Reddit reviews Korean for Beginners: Mastering Conversational Korean (CD-ROM Included)

LOL if you want to speak at least conversational Korean with the ability to construct sentences correctly and properly as well as know the right usage of grammar and honorifics, don't use K-Drama/K-Pop!

I recommend this book called "Korean for Beginners: Mastering Conversational Korean". It's a short book with only a few hundred pages but by the time you finish you will have an in-depth understanding and knowledge of how to speak/write/understand/converse in Korean.

You can do self-study with this book (it's what I did), but if you want to improve more, you can go on English-Korean student exchange forums to converse and learn with native Korean and English speakers.

http://www.amazon.com/Korean-Beginners-Mastering-Conversational-Included/dp/0804841004

I'm gonna chime in and vote against the Ehwa books as well. When I was studying on my own I found Korean Made Easy and Korean For Beginners to be very informative.

If I recall correctly (because I've since lost the book), Korean for Beginners throws A LOT of (helpful) information at you kind of all at once. The Korean Made Easy book didn't have as detailed explanations, but paired with the other book it made it easier to parse things down and learn step by step.

My wife has taken courses with GLN and I took a few courses at the KCC. From hearing about my wife’s courses with GLN, it seems more suited to a casual interest and particularly helpful for tourists or language basics. Courses through the KCC are well-handled but much more intense, at most half of those who start Beginner I sign up for Beginner II. Not to mention how insanely small the class sizes get for the later courses. I personally had to drop halfway through Beginner II, I did not have the time to prepare/study outside of class. Also, there can be strong differences between teachers, and that makes a huge difference in whether you are prepared for later courses.

Some of the students at KCC have a background in Korean, either having family members that already speak Korean or who lived in Korea. There were people in Beginner II that lived in Korea for a year or more, you will never catch up to them. You also have your students that are hardcore Korean drama, cooking, and music (K-pop) fans and they can also leave you in the dust. This all makes it even tougher for someone without these backgrounds to get left behind.

There are some excellent resources available if you want to get a head start, such as https://www.amazon.com/Korean-Beginners-Mastering-Conversational-Included/dp/0804841004/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1484328652&sr=8-5&keywords=learn+korean but stay away from Rosetta Stone, as that is more geared to learning romantic languages (IMO). Overall, I would say Beginner I at the KCC would be casual and fun enough for anyone to take, but you have to consider your commitment in moving forward.

Similar! :D I want to learn all the languages in the world. Right now I'm learning Korean because I want to move to South Korea. this would help a lot. oh there's more. I forgot. song and funny.

Here is the mobile version of your link

Directly from this:

ㄱ is pronounced similarly to [k] at the beginning of a word and at the end of a syllable; in other positions, it's closer to [g].

> talktomeinkorean.com

I will definitely check out this site. Have you used other books/programs? My dad got me Rosetta Stone Korean for Xmas one year. I have been on and off again doing the lessons. I also read a Korean for Beginners book, which was a really good introduction and summary of things. Lots of different insights, slightly overwhelming, but at the same time, just enough to spark interest.

that one does look great! i have this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Korean-Beginners-Mastering-Conversational/dp/0804841004/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1313638124&sr=1-1

its good but it doesnt have any subsequent ones, so ill have to switch to some other series once i finish this one.

I've had a good time with this so far, but I already knew a bit from talktomeinkorean.com. possibly worth going through their level 1 before getting it :)