Customer Reviews

Korean For Dummies

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The biggest problem with this book, and the reason why I would never tell anyone to buy this book, or even take it out of the library is simple. This book about Korean language does not teach you to write or read the language. Korean is not a hieroglyphic language as well, it's just like latin languages and has a set alphabet that you sound out words with. Having a degree in languages (I'm learning Korean as a hobby after studying other languages with much more difficult writing systems) this is inexcusable, and by far the worst thing you could possibly pull in a language book. It even says in the book that it's a good idea for you to learn Korean text, but it doesn't teach you!

Just for context, I bought Dirty Korean with this book, and it is incredibly small and is just about Korean slang. But amazingly enough it has a concise and simple guide on how to write and read Korean text, in only 3 pages!!! This is something a mighty Dummies book with hundreds of pages can't match.

In conclusion...

Don't buy this book, it's a waste of time and money.

Here's the lowdown. I am just learning Korean, but I can already tell you that this book isn't the best for beginner-beginners.
I did the smart thing: I started learning some grammatical skills online so that when I purchased a book, I would know what to look for. I assumed from the sample pages that the book was good (even if there wasn't Hangeul inside, since I had already learnt it before; which is still somewhat disappointing since it would literally only take 1/3 of a chapter.. if anything).
Regardless of that, I think it's moderately decent. If you already know Hangeul like I do, it's easy to start spelling out the words and sentences in the script because of the Romanization. Everyone who comes on here to comment are people who are pissed that they haven't learnt it. And though it is frustrating to get a book without it, not every book has everything.
TIPS: If you want this book, do what I did and learn Hangeul and the essientials of grammar before hand (via books or GOOD online sources). This book is VERY VERY vague and doesn't explain things that well; also, the layout for the important grammatical things aren't that memorial... which is somewhat important.
This book is better for learning quick phrases and sentences when talking in Korean; but don't expect to get this book and want to know how to start writing paragraphs. Also, the back dictionary SUCKS. Its so dreadful. And throughout the entire book, there are clear visible grammatical errors ... not even in the English things, but in the Korean things HAHA. Like the Romanization throughout the book is not consistent and it's embarassing to be honest. However, again, since I know already the basics, its not bad but for someone new, rely on it or be extra vigilant. AND BUY A KOREAN-ENGLISH DICTIONARY