Learning Korean for Beginners

Pleased to meet you, Dear reader. I would like to thank you for taking the time to stop by and read my blog about Korean language study. I am a 21 year old Canadian girl and have become interested in Korean in 2005 . In November 2007 I began to self study Korean. Starting off just as a hobby but then by 2009 I became very serious about it. Through the 2 years I have self taught myself to and Intermediate level of Korean language. Recently there are a lot of people who want to learn as well... however do not know how to start learning a new language.. I want to be of help to all the passionate Korean learners out there.

I want to provide you with the best possible resources out there!!~


There are a few steps that I would recommend that you take while starting your journey of learning the Beautiful Korean Language:

1. DO NOT - start with learning romanization. This will be a complete waste of time and effort it will get you absolutely no where!!
- ( I am saying this from experience, I studied a bit of Japanese before.. and things went a lot faster once I learned the alphabet.)

2. ( The real step #1) - Start by learning the alphabet. " Hangul" There are only 14 basic consonants and 10 basic vowels. There are also a few compound vowels and Double consonants.
-(Korean is said to be the easiest and most efficient writing system.)
- There are some good resources for learning the alphabet characters on "youtube" video site.

3. Once you learn all of the Hangul characters- start learning basic words and understand how the vowels and consonants combine into "syllabic blocks"
- This is the best part of Korean in my opinion- it's almost like English, because each character represents a sound and once consonants and vowels are put together they make a syllable.

4. Focus on the pronunciation. I think that for most English speakers this would be the hardest thing to tackle. - As a starting point learn The 9 rules for pronunciation.
- ( Depending on how the syllabic blocks are made, there are certain ways to pronounce the characters. )

5. Now you are well on your way!!!!~ I have just guided you through the first steps to your learning process. * Below I will include a list of learning resources*

6. Before I list them here are a few other small side tips
* It's good to have Korean friends to practice speaking with * Luckily I live in a city with 50,000 Korean lol* but the next best thing would be to practice online
* http://www.interpals.net ---> Is a great place to find a Korean pen pal.
* Write a Korean diary or a Blog. - This will help you put things you learn into context. Just describe your life or what you did today... ect.
* I also recommend that you learn to type in Korean..* I memorized where all the keys were in about a week*

List of Resources

Textbook:
1. Integrated Korean Text book series
2. There are also workbooks- but for self study I wouldn't recommend them. They are only good if you have a teacher to check them over.
The textbook itself provides enough practice questions and learning materials for you if you're doing like I am and self studying.

* This is the number one textbook... it has almost everything. It helped me learn Korean quickly and efficiently. I love this one so much that there is even no point in putting up reference to any other Text.!!!

-( This is the beginning #1 book)
There are several levels ranging from beginner to High advanced*
- Here is the order
Beginner: 1 & 2
Intermediate: 1 & 2
Advanced Intermediate: 1 & 2
Advanced: 1 & 2
High Advanced: 1 & 2

In my opinion *This is the best textbook out in North America* It's reasonably priced and easily accessible. price- around $ 12 -20 dollars on www.amazon.com
- There is also the yonsei korean textbooks, but you have to order them from a korean website and they are more expensive about 50~60 dollars a book. I think it's not necessary... The integrated Korean will teach you all you need.

- Each book is about 300 pages and provides a good glossary in the back. Each chapter is about 40-50 pages. So I would recommend doing at least 10 a day.

- It took me around 2-3 months to finish one of the books. When I started them I was already familiar with some of the Korean.. But I guess the average speed would be 3-4 months. Like a school semester.

- Remember: don't just speed through the book just so you can get to the next one. Really try to understand the grammar and absorb it. Korean grammar is not as straight forward as Japanese.
So make sure you do each step/ Chapter carefully.

Online Resources

Online resources can be lacking. So I would strongly advise you that you use them as an additional helper to you text book. Of course you need to do some listening excersizes and that's where a website would be most useful.

- I have been to a number of websites and the most useful free one that I have come across would be

Sogang Korean University

Link -- http://korean.sogang.ac.kr/
Why I would recommend it is because, It gives you a very thorough lesson. With vocabulary grammar and also a listening and reading exercise. Also when you are reading the dialogue you can scroll over with with you mouse and it will break down the words and grammar directly.
When learning a language, time and effectiveness is important.

-(When starting out my study back in 2007 I wasted a lot of time buying resources and going though resources online that proved to be a waste. So I want to recommend only the best to you out there!!!)

-Another really great website is Koreanclass101.com but it's a bit costly! You can try a free 7 day trial but then after that you need to pay maybe 200 to 300 dollars a year for a premium membership for access of all the cool features.
Great Resource: Flash Cards!!

- I use a down loadable system called Declan Korean flash cards. You have to buy it for about 20 bucks but, it comes with tons of free downloadable files with, verbs, adjectives and vocabulary. This is a great way for you to build up your vocabulary.

- This program: reads the word out
- shows you the English and you have to type up the Korean
- show the Korean and you have to match it to an English meaning

Korean in a flash
- a flash card pack that you can buy from amazon.
I kinda recommend it- though the online one is a lot better
since it has audio in it and more practice stuff.


Well That's it for today
If any one is interested I might put up lessons~