을 아꼈다.

‘프로듀스 101’ 시리즈는 그동안 아이오아이, 워너원 등(等)을 탄생시켜 대중(大衆)들의 뜨거운 반응(反應)을 이끌어 냈다. 또한, 가장 최근(最近) 시즌인 ‘프로듀스 48’에서는 아이즈원까지 출범(出帆)시켰다.

I like it because it makes reading easier and faster for me and I actually have a lot of links to articles I saved that I planned to read. I'm pretty sure I'll read more Korean in 2019 than I did in 2018. this site makes me so much more motivated to read Korean. I always hated reading hangeul-only texts and having to figure out stuff from context only when I know the word is based on hanja and it's hiding behind hangeul just because I'm so comfortable reading in Japanese. I use readlang.com to save words that I want to add words to anki.


it's also even better when you pair it with lingoes pop-up dictionary to deal with the homonyms.
https://choronghi.wordpress.com/2019/01 ... mendation/
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Re: Korean resources?

Postby AnneL » Mon Jun 15, 2020 1:32 pm

FYI you quoted but without mentioning the user, so s/he may not have seen your question! Just corrected that here.

księżycowy wrote:I'm excited to get the books! My main issue is having an answer key. I like having something I can check and get a gauge on how well I'm getting stuff without constantly bugging native speakers. :P


eido wrote:However, I think Ehwa is a good competitor because of its heavy-hitting nature. It may be "dry," but it covers a lot of ground. I myself have 4, 5, and 6 and think they're all well-structured. They introduce uncommon grammar points that Korean Grammar In Use won't cover. The latter series is for basic acquaintance with the language. Ehwa is for really getting in there.


księżycowy wrote:I have to admit, I'm curious if you mean the beginner book of Korean Grammar in Use, or the three books over all? I want to see how in depth the three books together go into. I fully expect to supplement my study with other grammar resources regardless, but if these don't go that deep, I have to admit, I'll be a bit disappointed.
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Re: Korean resources?

Postby Sebastian Stimmes » Thu Mar 02, 2023 7:41 pm

piosza wrote:3. If you know German than you should definitely take a look at "Lehrbuch der modernen koreanischen Sprache" by Wilfried Herrmann. It might be difficult to come by, but it's definitely one of the best Korean language handbooks out there in terms of how systematic and orderly the presentation and introduction of the study material are. Also, it follows the North-Korean orthography rules, which makes it even more interesting. The book was published by Buske Verlag in 1994 and has never been reprinted ever since. The same publishing house has released a number of new Korean handbooks recently, however. I haven't check them out yet though and thus cannot say how useful they might actually be. You can have a look yourself on their website: https://buske.de/catalogsearch/result/?q=koreanisch

They have re-released it in 2023. I do not know why it does not appear under the link, but they definitely have the book available. Take this link here: https://buske.de/lehrbuch-der-modernen-koreanischen-sprache.html
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