Korean is the official language of two countries – South and North Korea. Due to mass migration by Korean nationals over the past few decades, there are large groups of people speaking this language in various parts of the world such as the United States, Canada and Australia. It is also the official language in certain parts of China as well. Before the 15 century, a system of writing with letters borrowed from the Chinese language called Hanja was used to write this language. During the 15 century, a unique writing system was developed for the Korean language called Hangul, which is still in use today.
There are many reasons why someone might be interested in learning the Korean language; maybe they are expecting to travel to either North or South Korea for work-related purposes or on a short holiday. A person could just simply want to learn the language as they find it interesting and alluring or they might even have a life partner whose native tongue might be Korean, creating in them the desire to learn the language to be able to communicate with their spouse in his/her own language. Or perhaps you are learning the Korean martial art Tae Kwon Do.
Going to regular classes and being taught by a teacher is without doubt the conventional and most efficient way of learning Korean or any other language for that matter. Unfortunately, our fast paced lives do not provide most of us with the luxury of time to embark on such an endeavor.
Relying on various self learning tools such as books and CDs that teach Korean is the next best option for someone interested in learning the language without attending regular classes. With the advent of the Internet, various online courses that aim to teach languages such as Korean online have cropped up. All that a learner needs is a computer and an Internet connection; they can learn the Korean language from the comfort of their homes, in their leisure time and as fast or as slow as they wish to learn it.
There are many free resources that can be used to learn basic Korean; Learn-Korean.net is one such free site that offers about 15 basic lessons in Korean that cover a range of topics such as alphabets, grammar and sentence formation. This website also features a Korean dictionary and encyclopedia and has useful information about the Koreas in general, about Korean language classes and Korean language learning material that can be bought online.
Koreanclass101.com is also an excellent resource that has both free and paid language learning resources. It teaches Korean via audio podcasts; Along with podcasts, this site uses a variety of tools such as PDF transcripts, voice recorders, vocabulary and grammar quizzes and flash cards to make learning Korean an engrossing experience. Listening to all the lessons through the podcasts is completely free; access to the PDFs and other resources will require a Standard or a Premium subscription. It is clear that learning Korean online is the most flexible, economical and interesting way to learn this language.
