매튜의 한국어 연습 블로그

Title: Integrated Korean: Beginning 2 (Klear Textbooks in Korean Language)
Author: Hyo Sang Lee, Carol Schulz, Ho-Min Sohn, Sung-Ock Sohn, Young-Mee Cho 
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press; illustrated edition (September 2000)
ISBN-13: 978-0824823436 

Out of all the self-paced textbooks available, this series isn't perfect but it does get the job done. This particular textbook (Beginning Level 2) is very useful and contains some of the best explanations of Korean grammar I've ever seen. If you are a native English speaker and want to learn Korean grammar and incidental vocabulary, pick up this book.

Remember this textbook is designed to be used in a classroom; namely the University of Hawaii. It outlines the goals, vocabulary and grammar points quite well and actually fits a self-paced and self-determined student quite well outside of the classroom. The chapters are logically laid out and are never too difficult to follow. This book not only takes it slow, but systemically explains and compares previous grammar points to avoid confusion.

Like the other books in the series, the publication date is dated and needs an update. Almost ten years since the last one. However, unlike the previous book in the series (Beginning Level 1) this book stays pretty natural throughout the text. The situations are mostly quite believable and the appropriate level of speech is used most of the time. I found myself pleasantly surprised at the scripts. It rarely felt like a textbook in that it didn't feel dry.

All in all, it's a relatively cheap and easily obtainable self-study resource for explaining Korean grammar in English. I highly recommend it as an additional if not primary resource for studying Korean.

Title: Integrated Korean: Beginning 1 (Klear Textbooks in Korean Language)
Author: Hyo Sang Lee, Carol Schulz, Ho-Min Sohn, Sung-Ock Sohn, Young-Mee Cho 
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press (June 2000)
ISBN-13: 978-0824823429   

Out of all the self-paced textbooks available, this series isn't perfect but it does get the job done. This particular textbook (Beginning Level 1) is actually a bit advanced in terms of being "newbie" friendly. Frankly saying, it's not for absolute beginners. But I wouldn't dismiss it just yet. It's got a lot to offer.

Remember this textbook is designed to be used in a classroom; namely the University of Hawaii. It outlines the goals, vocabulary and grammar points quite well and actually fits a self-paced and self-determined student quite well outside of the classroom. The chapters are logically laid out and are never too difficult to follow. This book takes it slow. Another good thing about this book is the optional workbook that accompanies it which contains one of the best worksheets for learning to read and write 한글.

My only gripe is the publication date: 2001. Ouch. The other problem is that this book, like countless others, tends to be a bit too polite at first to be functional in a real life setting. The presentation is almost robotic in the first few chapters. But fear not, the book does grow out of it later and is much more native sounding by the next textbook (Beginning Level 2).

All in all, it's a relatively cheap and easily obtainable self-study resource for explaining Korean grammar in English. I highly recommend it as an additional if not primary resource for studying Korean. 
UPDATE: new edition as of Nov 2009! ISBN: 978-0824834401

Another short but sweet one. This one is something I've been searching for. I have a tendency to use "전에" and "후에" a lot in spoken Korean. However, it's more of a written expression. Using "후에" to express what will happen later isn't the worst thing one can do but it certainly isn't very native sounding. Therefore, the language nerd student rejoiced when I found this. I hope I can adopt it and similar expressions natively.

~고 나서, as you might have guessed, is used when one event has just finished and another is coming. But, how does this differ from vanilla "고" and "아/어서"? Seems we need a brief summary before going on:

(고)
오늘 친구가 만나고 영화 봤어요.
Today I met my friend and I saw a movie (but the friend didn't come with me).
The two events are not related. Both are in the past, though. Sequential order not implied (maybe I met my friend first or maybe I saw a movie first. Doesn't matter because we didn't see the movie together. It's just a recollection of stuff that happened today)

(아/어서)
오늘 친구가 만나서 영화 봤어요.
Today I met my friend and we saw a movie together.
The two events are related in sequential order. First I met my friend, and then we saw a movie.

The "~고 나서" grammar point is similar but has a vital difference. In this case, the first event (A) is already finished before the second event (B) will take place. The book I'm using gives a great example:

스티브는 저녁을 먹고 나서 도서관에 가서 공부를 해요.
After Steve eats dinner, he goes to the library to study.

Let's take a look at some other examples:
A: 언제 숙제 했어요? when did you do your homework?
B: 점심 먹고 나서 했어요. I did it after lunch, jerky.

A: 샤워 하고 나서 여친한테 전화 할 거야 After I take a shower, I'll call my girlfriend

Actually, I'm not super confident with the last grammar point. someone correct me.

I ran across this grammar point in my Integrated Korean - Beginning 2 textbook. Not riveting or anything but I would like to try it out. It essentially means "I am thinking of doing such-and-such" or "I might do such-and-such"

It seems this verb stem is used to show the speaker's intent in the future. If you are not exactly sure what you're going to do, then this verb stem is appropriate. That is how it differs from (으)ㄹ게요. Some examples:

A: 피곤해보예요. 괜찮니? You look tired. You okay?
B: 그래? 오늘 일찍 잘까 해요. Really? I'll probably go to bed early (tonight).

A: 비 와서 우산 살까 해요 Since it's raining, I might buy an umbrella (but maybe not)

A: 날씨 더워서 좀 이따가 샤워할까 해요 Since the weather's hot, in a little bit I might take a shower.

A: 저녁에 뭐 할 거예요? what're you going to do tonight?
B: 집에서 영화이나 불까 해요  I'm thinking about watching a movie