Korean Stories For Language Learners

I have just started to learn Korean and this is one of the best books I have found to easily increase vocabulary. The stories and vocab are well organized. Stories start very basic and increase in difficulty. Good learning tips at the end. Downloadable audio is great, just wish it had a slow version available.

I've been looking for good graded reading in Korean forever. This book is almost exactly what I've needed. You need a pretty good foundation in the the basics. If you've gone a little beyond a level 01 Korean language learning book, this is probably good for you. I can read these stories without constantly looking up unfamiliar words. I'm approaching the thirtieth story now and it is still just challenging enough, but never overwhelming. Further, you have an English translation and vocab reference. Vocabulary is often repeated within any given story and recurs in subsequent stories. I find that I'm retaining new vocabulary and words that I knew on sight but couldn't call up at will much more easily since I've started reading this book. The stories are wonderful, and I both enjoy reviewing what I've read and look forward to each new one. My only complaint is that, except in quoted speech, they use the extra formal verb endings throughout. This is a minor complaint. I would love to find more and more quality readers like this one.

I love this book a lot! It's set up really well. There is Korean and English to each story. Each story has pre-reading questions, vocabulary, post-reading questions, and a writing prompt. Some stories included relevant cultural information which I found helpful. As a polygot, I think this book is great. The stories get more difficult, but you'll see reoccurring themes and vocabulary. At a certain point the questions don't have English translations so you have to try to figure out what's being asked (there's always a translation for the story). Overall, I really think this is a great book for self-study. Keep in mind that I am a beginner Korean learner, so I can't vouch for the quality of Korean in the book but I love the set up of this book a lot.

Great beginner book

This is such a terrific book, and I hope Tuttle publishes another, more advanced one to make this a series. The stories are excellent, and each one builds off of vocabulary learned in previous stories. This allows for familiarity through repetition without it feeling rote and mindless. The font is clean and although it is a bit small for older eyes, the bright white pages and crisp, clean text provide enough contrast that the characters are easy to read. The comprehension questions start off mostly in English (and are easy), and become progressively more difficult as the lessons progress. Lessons 3 through 28 offer the question in both English and Hangul, and from lesson 29 on they are written only in Hangul. Pre-reading questions and Writing activities are included in most lessons. That said, if you are not using this book in tandem with a language tutor, you'll need to use this as a supplement to other resources, as there are a couple of things missing. First, careful students will notice similar phrases repeated at the end of most sentences (such as 입니다). There is nothing in the book that discusses what they are or what the translation is; it is left up to the student to research them on their own. I find it strange that there is an included glossary of common phrases (and even Hangul pronunciation) but not a list of formal style verb forms (one of which is the aforementioned 입니다). Second (and also relevant to 입니다) is that the pronunciation on the included CD sounds like the speaker is using the more casual form (for example, 니다) in places, regardless of the polite form written in the lesson. Overall, these phrases are used all the time in Korean, so the omission of such a list is glaring. Puzzling these out on your own, however, will likely sear them into your brain for good. And speaking of the CD, be aware that while the lessons have been recorded by a native speaker, she is speaking as if to students and not to other Korean speakers. That means that vowel sounds are far more drawn out than they would otherwise be, so you will need to learn how to quicken your syllables when speaking or you will sound like a child. :) It would have been nice if they could have also recorded the stories at a normal conversational pace, but it's not going to hurt your skills any to not have this available. Other than those relatively minor issues, this is a fantastic book that will take you far, as long as you are willing to put in the required effort. Do not rush the lessons; make sure you are comfortable with the important vocabulary before moving on and you will do well. 화이팅!

A good, progressive collection of Korean stories with English translation and vocabulary. Builds from the very simple to the more complex, and the "training wheels" make it pretty straightforward to move through the tales effectively. I find it useful to be able to see the language used in integrated, story format, in contrast with some text materials (also good, I'll grant) that give you smaller pieces to work with . The stories can also be amusing, and the book incorporates cultural notes that help put things in context.

Love it, the stories go from simple to hard, I recommend it if you want to learn how to read hangug and improve vocabulary

Fun book, can't wait to continue my Korean learning journey with this! Good for after you have the Hangul pretty much down, and you're working on vocab and sentence structure. Each story builds and gets progressively more challenging.

Llegó súper rápido y en excelentes condiciones. Las historias son muy buenas y ayudan a practicar coreano. Lo único malo es que no llegó con el CD que supuestamente está incluído.

Assim como os outros livros da série, esse é um excelente recurso para aprender o idioma de uma forma progressiva e constante. Ele possui diversas histórias com tradução e evolução e um dicionário no final de cada conto, bem legal!

Ottimo libro per chi inizia a studiare coreano. Si passa dalle storie brevissime e semplici, a quelle via via più complicate. Per ogni storia c'è una lista dei vocaboli utilizzati, domande sulla comprensione del testo e curiosità riguardo a quella determinata storia (sono racconti del folclore quindi ho apprezzato molto che ci siano degli approfondimenti e spiegazioni). Ovviamente bisogna sapere l'inglese e fare attenzione alla traduzione poichè non è tutto tradotto letteralmente (io me ne sono accorta perchè sto studiando coreano e mi rendo conto che la traduzione certe volte viene adattata, un pò come avviene con i sottotitoli, quindi bisogna fare il doppio passaggio coreano-inglese e inglese-italiano per capire il senso). Comunque sia lo consiglio perchè è utile per imparare ma anche per la semplice curiosità di leggere qualche storia tradizionale.

Was extremely pleased upon receiving this. I've been casually self teaching my self Korean since June of last year. I started off using Duolingo which increased my interest in it, finished all it had to offer, then I moved on to TTMIK online lessons. I'm currently at mid beginner level, but didn't own any Korean language learning book to enhance my study. Got this last week after seeing it recommended many times online. Beautiful and helpful layout, and along with each story comes a concise vocabulary list. If you are turned off by mention that there is some romanization in this copy,as I was, don't worry: it's not shoved in your face romanization, you can easily ignore it, and it goes away part way through the book. This book is excellent ( in my opinion)for all levels for individuals learning Korean. So, to sum up, yes, I highly recommend purchasing this book if you are looking for a good way to improve your reading and just basic vocabulary comprehension. And the stories themselves are interesting to:) Enjoy!

Très bon livre pour s'entraîner à lire des textes en coréen et surtout apprendre du vocabulaire. Le livre est bien structuré, avec des questions sur le texte pour voir si la compréhension est acquise. Il y a même une expression écrite qui est proposée à chaque nouveau texte. Je n'ai pas encore essayé le CD mais même sans, le livre est déjà très enrichissant pour un intermédiaire en coréen. La livraison est très longue, seul point négatif mais c'est peut-être en raison du covid-19.