Languages.Org.Au - Korean

Why learn Korean

Korean is spoken as a first language by more than 80 million people, according to Ethnologue. It is one of the four key Asian languages for Australian languages education. As a language using the phonetic Hangul system, the Korean alphabet makes Korean easier to learn than ideographic systems used by some languages. South Korea is one of Australia's most important trading partners. This has been highlighted by the visit to Australia of the South Korean president in December 2021. It is a leading player in manufacturing and information technology, as illustrated by the high profiles of car manufacturers such as Hyundai and phone makers such as Samsung.

According to the Korean Ministry of Education, as of mid-2021, approximately 160,000 students at 1,699 elementary and middle schools in 39 countries were learning Korean. There are significant numbers of Korean community members in Australia, and in some urban centres in Australia, Korean cuisine is the most frequently represented in restaurants. Korean culture is increasingly popular in the west, evidenced by such phenomena as K-Pop and K-drama.

Links to Languages.Org.Au Korean resources

CAL Korean 2022 – Semester 1

CAL Korean 2022 – Semester 2

CAL Korean 2023 – Semester 1

CAL Korean 2023 – Semester 2

Guides, online courses and tutorial resources

These are listed alphabetically.

Asia Education Foundation – AEF delivers informative resources, national and international professional learning, innovative programs and rich networks that connect Australian schools with 23 countries across Asia-Pacific.
Duo Lingo Learn Korean – Learn Korean, for speakers of English. On the page at this URL, select "Learn" at the top, then either choose "Alphabet 1" or "Placement test" to get started. You can choose a profile to enable Duolingo to track your
King Sejong Institute – Useful links and resources for learners of Korean.
Korean 101 – This site is designed as a starting point for people who want to learn more about the Korean language.
KoreanPod101.com – This is another resource, distinct from the one listed above. There are two types of signup: free or premium.
Linguanaut Learn Korean – Linguanaut offers free Korean lessons online, from Phrases, Alphabet, Numbers, Adjectives
Mango Languages – Learn Korean – You may be able to access the full version through your ACT library membership.
Omniglot links for Korean – Useful links for learners of Korean – links from a wide variety of sources.
Omniglot useful phrases in Korean A collection of useful phrases in Korean with sound files for some of them.

Reference

Online sources to look up words and phrases – a quick option is to run a Google search with the required expression in English followed by the words "in Korean", eg accommodation in Korean, then select from sources (some of which also provide an audio version of the Korean) such as the ones listed below (listed here alphabetically).

Cambridge English-Korean Dictionary – Type the expression to be translated into the search field.
Naver Dictionary (네이버 사전 | neibeo sajeon) – This dictionary is a great go-to application and website for when you’re searching for accurate Korean and English translations. In addition to English, you can find the dictionary website to hold many other language options, from Korean to English. This dictionary offers you example sentences, the specific word.
Daum Dictionary (다음 어학사전 | daeum eohaksajeon) – The online English Korean and Korean English dictionary by Daum functions very similarly to the Naver dictionary. When you search for a term, it offers you all its known meanings. And if you search by entering a sentence, it breaks down the sentence into separate terms.
Papago (파파고 | papago) – Papago is one of the best Korean translator apps out there, which is provided by Naver. This Korean Translator specializes in offering accurate Korean translation for Korean sentences into English and other languages. This means that it is not exactly a Korean English dictionary. However, you can use it to check the meaning of a complete sentence or translate how something you’d wish to say can be said in Korean.
Systran online translation – This uses Systran machine translation technology for translation between languages.

News and current affairs

These are listed alphabetically.

BBC News – Korean – News in Korean from the BBC.
Korean Today – Australian news and Korean community in Korean
Naver News – All sorts of News in Korean.
Daum News – All sorts of News in Korean.
SBS Korean News – Available as podcasts/vodcasts.

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