Billy Go - Korean Made Simple 2: The next step in learning the Korean language

This book will follow in the footsteps of Korean Made Simple, and will strive to explain Korean concepts as simply as possible. Opening up this book means that youve decided to continue your journey toward mastering the Korean language. Congratulations, and good luck! About this Sequel Nobody likes a sequel that doesnt add something new. The major difference between this book and the previous one is that while the previous book focused on building a foundation for studying the Korean language, this book is geared toward increasing your communication skills. Also, while the previous book focused more on themes and common, day-to-day situations including introducing yourself, shopping, and telling the time this book will focus more on grammatical concepts. There is also no need for additional introductory lessons in this book, as the basic introductory concepts were covered in the previous book, so well have more space to learn the essential grammar that youll need to progress toward the next level.

Ill be teaching everything just as simply as in the first book, so you should have no trouble keeping up. We will be covering more serious, key topics through this book. Expect to learn a lot, and to be able to express yourself better and in more detail than you could before. After all, the previous book ended right after teaching past tense! Surely, we will need to learn more if we want to progress toward more natural Korean. What about future tense? Yes, well be learning this, and a whole lot more. Just as with the previous book, do not expect to be speaking fluent Korean by the end, as there is simply too much that needs to be covered before you will be able to converse in Korean without any difficulties.

However, I promise that you will gain an even more extensive introductory knowledge of the Korean language through this book, building on the foundation laid by the first Korean Made Simple. Buckle up. Turn on your headlights. Check your airbag. Wait bad analogies. Were not going to crash.

Were going to cruise. Were going to expand our Korean knowledge and learn how to read, write, speak and understand real Korean. And like before, Ill be there every step of the way guiding you along. Before Reading This Book You should be able to read and write the Korean alphabet () before beginning this book. The previous book completely covers how to learn it. Using this book without having read the previous one can be acceptable as a review, but know that you might have missed important vocabulary and grammar that were covered in the first book.

You also might have missed advanced language and cultural notes, depending on how in-depth you studied. I recommend keeping a dictionary handy if you choose to read this book without having read the first one, and consulting additional sources to make sure that you understand everything along the way. If you have already read the previous book, I would also strongly recommend reading all of the Advanced Notes before beginning this book (if you havent done so already). How to Use This Book Just like Korean Made Simple, this book builds upon itself with each chapter. I recommend that you take your time going through each lesson in order and avoid skipping any sections. If youre in a rush Im leaving to Korea tomorrow to give a speech in Korean to the President of Korea! then complete all of the lessons but skip the Practice sections.

Know that youll only be able to improve when you combine studying with practice, so the best way to use this book is by completing every section, including the Practice sections. If you notice a grammar form that you are not yet familiar with, you may have skipped it in a previous chapter. Theres no need to rush through the basics of Korean; If you find something that you missed, I recommend that you read through the book more slowly. Later on you will be able to learn new concepts more quickly, but its important to take things slowly and carefully in the beginning. The first time you go through this book, read each Culture Notes section along the way, but skip the Advanced Notes sections. Save the Advanced Notes for your second or third reading of this book, as they were designed to provide additional information that can be confusing if you dont yet understand the overall concepts first.

Take notes along the way as you complete each chapter. Write down your own example sentences using the concepts that youre learning. You know best which concepts are the most difficult to you, and taking notes will help you to remember and master those concepts more efficiently. Practice reading, writing, and speaking the language as much as possible. It will also be extremely beneficial if you have a friend with whom you can practice speaking and listening Korean. If you live in an area where it is difficult to meet native Koreans such as most areas outside of Korea try to find an online penpal.

There are numerous simple websites where you can do this, so I wont name any specifically here. About the Answer Keys The more Korean you know, the more right answers there will be when speaking the language. While completing each Practice section, dont be surprised if your answers are different from what the Answer Keys section shows. Youll learn many new forms of speech in this book, including honorific speech and casual speech, as well as new vocabulary words and grammar forms. Compare your answers with the ones in this book and learn from them, but know that they might not match what youve written and know that this is perfectly fine. For your first time, I would recommend focusing on using the form when completing the Practice sections, unless its specified that you should use another form.

The form is the most commonly used form in Korea, and it will greatly benefit you to have a strong understanding of how to use it. About the Vocabulary Ive taken special care when selecting each word that appears in these books, choosing the most important ones for you to know when beginning to learn Korean. Every vocabulary word added to this book was picked for a good reason. Id recommend learning as much of the vocabulary contained in this book and the previous book as possible. As you complete this book, refer to the vocabulary list at the end of each chapter whenever you find words that youre not familiar with. Since this is the second book in the Korean Made Simple series, if you run into any vocabulary words that are not in the vocabulary lists or Glossary section, know that these words were covered in the first book.