The most effective methods are:
i) Survival Korean by Stephen Revere (Read Korean Script in Four Hours) [Nexus]
ii) Korean Made Easy: Starter by Seung-eun Oh [Darakwon]
Both of these books take you through the Hangul alphabet step by step and have good audio recordings.
2. Practice Pronunciation
This is the hardest thing for Westerners to master so practice it early and frequently.
Check out my pronunciation videos for more help.
3. Learn Basic Phrases
These are phrases that you will hear and say all the time in Korea.
Learn them inside out.
I recommend Korean Made Easy: Starter by Seung-eun Oh as it has audio recordings of '24 useful expressions'.
You should also check out my videos of Basic Phrases.
4. Use the Resources
Books
The two most useful books available are:
Survival Korean by Stephen Revere [http://www.nexusbook.com/]
Yonsei Korean Reading 1 [www.yonsei.ac.kr/press]
Both of these books are available from Hanbooks [http://www.hanbooks.com/]
Websites
There are a lot of websites to help you learn Korean:Hangul listening page
Hangul test page
Sogang Korean Program free and comprehensive program but with low quality audio
Seoul National University similar to Sogang but with better audio. The Hangul section shows video of the mouth positions for correct pronunciation
KBS Let's Learn Korean an okay site but avoid relying on the romanisation
Master Any Language good audio for learning numbers and days of the week
Koreanclass101 good podcasts
WordShowers an excellent vocabulary and audio site
HangulForest a good site for written Korean but lacks audio
Software
The best available are http://www.declan-software.com/ and http://www.rosettastone.com/
5. Make a Study Plan
This is crucial if you want to succeed.
Get organized.
Plan your learning and set goals for what you want to achieve.
Go at your own pace and change the plan if you need to.
Remember your prime motivation and use this to encourage yourself when you're feeling lazy.
6. Do Regular Reading and Listening
Practice these skills regularly to improve your ear and pronunciation.
Reading Practice:
Read the text in your head.
Read the text out loud.
Note the tricky words.
Listen to the audio and follow the text.
Pronounce the tricky words correctly.
Read the text out loud.
Read the text in your head.
Listening Practice:
Listen to the recording.
Listen out for the words that you know.
Imagine the story in you head (picture events).
Write out a rough English translation.
Listen to the recording and follow the Korean text.
Look up words that you do not know.
You can also get real world practice by:
- reading the free Korean newspapers.
- reading Korean and bilingual news websites.
watching Korean TV - listening to Korean radio
- listening to K-Pop
7. Use Technology
I would recommend the iRiver Dicple D7 electronic dictionary as it has a touchscreen for writing practice, mp3 audio and a memory function.
You can also use the iPod Touch for digital flashcards, korean language video and audio as well as using Korean language Apps.
Type in Korean. Get to know the Korean computer keyboard and start typing in Korean. You will need to install the IME input system on your PC. The keyboard layout is very simple: consonants on the left and vowels on the right. The alt key to the right of the spacebar is used to toggle between English and Korean.
8. Memorize Vocabulary
- Use memory tricks: create word pictures, find English words that sound like it, write it down, repeat it, shout it out loud etc.
- Get the pronunciation correct by listening to audio or asking a Korean
- Always try to memorize words in context, i.e. learn them with a sentence that you can use.
- Find other meanings of that word, e.g. 눈 means eye and snow, 배 means stomach, pear and ship
I would recommend:
i) Word Showers a free website with downloadable mp3s of nouns, verbs, adjectives etc.
ii) Survival Korean: Vocabulary by Bryan Park [published by nexus].
The third Survival Korean book divides 6,000 words up by topic, comes with an MP3 CD and has sample sentences.
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