National Network for Equitable Library Service

A handy introduction to the Korean language that is concise, simple, and useful. This book has been written to fill a specific need: that of the hundreds of thousand of people now visiting Korea for business or holidays or even living there for a year or two, who wish to learn something of the spoken Korean language around them. The grammatical structure of Korean is particularly complex, and difficulties plague foreign students learning Korean. Samuel E. Martin, renowned Asian language expert and professor emeritus at Yale University has simplified some of the common problems to acquaint the reader with the most useful way to say a lot of everyday things, without having to memorize long lists of grammatical rules. The compact size makes it ideal for traveling to Korea or reading on a plane, train or bus. The student will quickly make progress learning to comprehend and speak Korean. The material is presented using the romanization method of written Korean that is officially authorized by the Korean government as well as the native Korean script (Hangeul). Practical Korean is grouped into 47 lessons that cover all the common topics of conversation, grammar and vocabulary.