Talk To Me In Korean Level 1 (Downloadable Audio Files Included) (English and Korean Edition)

I just finished Level 1! Without this book, I'd still be rather confused about grammar in Korean. This book has very clear, good explanations of the grammar. I also felt the ordering of the lessons makes a lot of sense and builds together well. I've been studying Korean for about a month or two and I can (somewhat reliably) use present tense, past tense, future tense, I-want-to-tense, and count in both numbering systems.

If you are truly wanting to learn Korean, this is an excellent book to learn the rules with. I do recommend pairing it with a vocabulary learning app, like Drops. That has been my strategy so far and I think it is working well.

Great for very basic korean knowledge. Be aware that you may access all of the same courses in this book at talktomeinkorean.com. I recommend the workbook for this level with the audio from the website. All the same info with more exercises.

I like this instruction book a great deal. I bought the workbook to go with it, and that gave extra practice for the instruction. The instruction progresses logically from the first Hangul phrases one must know, and moves into grammar: verb, verb tenses, markers, noun, pronoun, subjects etc. The lesson topics are nicely integrated so that the learner learns a bit of each before moving on. Short dialogues are also helpful.
The very first lessons--greetings, etc--are a bit daunting at first, but as the lessons progress and the learner sticks with it, the flow builds confidence and ability, slowly, but surely.
One thing that pleased me very much was the presentation of verb conjugation. I have been taking another course, concurrently, and frankly, I was experiencing great frustration over the overly complicated and not-as-clever-as-they-think explanations for the spellings of verb endings. Then I came to the chapter of TTMIK about verb conjugations. With the caution that there would be a few exceptions, the instructions were, "If this is the case, do this. If that is the case, do that." So simple! So logical! So clean and easy to understand. If I hadn't already liked this book, that, itself, would have sold me on the content.
There is a link provided for downloadable supplements in pronunciation etc. This is also helpful--with a caveat. The site asks you to download the latest flash player. I always have the latest flash player because Apple keeps you up to date with software. I also check with Adobe to see that I do, in fact, have the latest. Nevertheless, the site wants me to download again. I am reluctant to do this because there are so many dodgy sites that offer to download a phony Adobe flash malware. I want to trust this site; I know they are honest. Yet this is a concern.
I would also like to see more vocabulary introduced a little earlier.
I have finished this first title and am so pleased that I have ordered the four following volumes: 1-5 in all. If more are published, I will order them.
Thanks to TTMIK for an excellent language course

I started trying to self study Korean with grammar books and dictionaries etc. It was confusing. I had gaps everywhere and found little structure. These books seriously helped me.

While I'm aware that TTMIK has online videos that apparently cover the books, I found their website and the lack of true laid out structure a little harrowing. I still use the online videos as supplement, but I think the workbook and book was the right choice for me. It helps to have something physical.

The book and workbook genuinely make learning Korean fun, and the structure just makes sense. Everything is laid out and very easy to understand, to the point where I'm enjoying these books a little more than I enjoyed college language courses. The workbook helped me practice alongside the book and I highly recommend the set.

Talk to Me in Korean (TTMIK) is, by far, the best system available for learning Korean. Yes, as with any language, you have to do comprehensive work--reading, listening, writing answers, journaling words that are hard to remember, etc., but TTMIK makes it very easy to manage all of that because their books and website basically set up a structure for you. Just follow the books and lessons, and you'll be on your way.

The only components I added are a blank vocabulary journal that I bought on Amazon for $4.99. I use it to repeatedly write out words I'm struggling with. I also make sure to listen to Korean from other sources: I watch KBS World on TV because their shows often include Korean captions highlighting different elements of a program, so it reinforces the Hangul that I'm learning with TTMIK. It also helps build skills. I listen to Korean music (not just K-Pop). Videos on YouTube often include Korean captions for the lyrics, and I've learned words and heard other pronunciations that way. And I have returned to my favorite K-Dramas, BUT, now I watch with the KOREAN captions since I already know the plot. I have learned so many words that way, but the anchor is TTMIK. In fact, I love it when someone in a K-Drama says something the way TTMIK says people say things. For example, the official way to say something may be one way, but people will drop syllables, while still using polite language. I can totally hear it now!

Korean will be my fourth language. Other than my native English, I learned two other languages fairly easily, but I was struggling to find a good system for learning Korean. I couldn't find a program with the proper structure that I know is needed to learn a language until I started TTMIK. I'm good to go, now, learning more every day.

I highly recommend this program for learning Korean.

5 STARS.

Not a polyglot or even bilingual, but I have studied languages on and off and took several linguistics courses in grad school, and this is by far the BEST and most systematic approach to grammar instruction I have ever encountered. It’s an amazing book for self study, with grammar points that are not overwhelming (see also: not too much too soon) and explained in such a straightforward yet friendly way. I can’t tell if I think Korean itself is naturally logical or if it is just presented in such a clear and easily understood way in these lessons. The audio files are free either by download or through the Talk to Me in Korean app. These books give me hope that one day I will be fluent in Korean. 3 weeks in and I’m already feeling comfortable and able to recognize grammar and sentence structures when watching K-Dramas. Highly recommend the supplemental workbooks and also using their Hangeul Master book when you start (or at least learning to read and write Hangeul), because the sooner you have the writing down, the faster you’ll move through the material and exercises with confidence. If I could give more than 5 stars, I would.

Really enjoying this program. The lessons are put together very well. I like the flow of this better than some of the other language learning apps like Duolingo or Rosetta Stone. Much easier to learn and TONS of free online resources; had to support them by buying this book to thank them for all the free content they already provide.

What I liked about this book was that the audio files were free and available online - they are literally verbatim what the text in the book is. This is great, but I'm kind of disappointed because I was hoping that the book would cover something more? More vocabulary or something? Could have been better.

Just enough grammar to help me along the way. But with my advanced age, the prints are so small I need to use a watch maker's magnifier to read the audio track number, literally. I'm not exaggerating.

Why am I learning at such an advanced age? I'm a language nerd!