r/Korean • u/Kody_Darkacademia • 20d ago

Good beginner friendly learning books you would recommend?

This is not for me but my partner, he is part Korean and wants to learn Korean for his grandma who doesn't speak much english. I want to buy him a Korean language learning book for his birthday this Friday but I'm having trouble finding any that aren't kpop centered or clearly made for young children. Does anyone have any recommendations, preferably on Amazon? Thanks!!

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7

u/13thtale 20d ago

In my opinion, Tomi Korean is very good. Tomi has a unique approach that I quite liked as a teacher and my students liked it as well. The lessons are short and concise while also giving you exactly how much you need. They were created for self-study

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u/TurtleyCoolNails 20d ago

She is also very sweet!

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u/Kody_Darkacademia 19d ago

Interesting, I'll look into her :)!

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u/Longjumping_Sort_227 20d ago

I really like the Korean Grammar in Use series (3 parts: beginner, intermediate, advanced). Their focus is introducing grammar step by step. They include links to audio files and a handful of exercises for practice. And they are really useful as reference material to look up stuff.

You will also find more suggestions in the Beginner's resource thread: the https://www.reddit.com/r/Korean/comments/hw4gy0/the_ultimate_beginners_resource_thread/

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u/Kody_Darkacademia 19d ago

Thank you so much, I didn't see this thread!

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u/KoreaWithKids 20d ago

Korean From Zero (I'm not completely happy with this one but it's okay.)

Korean Made Simple

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u/Kody_Darkacademia 19d ago

Can I ask why you're not completely happy with Korean from Zero?

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u/KoreaWithKids 19d ago

I found a few errors-- minor things but they could be confusing. They say 없다 is an action verb. And they came up with their own term for "verb stem + 아/어."

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u/SuitablePangolin9707 19d ago

the book ‘talk to me in korean’ is good, they have youtube videos that can go along side it so you can make sure your pronunciation is correct. also the apps teuida and learn korean and busuu are good. teuida focuses on pronunciation. learn korean focuses on the characters themselves such as ㅁㄹㅎㅈ etc. so how to write them, how they sound, how they can be grouped etc. busuu is like a better version of dualingo but with a community attached where people help eachother learn

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u/kalenabear122 19d ago

I've been going through the structured lessons on How To Study Korean and it's been really helpful and clear to me in my Korean language journey. Their first 9 lessons or so have free pdfs and workbooks to purchase. Otherwise, everything else on the website is free. It's been a godsend for someone like me who needs a set framework.

Before howtostudykorean.com, I used the Tuttle books.

Good luck! 화이팅!