Korean Learning Resources

This section is no way close to being as complete as the Korean Language Resources on HANGUKDRAMA's site. But since I am only at the beginner level, I will post up whatever few sources I have used:

NAVER DICTIONARY
This online dictionary has never failed me yet. It includes any corresponding hanja and gives plenty of examples in both korean and english.

KBS WORLD LET'S LEARN KOREAN
Learning material is organized into situations such as 'at the hospital' or 'at a restaurant'. Includes audio. It doesn't have any detailed grammar explanations, but it has many useful phrases as in a phrasebook. I like how there are many phrase repetitions in the podcast. A great place to pick up vocabulary. There's also another similar set of Korean lessons which you can find at the KBS main site.

WORD SHOWERS
If you find memorizing lists of vocab words effective, this site will be perfect for you. It includes groups of words along with the audio. You can memorize a group of ten words a day and watch your vocabulary expand! Or you can use this site to test your listening skills: without looking at the word, write down what you hear.

BOOKS

Read and Speak Korean
-includes audio and plenty of exercises
-very simple layout and large font
-introductory grammar points
This was the very first book I picked out. It is the perfect first book for a beginner. You learn all the important vocab such as greetings, numbers, directions, transportation, body parts, furniture, places and more. After writing out all the vocab and example sentences in this book, I was able to get accustomed to the 한글 script. The audio is read out quite slow and clear for a beginner. I expected Korean to be super difficult, but this book eased me right into learning the language!

Elementary Korean
Rating: 10/10
-includes audio for all the dialogues, but not all the vocab
-long lists of vocabulary start out each section
-comprehensive grammar explanations
-fun and lively dialogues
The most important thing I took away from this textbook was how to conjugate verbs. It explains all the irregular types of verbs very well. It goes through the formal, pollite and honorific forms (but no intimate styles).
All in all, excellent!



Korean: a Complete Course for Beginners
I already knew mostly all the grammar points before starting this book, so I don't know how hard it is from a beginner standpoint. But I would say this is another great book for a beginner. The audio includes everything except the extra reading passages. Has lots of rich supplemental vocabulary. There were even some not so quite beginner vocab such as bank terms and computer terms (mostly cognates). This doesnt go through the process of conjugating verbs as well as Elementary Korean though. I think you should have some background on the language, before picking up this book. Although the grammar is simple, it is quite fast paced.


College Korean
The audio for the dialogues can be found at http://www.language.berkeley.edu/Korean/1/lessons.htm
This textbook does contain a plethora of grammar points, but I found it quite boring for some reason. Haha....and a thumbs down because there is no audio for the vocabulary.
But a thumbs up for the grammar points. I found it hard to memorize anything from this book (probably because of the lack of audio), but I use it as a reference. I imagine this text to be better used under the guidance of a teacher.

FUN

KBS WORLD MUSIC PLAYER
This is the radio I listen to. It plays Korean music 24/7 and is hosted in many different languages including Korean, English, Chinese, Spanish, Vietnamese etc. Includes the latest hits.

K-POP CONNECTION
Also part of KBS. Includes star interviews and lyric translations.