Listed below are the books that will help you master conversational Korean. You need to know basic level Korean before you pick up any of these books.
How Koreans Talk: A Collection of Expressions
by Choe Sang Hun
This book is a collection of expressions, along with comments on their origin, and excursions into Korean history, folk tales and contemporary culture. It leaves out many idioms, but aspires to reflect part of the Korean character through the humor and imagery of language. This book is written for foreigners who want to understand Korean expressions they use including useful terms, proverbs and some kind of slang.
For example,
If something tastes good, say: “It kills me.”
If you’re happy, you “go to Hong Kong.”
If a friend wins the lottery, ask: “Did you have a pig dream last night?”
If someone tells a joke, you might “laugh until your belly button pops out.”
Koreans talk with humor and punch, and this is a book about it.
This book is useful on three different levels. The first being purely informational and the second being for students of Korean language. And the third being a conversational prop for Korean coworkers. This book does contain a lot of cultural information about Korea, and any reader can learn a lot. Even if some of the sayings are quite old/traditional, they can provide enormous insight into the culture and history.
Looking for a Mr. Kim in Seoul: A Guide to Korean Expressions
by Sang-Hun Choe, Christopher Torchia, Michael Yoon Chen, Selina Yoon
Gain insights into Korea’s culture through idioms, slang and proverbs. If discussions gets heated, stand up and say, “You die! I die!” You will be able to experience wit and humor of Korean. Looking for a Mr. Kim in Seoul contains Korean, romanization and English equivalent and can be enjoyed by anyone interested in Korean language and culture. It is also recommended for anyone learning to speak Korean.
As a collection of Korean proverbs, it is an unique contribution to our understanding of Korean ethos and psyche. The selection and coverage of Korean “expressions” are comprehensive for a relatively small book. The English translations are incisive and, above all, very readable. The extended commentaries, including some etymological notes on obscure words, are readily understandable and enjoyable even for readers with little previous knowledge of Korean culture. This book is helpful for students of Korean culture, history, language and ethnography, from the high school level on up. It is an enjoyable introduction to aspects of Korean history and recent politics as well as various customs and rituals.
As much as a Rat’s Tail : Korean Slang
by Peter Nicholas Liptak, Si Woo Lee
Korean Slang invective and euphemism – An irreverent look at Language within Culture: Learn what the kids are really saying; all the Korean they will never teach you in class. The insider’s guide to Korean slang. Korean is rich with the dynamic linguistic expressions and freshly coined language. A Rat’s Tail dives into the intricacies of modern Korean slang introducing the hip, hot, spicy and sexual, the irreverent and inspiring, the cultural, crass and comical. This is the Korean not covered in the language books, full of color and infused with philosophy. With A Rat’s Tail in hand, you can impress others with your verbal acumen as you complement their fashion sense, dish out dirty words, or text up a storm, as you gain insight into the mind and culture of the Korean people.
This book presents an amazing grasp of the Korean language and culture. Beautiful layout & good organisation, easily accessible information, all the lists you need with all the words you need to know, example phrase usage in sample dialogues (in Korean and in English using the Korean phrase). It was a very easy read, with lots of information and useful phrases – both to use and NOT to use! You can surprise your Korean friends with some of the phrases and also get great insight into the Korean world.
Korean for Beginners: Mastering Conversational Korean
by Henry J. Amen IV, Kyubyong Park
Have you ever considered learning Korean, but been put off by the unusual look of the characters? Don’t let yourself be scared away! Korean has been called “the most logical language there is,” and with this friendly and thorough introduction you will soon see why.
As the more than 1 million Americans who speak Korean can attest, Korean is here to stay, and generations of young (and older) adults are determined to learn it. This book is for people who want a grasp of how to speak, write and understand Korean—and who want to enjoy things while they’re at it!
Using a lighthearted, humorous approach, Korean for Beginners starts by showing you just how reasoned and logical the Korean alphabet, hangeul, actually is, and helps you master it faster than you learned the English alphabet. Realistic situations you might encounter in Korea in Korean-speaking environments are described, and new words are explained in terms of how you’ll find them useful to communicate. Numerous illustrations enliven the text, and a CD-ROM bound into the jacket lets you listen and repeat phrases in the book. Soon you’ll be able to say with pride, “I know Korean!”
Making Out in Korean
by Peter Constantine, Gene Baik
The books in the Making Out series are fun and accessible guides to languages as they’re spoken on the street. These classic phrase books have been updated and expanded for use in informal situations such as bars, parties, or anywhere else one needs to know slang to survive! The books also now feature phrases written in their native script as well as in English, so the book can be shown to the person you are trying to communicate with. With transcriptions revised for easier pronunciation, these helpful books will have you making out in no time!
Making Out in Korean is a fun, accessible and thorough guide to colloquial Korean as it’s really spoken. This classic phrase book has been thoroughly updated and expanded to be even more helpful as a guide to modern Korean for use in everyday informal interactions-giving access to the sort of catchy expressions that aren’t covered in traditional language materials.
A new feature of this book is that each phrase is written in Korean script as well as in English, so that in the case of difficulties the book can be shown to the person you are trying to communicate with. The transcriptions have also been revised to make it easier to pronounce the phrases intelligibly.
Dirty Korean: Everyday Slang from “What’s Up?” to “F*%# Off!”
by Haewon Geebi Baek
Next time you’re traveling or just chattin’ in Korean with your friends, drop the textbook formality and bust out with expressions they never teach you in school, including Cool slang, Funny insults, Explicit sex terms, Raw swear words.
Before you think the book is only full of vulgarities, it is not. It has much slang that is not offensive at all. You’ll learn the shorter slang version of “good morning” as well as the shorter slang for “evenin’” and “sorry.” There are also a lot of short paragraphs on Korean culture and etiquette. These are not only educational, but also entertaining at times. The book is a pretty fun read if you are interested in Korea and the spoken language of that country.
The book is divided into chapters titled Howdy, Friendly, Party, Body, Horny, Angry, Poppy, Sporty, and Hungry. Many words are pretty common, but there is enough slang, insults, explicit terms, and swear words to make the person looking for those get their money’s worth from this inexpensive little book. Add this book to your Korean language references if you want a fun, easy to read slang oriented language book. You’ll be speaking Dirty Korean in no time.
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