Integrated Korean: Beginning 1, 2nd Edition (Klear Textbooks in Korean Language) 2nd Edition

Easy to use.

I'm really honestly 100% surprised with how much I was able to get out of this course level (leaving the same review for Beginning 2 since I've completed both books). I struggled with teaching myself Korean for about 10 months with other books and programs until I took a friends advice to just purchase these same college textbooks she used for Korean and learn right from the books. I wish I had done it sooner! The University of Hawaii has really impressed me with their set of Korean language books. The vocabulary and grammar are introduced and explained so clearly I rarely ever had to pick up my dictionary (though the grammar was a little more difficult to grasp than the vocab I still managed). Though I don't recommend using the textbooks alone for self-study I can say if you're going to take that route, start speaking from the very minute you open these books! I made the mistake of not asking around my friends (who speak Korean) to practice with me because now I've gone into the Intermediate levels without having any speaking practice, all I can do is read and translate (fairly well, but I would probably be much better if I could verbally speak it fluidly as well) so I'm still struggling but its not too bad! The lessons may seem a little cheesy but I think they are put together so well I really honestly had fun learning from these books at my own pace. I highly recommend making an account on Memrise and adding the Integrated Korean lessons to your account to study the vocabulary, that's what I did and I've been able to master around 800 vocabulary words from Beginning 1 & 2 with the help of Memrise! Its definitely worth a try. I really not only love how each lesson is organized but also the Appendix has all the listed grammar rules throughout the book making it really easy to find if you forget them! All in all Integrated Korean is a wonderful set of books to purchase and 100% worth every penny in my opinion regardless of whether you're purchasing them for an actual Korean course or just teaching yourself!

We use this for class and honestly, we haven’t been going through it really quick and has been very useful

...and I've used them all. Or, at least, I've bought them all.I lived in Korea from 1995-2001. At first there were very, very few texts available and they although they were for adults, they always felt as if they were aimed for children. Then I found a couple of college level textbooks that were good, but I felt too technical. Then in 2006 I finally had the chance to study Korean at a university in the US and we used Integrated Korean. It is the first textbook I used that I wanted to re-use. All the others ended up on my bookshelf or trashcan.Integrated Korean--along with its workbook--is good because it had scenarios and vocabulary that were realistic for someone studying at a university. I appreciated the clear explanation of grammar, particularly post-positions and verb construction. Most astonishingly, I finally came to understand things I had been saying for years but could never get a Korean to explain to me exactly WHY I was supposed to say it that way. The text invites using more than one sense. You need to read, write, speak, hear a language in order to be able to know it and use it in the real world. Integrated invites the user to engage all of your senses (except smell and taste...that comes from eating kimchi) and it does the job well.I highly recommend this as a college course book and for adults who are motivated and want to self-study or have a private tutor. I have just moved back to Korea after an 8 year absence. I have just placed an order for Integreated Korean, and I can't wait for my tutor and I to get started with it.BTW, there's also a website with sound files courtesy of the University of Hawaii.

I love that this book really goes in depth on the linguistic rules of Korean language and that it gives examples

I love this book! I originally wanted to start learning Korean because my boyfriend is Korean and his parents don't speak English very well, but now I really love the language. This book is definitely good for beginners. It teaches you about culture along with the language in a pretty easy way to understand. I used it along with the workbook and it makes learning so easy and fun. The introduction was tough to get through because it's long and you're learning completely new letters and sounds that you've never made before, but the book gives examples and enough exercises to make it simple to learn. There is a lot of repetitiveness and writing what seems like the same sentences over and over, but this helps out a lot in memorization and practice. I also love that the workbook comes with online audio that you can listen to online or download for free! I was on page 12 before I realized this and was confused because some of the exercises have a small picture of headphones next to it that indicates you need the audio clip, which I didn't realize. On the back cover of the workbook, it gives you the url address of the audio clips. Once I found this, it was a lot more helpful. I would most definitely recommend this to someone wanting to learn Korean.