Korean for Dummies Read Online Free PDF

they’re worthwhile.
    After you make some friends using the Korean that you pick up from this book, you’ll know that learning Korean is rewarding and fun!
    About This Book
    If you don’t like memorizing tables upon tables of grammatical rules and declensions, or if you love it but don’t have much time, this book is for you.
    Each chapter is organized so that you can look up and say a little something in the many situations that you may encounter while shopping, traveling, eating, and so on.
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    Korean For Dummies
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    Learn a few words and sentences as you go along through this book, and surprise Koreans with a few well-placed phrases. Pick up this book when you need it, and flip through the sections that you find useful. Each section has a few phrases and cultural pointers that are meant to give Koreans a “Where did you learn that from?” sort of reaction. And if you’re interested, you can learn a few sentence structures that you can add to as you become more comfortable with the language. The chapters are structured so that you can take away the bits that you need when you need them, so get ready to learn by speaking a little bit at a time as opposed to memorizing a whole lot at once.
    Conventions Used in This Book
    I use a few conventions in this book to help your reading go smoothly:
    Web addresses appear in monofont.
    Korean terms are in boldface to make them stand out.
    Korean words are spelled out phonetically, so that you see how to
    pronounce them.
    Definitions, which are shown in parentheses, follow the phonetically spelled Korean words the first time they appear in a section.
    Throughout the book, I give a nonliteral translation of the dialogues and phrases and, when necessary, I add a literal translation to help you
    better understand not only the phrase that you’re saying, but also how and when to use it.
    Degrees of politeness are very important in Korean phrases. For important sentences, the formal polite, informal polite, intimate, and plain degrees of politeness are pointed out as necessary.
    Verb and adjective conjugations are given in the following order:
    dictionary stem and informal polite stem.
    Anytime you’re learning a language, you want to reinforce the material that you’re learning by putting your lessons in the correct context. I use the following elements to help you do just that:
    Talkin’ the Talk: These dialogues include bits and pieces of material from each lesson. They put the material in a daily context and show you the situations in which they may happen. Each dialogue has a brief introduction to the scenario in which the conversation takes place and often 03_037188-intro.qxp 6/24/08 11:05 PM Page 3

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    includes cultural tidbits. Each dialogue has the Korean words spelled
    out phonetically so that you can see their English pronunciations, so
    reading through them should be a breeze. If they’re not so easy to read at first, look for dialogues that have a CD icon next to them — you can listen to those dialogues on the CD that comes with the book. In no time, you’ll get the hang of speaking Korean!
    Words to Know: On the blackboards in this section, important words are highlighted for you to have at your disposal. I include the informal polite form of the verbs. (Chapter 2 has more information on verb forms and their various endings.) Fun & Games: These sections include a few exercises to help jog your memory and reinforce what you learn in the chapter. The exercises help you gauge your performance, so make sure you give them a try.
    Foolish Assumptions
    Here are a few foolish assumptions that I made about you while writing this book:
    You don’t know much Korean aside from a phrase or two that you
    picked up from films or from your friends.
    You’re not planning to take a proficiency test any time soon, nor are you trying to start translating literature or begin interpreting. All you want to do is learn a few bits