This book helps the absolute beginner student learn the basics of Korean. Although the book does not go over any proper language structures, readers can expect learn common phrases, words, and go over cultural notes to help them get around when visiting South Korea.
Although the Collin's series of phrasebooks are designed to help travelers with the languages of the countries they may visit, they are not marketed as being course books for serious learning and are not designed for this use either. This particular phrasebook is for Korean and the book starts with an explanation on how to work with each chapter. It explains that it is designed to be easy to use when travelling for leisure or business and that it includes over 70 topics, top ten tips to avoid cultural faux pas, hints to make your trip trouble free and mini dialogues to help with conversation comprehension. We also discover that there are sections on common announcements, a dictionary, basic grammar, and a list of public holidays. The contents page is very thorough in listing pages by their contents with major sections in bold, such as getting around, shopping, health and eating out.
Before going into the main aspect of the book, phrases and vocabulary, we are introduced to Korean pronunciation, it is explained that both Korean and Romanization can be found in this book in order to make it easier to access, and a simple table for pronunciation is provided. There is also written explanation which attempts to help the students understand the table much better. Finally the “top ten tips” are listed before going into the first section of Korean teaching, these tips include using chopsticks, how to correctly drink with others, and how to address people and tipping. The first topic is on talking to people, phrases and vocabulary is listed in English, Korean and Romanization is provided, followed by key phrases. Signs and notices are highlighted in their own table, for example, toilet signs and first aid just to name a few then the section ends with key phrases and vocabulary for work and weather. As can be expected there are no exercises, it is purely designed as an easy to reference guide for useful Korean sentences and words. This format is followed throughout the book and this way a lot of the language is introduced in an easy to find manner.
Throughout the book there are texts which provide explanations about how different things work in Korea and there are also recommended websites which can be used for discovering restaurants or certain tourist attraction. Readers will also find mini dialogues which help put the phrases from each lesson into context and some listening exercises are also provided. The audio CD that comes with the book is very useful for listening while reading through the book, this way the reader can get their ear used to the pronunciation and rhythm of the language. The book has an extensive English to Korean dictionary where all of the words taught throughout the book are laid out in a very accessible format.
"This phrasebook has been exactly designed for one purpose; so that a traveler to Korea has something they can to refer to if they encounter any difficulties."
When choosing a book it is very important to take into account what you want the book to do for you, there is no point in using a phrasebook when you wish to learn a language properly, nor is there any point in buying a course book if you just want to be able to know some Korean for certain situations during a trip. This phrasebook has been exactly designed for one purpose; so that a traveler to Korea has something they can to refer to if they encounter any difficulties. In this regard there is no faulting this book; you won’t come back from Korea with a working knowledge of the language, but you will be able to make yourself understood with the help of this book.
