Pimsleur Korean Conversational Course - Level 1 Lessons 1-16 CD: Learn to Speak and Understand Korean with Pimsleur Language Programs (1)

I tried several apps, but got tired of "required" payment memberships, internet connectivity, or novelty graphics. As a commuter, I needed something I could listen to and practice while driving and not worry about having a constant mobile phone connection. Pimsleur hit the mark. I enjoy the repetition and phonetic break down of words and sentences which help with proper pronunciation.

The last disk didn't have the language programs. It had 12 random songs. Another disk was unreadable for the last 10 mins. I think it was a return that they sent out again.

I am working my way through this CD course. I have used language learning recordings before, and so far this is the most effective of them. I am impressed that as a native English speaker, never having studied an Asian language before, I seem to being learning conversational Korean without much difficulty. *** After working all 16 lessons, here are some observations. I found that the idea of one lesson a day was unrealistic, because one time through the lesson was not nearly enough to learn the lesson. As the course goes on, the amount of information in each lesson seemed to me to increase, so that by lesson 16, it was difficult the first time through even to clearly hear each syllable of what was by that point several new phrases per lesson. That meant that each lesson had to be reviewed several times. By lesson 6, I began to listen to the lesson several times, and then go through it with a Korean-English/English-Korean dictionary making notes of the new material. I had by that point taught myself the Korean alphabet (Hangul - fairly simple actually) and took notes in both the Roman alphabet and Hangul. The process of writing things down was very helpful in making information "stick". Still, by the end of lesson 16, having invested 4 months and quite likely 100 hours, I found I still need to go back and review the entire course from start to finish. I am still giving this a 5 star rating, but I have come to believe that it is - at least for me - going to be most effective if I approach it like a college language course. So, I am treating the first 16 lessons as the first semester of the first year. I have already purchased the remaining 14 lessons in Pimsleur's Korean level one, and plan to work those when I have mastered the first 16.

It is very easy to follow. I can't wait to finish so that I can show off! Pimsleur language courses have always worked for me, Turkish, French, and now Korean. The only thing is you need to converse with someone who speaks the language to keep it up. Other than that, I love Pimsleur!! (what i am holding has nothing to do with this, it was just the first pic I could find!)

I love this course! One thing happened though, my last CD was actually a music CD with the wrong label. Great music though! Being it was my last two lesson CD, I called Pimsleur. They said they no longer service CD purchases, but offered me a free replacement on their app and I could download on my phone. Within minutes, I was back in the game!!! Thank you for great customer service! Anyokeseyo! (I haven’t learned to spell in Korean yet!!)

Pimsleur audio language lessons don't have the same ease of the Michel Thomas CDs I've purchased over the years. But, one of the strengths of the Thomas method is associating English and the foreign (European) language's roots, to assist with vocabulary. This won't apply with Korean, so that's not a criticism. But, it probably could flow better than the syllable by syllable approach. As someone else had written, the 8th of the 8 CDs is a music disc, and NOT a Korean language lesson. I called Pimsleur customer service TWICE, and never received a replacement CD. That's even after they acknowledged that my request had been "processed". Before the return window expired, I contacted the seller, who was professional enough to accept a return, as what they shipped was the only CD set that had. I guess that I'll never know what might have been on that 8th disc. Had Pimsleur kept their word, I would be evaluating the set, as I would have been happy to keep it.

Overall, it was worthwhile. The first 7 CDs were fine. When I put in disk 8, however, it was music and NOT a continuation of the Korean language course. Would've been nice to have those final two lessons I PAID FOR and expected on the final disk.

I'm going to have to go to Korea for business in a few weeks, but I've given up on this set of CDs. The Korean speakers are very hard to understand and speak far too fast. The main problem though is that the phrases they teach are not what a Korean expects to hear. The phrase for "did you come from America?" is given as a statement, instead of with a -ka ending to make it a question. You can make the given phrase a question by rising tone at the end, but why not just give the -ka ending? I work with many Korean speakers and they have a difficult time understanding what I'm learning on my morning drive, because the phrases are unusual and not normal conversational Korean.

Phenomenal product! We are finally able to hear and speak Hangul. Saw results in 2 lessons. Feeling confident. The native speakers break it down, use proper pronunciation and later speak at full speed so we can converse in real conversations. Thank you for this amazing program!

This is an excellent product, simple to follow and use and you can make rapid progress in just a short time.