The Sounds of Korean: A Pronunciation Guide

Wish it came with the CD!! I guess you can download MP3 format of the audio lessons, tried today but NO luck. Wii try again next week. NOW THE BOOK. Excellent explanation of how to properly pronounce the Korean alphabet. Very technical. Could give a more thorough explanation of how to hold your tongue, lips, etc. Still, its a good book to have for standard Korean. The reader should have a desire to learn the Korean Language to truly speak it, not just to be a tourist. This book will greatly improve your pronounciation which is THE most important aspect of learning a language. There are NO short cuts to learning another language. It's work. Be prepared.

The best investment into your Korean language study that you could ever make. Korean and English seem to have a lot of phonological overlap, but there are critical, subtle differences in sounds that make a huge difference. What’s more, Korean sounds morph depending on their context, and understanding how/why helps you to become a stronger reader of Korean. Apply what you learn in this book, and prepare for lots of “Aha!” moments. I credit this book with Korean strangers asking if I am Korean—the highest compliment I can imagine receiving as a foreign speaker.

This book is for English speakers. I am almost done with this book and all excercises after about 3 weeks of 1-3 hours a day.It takes you piece by piece of every vowel and consonant and then slowly helps you clearly hear and speak the differences between the similarities.Highly recommend this book for anyone starting out or looking to go from Foreigner Accent to Native Accent.Do not forget to download the .mp3 files from their Hawaiian press Book website.

I just received the book and it didn't come with the CD. There should be something in the description of the book (on Amazon) mentioning fact that this book is designed to go with a CD, mentions the CD frequently, yet doesn't come with a CD. I'm seeing other people have downloaded the Mp3 file from the University of Hawaii Press website (even they don't mention a CD!). Perhaps the book used to come with a CD, but now they've switched to downloadable Mp3 files only. I gave this 4 stars instead of 5 because now I have to deal with the hassle of a winzip download.

I never learned another language, but I'm nuts about Korean culture in general and movies in particular. What I like about this book is that it takes pronunciation right down to the finest detail it seems. With diagrams and explanations of how the sounds are formed by the tongue, jaw, lips, voice box, etc.. and a very understandable CD with examples of how things should sound, it should insure that the correct pronunciation is learned. The book also touches on how the Korean language is spoken in everyday usage, that is, in the same way we often run words together and drop beginnings, endings, entire syllables in everyday conversation in English. I suppose one could just imitate phrases of chit chat and sound reasonably fluent without truly understanding the language, but if you are a person who likes to do things in a thorough manner, I would say that a book and CD like this are indispensable.

My only regret with this book is that I ought it used and it didn't come with the CD, which is kind of vital for sounds. Otherwise the book is great and very helpful, with diagrams of the mouth and descriptions of how to form sounds. It doesn't fail to mention practice on hearing sounds that the native english speaking ear isn't trained to hear, like the difference between ㅈ and ㅉ, or ㅔ and ㅐ.

It talks about a cd throughout the book but the cd doesn’t come with the book. The cd has to be downloaded separately. But this is a great book that really breaks down the language for beginners who are into the technicalities of the language.

I just bought the book but cannot find the cd. Is there an MP3 file I can download or does the book come with a separate CD?

These are my personal experiences. They may not be representative; actually they probably aren't.I bought the book because one year and three months into my Korean language course I still couldn't understand a single word of spoken Korean, although I could read and do all the school exercises.When I had read the book --and it is an easy read--, and I tried the listening exercises on consonants and vowels, I found I could do them 90% correctly the first time. So I wasn't learning much.But things became different when it came to the (inter-syllable) adjustments. They occur all over the place, there are many of them, and they can change the whole sound impression of a sentence. So I am now exercising these. I hope it helps; I expect it will.So the conclusion seems to be that there is something in this book for the learner on every level; and the book is thorough, as other reviewers have already pointed out.

As a linguist major I really appreciated this book, it helped me understand how to sound more natural using common terms in the field though I don't think it would be too confusing for those not familiar with linguistics. I think this book is a must if you like to have reference books and learn how to speak more natural.

A physical godsend for those wanting to master Korean pronunciation.

When i can get the cd or audiofile i coule rate it more then just 1 star