College Korean

I study from this book every chance I get while at home, in the library, or at the coffee shop. It is definitely well laid out and planned to give a gradual and thorough grasp of the Korean language. Considering the authors are professors from Cal, it shouldn't be surprising to find this a solid well written book. I honestly think the Korean language program at UCLA is better, but I don't see any textbooks on Amazon from there. Anyway, if you are already familiar with the Korean alphabet, this book is a guide you can learn all on your own. Although it would be handy to have a Korean friend to help out with some vocabulary that might not be included in this volume. Otherwise, a single good Korean-English dictionary and this textbook is enough to get by, until you want to start tackling novels, newspapers, or magazines written in Hangeul.Thanks.

Its great! But some explanations of post-positions and use of adverbs etc don't have explanation of how you use them based off if its a consonant or vowel so I've had to look elsewhere for explanations. But other than that who can become fluent if you read this alongside taking a Korean course like I am. BEWARE: Korean is ever changing and a lot of words are becoming more Americanized or are just changing in the Korean language so know that this book is very old considering how fast Korean language changes. You will be teased if your only Korean is from this book because some words are archaic and no longer used in Korean :)

This is a fantastic reference book for those dedicated to learning Korean. Rather than Romanizing the text as many lighter Korean reference books do, starting at Lesson Two, the book contains a great deal of Hangul. The book begins with an incredibly detailed pronunciation guide as well. It also delves briefly into the Chinese characters used in Korean language. I ordered the book used in very good condition, and the condition the book arrived in far exceeded my expectations for the price. Overall very pleased with my purchase.

As others have noted in their reviews, the book is very dated. This is especially noticeable in the vocabulary which uses words -- according to native Korean speakers I know -- that are no longer in common use. Secondly, the book doesn't seem to be designed to be used on its own. It is only useful if your instructor is providing accompanying handouts and materials that are not included with the book. In short, if your instructor requires it then you have to use it. Otherwise, there are much, much better, newer books available.

It looks overwhelmingat first glance. But the content is so useful and clear.

It helps break down the Korean Language in the simplest way possible so it’s helpful for readers of all styles.

Going on trip to Korea in a few weeks and am trying to learn some basics. So far this seems to be helpful.

Covers the ground, but the texts are really dull, with no life in the dialogs or imagination in the situations. A slog to work through.

I think this book is useful if you're assigned it in a class (of which there are few in the UK) but otherwise I'd go for a more user friendly book such as  Integrated Korean: Beginning Level (Klear Textbooks in Korean Language)  which has more exercises, is not as boring and has audio available online.However it's not all doom and gloom, this book does give you around 120 Hanja which is helpful for learning Korean as it gives you a better idea of how some words are constructed and so on.My advice would be buy this if it's a must for a Korean class or oriental studies class, otherwise go for Integrated Korean or  Elementary Korean (Tuttle Language Library) . Integrated Korean: Beginning Level (Klear Textbooks in Korean Language)Elementary Korean (Tuttle Language Library)