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안녕하세요-

Today,

we are going to introduce and recommend some books for basic learners who barely knows Korean language.

Please find your current status first.

1. I’m like a baby. I can speak Annyeonghaseyo(안녕하세요)
but I cannot read or write the word.

- We recommend you to start with the books containing how to read/write Hangeul.

- If you click the picture of the book, product detail page of our store would be opened.

You can see the preview images of the book.

A. Korean Made Easy – Starter

This book teaches you how to write and read Hangeul.

It’s like english version of Hangeul learning book written for Korean children.

When you complete this book, you can move to higher level of this book series.

Korean made easy Starter -> Korean made easy for beginners -> Korean Made Easy for Everyday Life

All written in English.

B. 열린한국어 입문서

This book is a bit lighter than Korean made easy Starter.

It also focuses on “How to read and write Hangeul”.

Available in English, Chinese, and Japanese.

C. 들으면서 쓰는 한국어 펜맨십 (Step by Step Korean Penmanship)

This book is more focusing on how to write Hangeul.

The book contains cassette tape so that you can listen and write Hangeul.

All written in English.

At this stage,
purchasing Korean notebooks would be helpful.

This is a notebook made for Korean children for practicing Hangeul writing.

The notebook has 4 types which are 8칸 쓰기, 10칸 쓰기, 8칸 국어, 10칸 국어.

8칸 쓰기, 10칸 쓰기 are having bigger space and it is suitable for very first stage.

Korean elementary students uses 8칸 국어, 10칸 국어 notebooks to write in class or doing their homework.

2. I know how to write and read Hangeul but my vocabulary is humble
and I don’t know about grammar.

- At this stage, it is important to learn basic grammar.

- You can start memorizing vocabulary with flash card but make sure that you know all the words in the book you are using.

A. Korean Grammar in Use_Beginning

This book is one of the bestsellers among Korean grammar books.

It starts with tenses and the book covers basic grammars that you need to know.

If you complete this book you could continue to intermediate level of the book.

Knowing grammar is important so we put this book at the first.

Available in English, Chinese, and Japanese.

B. Korean made easy for beginners

This book contains basic communication dialogue with little bit of grammar. Words are very practical
so you can use them when you visit Korea for example.

All written in English.

C. Cours de coréen – niveau debutant

If you speak French, this is the one you should consider first.

This book contains most of the grammars and includes workbook as well.

All written in French.

D. Books written by universities.

- New Sogang Korean ( 서강한국어 1A ~ 5B)

- Ewha Korean ( 이화 한국어 1-1 ~ 6)

- Yonsei Korean ( 연세 한국어 1-1 ~ 6)

- SNU (한국어 1~ 5B) -> would be re-issued from August.

Books written by universities are the textbooks used in class of each university’s language course.

Thus, if you are planning to study alone, it would be much better to purchase workbooks.

Workbooks are mostly thicker than student’s books and it is important to practice with workbook.

3. I know how to write and read Hangeul. I want to improve
communication skills in Korean rather than learning all the grammars.

- Here, we would like to introduce books not much focus on grammar but more focus on practical expressions.

A. Hello Korean with Jun Gi Lee ( 이준기와 함께 하는 안녕하세요 한국어)

This book is recorded with the voice of Jun Gi Lee.

It does not containing many of grammars but easily written.

Also it is available in Korean, English, Japanese, and Chinese.

This book has 3 levels but final level is in the progress of making.

B. Fast & Fun Korean

Contents are similar to “Hello Korean with Jun Gi Lee” but a bit easier.

Maybe good if you have friends to study with.

Available in English and Japanese.

4. I know how to write and read Hangeul and I need to learn
simple Korean words for my business.

Korean Language for a Good Job

This book is written for person who work at Korean company.

Not much focus on grammar but on practical expressions for doing business.

It contains very basic conversations and the book continues to level 2.

All written in English.

5. Okay. Now I got an idea of what book I need to have.
Then, would you recommend books for improving my vocabulary?

At the basic level, we would recommend flash card rather than textbook format.

Palm Space: 기초 영단어 800 Words

This is originally made for Korean elementary students who study English.

This contains over 800 words with picture on it.

When you complete this, there are much more flashcards you could try.

From many of flashcards, “사자성어” is quite good.

Find out more flashcards published by 손바닥공간.

Last question,

Would you recommend books to practice my Korean writing(penmanship) ?

짱! 한글 Series is quite good for practicing Korean penmanship.

It is written for native Korean children age 4~7.

It has 6 levels and level 5-6 also contains grammar lessons.

This book is good for enhancing vocabulary skill as well.

If you were looking for TOPIK books for beginners,

it is better to complete the books above first.

It’s too early to start TOPIK.

The next recommendation on books would be the grammar.

Thanks for reading such a long post and hope it helps you. :)