8 In Korean learning journey (:/ korean textbook reviews

[Review] TTMIK News In Korean

Some books don’t need long reviews.

Like this one.

It’s so good.

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Please go to TTMIK’s My Korean Store to purchase it now.

But if you would really like to read the review, please stay on for a minute or so.

News In Korean is basically the book that I wished I had when I first started learning Korean and was attempting to read news articles on Naver.

First all, reading news articles is an absolutely great way to improve your language proficiency. Because it helps in the following: reading, grammar, writing style, vocabulary, general knowledge etc

The only downside is that news articles doesn’t come with audio files. Also, some people might find it overwhelming and difficult at the start. I still remembered how I had to take hours just for a relatively short and simple k-entertainment article, checking the dictionary every 2-3 words and then wondering if I had the correct gist of the article.

With News in Korean, you get the best of all worlds.

50 news articles

Of varying lengths and topics. It’s a great way to get started.

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Audio files

I love how varying members in the TTMIK team read out the articles hahaha. It’s a great way to learn: listen to the audio file first and see how much you can catch. Then read the article and replay the audio to learn the intonation, pauses, pronunciation etc. After going through the lesson, replay the audio again to see how much you have learnt and how much more you can now understand.

Study Notes

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WHY DIDN’T I HAVE SUCH A RESOURCE LAST TIME. Really, this is the best. I love how they break up the article into paragraphs, complete with translations and then highlighting the difficult words and including the meaning at the top. I love how the translations aren’t intrusive, so you kind of can ignore them if you don’t need, and yet refer to them easily if you need some confirmation on your understanding of the article.

I like how difficult words are in bold and while the book does provide the meaning, it is meant as a guide and hence learners should also look up the words themselves to better learn and understand the vocabulary.

One-line Summary

Every article has a one-liner summary in Korean and I think that’s a great way to teach summarising skills too.

MCQ Exercises

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I love love love this part. It’s like a very short comprehension test of sorts and of MCQ type, which makes them more doable than having open-ended questions. Answers are also provided at the bottom of the page, so no need to flip back and forth.

Even as an advanced learner, there are still a lot that I can learn from the book, so I’ll peg it as suitable for self-learners from intermediate onwards (maybe TOPIK 3 or so?). Intermediate learners might find the content challenging, but I think it’s important to start early and slowly work your way through and improve from there!

All in all, I love this book and would recommend it to all Korean learners (:

A book that definitely deserves a space on my bookshelf.

What I like:

  • Everything
  • Clear structure
  • Interesting articles
  • Audio files
  • Comprehensive notes
  • Exercises

What to improve on:

  • A book 2?

So here’s the link again to purchase the book 😛

Thanks to TTMIK for sending over a copy.

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8 Comments

  • Reply
    Lauren
    12 December, 2016 at 12:30 AM

    Really? You like doing McQ textbook exercises? I personally would just use that yikes towards getting to the exposure to the lanahauge

    • Reply
      Hangukdrama
      13 December, 2016 at 7:06 PM

      Hahaha (: it’s quite fun lol. I like doing TOPIK tests

  • Reply
    Amp
    12 December, 2016 at 6:02 PM

    I’m studying this book also. Trying to finish it before next topik that’s coming.
    By the time I bought this book, I was looking for more vocab on social science and it just popped up there on the bookshelf in bookstore. I grabbed it back and never regretted spending my allowance for this book : )

    • Reply
      Hangukdrama
      13 December, 2016 at 7:04 PM

      Thanks for sharing!! (:

  • Reply
    jasmine
    13 December, 2016 at 2:15 PM

    would you recommend this book for someone who has some basic knowledge of the korean language or someone who is at a more intermediate level?

    • Reply
      Hangukdrama
      13 December, 2016 at 7:05 PM

      Intermediate level(: If I peg it usually the usual 6 level standards, maybe level 3?

  • Reply
    Sam
    20 December, 2016 at 1:53 AM

    I’m a beginner learner but I want to be able to read news in Korean. Should I get this?

  • Reply
    kimchi ninja
    24 April, 2017 at 2:23 PM

    Hello. I have noticed that you do like the proficiency tests quite a bit. I have not had much interest in taking them, but you mentioned how they help keep you motivated. I would think that they also are a good gauge on how your progress is in learning the language. The problem I’ve been having is I’ve been self studying Korean for a while, and I’ve learned a lot (using kclass 101 lessons), but it seems that I can never tell if I am really progressing much. I always feel like I’m at a quasi upper intermediate- lower advanced level. So I am considering whether or not to start using some textbooks that have a progressive order. Any thoughts on this?
    Oh, I just started self studying Japanese as well recently- it’s a lot of fun to learn! One thing that is very interesting about Japanese is that I find I am using mnemonics for memorizing most of the vocab, but with the Korean for some reason I don’t need mnemonics. How is that so? Even the long Korean words, like 북적북적하다- no mnemonics needed! But for very simple Japanese words I find I am just automatically using them. It’s great for the imagination.

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