Finally I am at least somewhere in the book and now I have sufficient information to write a review I think I am happy with and maybe will help people who are thinking of getting the Yonsei series books an idea on what the book/s are, and what they contain ^^
If you want to get to my conclusion and not read the whole thing ^^ just scroll to the end 🙂
Pros
- really good quality paper
- supplement mp3 audio CD for all dialogues
- vocabulary section is actually really nice
- the ‘culture’ write-ups at the end of chapters is very nice and informative!
- exercises galore ^(^_^)^
- the illustrations are very very nice!
Cons
- No answer key
- written in Korean (no English in this volume)
- not enough grammar in the book
- the books are actually a bit expensive
- may not be suitable for some people who are self-studying*
Let’s start with the good things this book has first 🙂
This book is printed with some really nice glossy high-quality paper and although it sounds silly but I like books that are printed on soft and glossy paper ^^ makes it more attractive to look at and study from ㅋㅋ? and the illustrations in the book are so wonderful its actually one of the first things I noticed about the book to me my favourite bit of illustration in the book is a ‘comic’ set-up just like Naver Webtoons has!
Pictures like that are engaging to a learner, makes you feel less anxious about the book even though its hard ; the pictures help you to see the words in a contextual manner ^^ as opposed to a black-and-white textbook you have to guess your way to a meaning.
The CD. Must be the best thing about any Yonsei Korean book I think because what causes some issues with self-studying Korean? Not knowing if you are pronouncing words in a natural manner, correct! But if you have an mp3 audio recording of the presenting dialogues then you are pretty much on the road to repair with Korean pronunciation. The CD has two tracks for the same presenting dialogues the first one reads the dialogue in natural speed then the second track is a ‘follow along’ so the Korean speaker speaks then gives you enough time to repeat what she/he has just said and this I am seriously loving I actually find myself doing this several times a-day ㅋㅋㅋ
Vocabulary section I’m not big on vocabulary so I was a little mad that there was such a substantial amount of words ; but now I like vocabulary and I find it calming to know I pick it up faster! The first chapter actually had 31 words of which I only knew about 1/4 of them xD although I wish that the vocabulary glossary or the list had 한자 in brackets. That would be really nice but sadly it doesn’t. Its not a knock on the book however 🙂 Overall I think the book has a total of 288 words ~
I counted them….I don’t know why just wanted to know how many they were ㅎㅎㅎ
Grammar section Not much grammar ㅠ.ㅠ but still there is 37 grammar points to be learned (of which I knew none) and they are presented in a nice way ; first the dialogue then there is a few places where there are exercises where you have to write the correct vocabulary words (these are called : 알맞은 어휘를 쓰십시오) and I find those really fun because it making you think of a word in a place you probably would never have though of.
Culture (문화) living where I do I don’t get a lot of Korean culture all I know is either from K-dramas (not reliable) podcasts (somewhat reliable depending on source) and books which to me seem to be the most reliable especially when it comes direct from a Korean university ^(^_^)^ Back on topic. In this book there are 문화 write-ups after every chapter! I actually started reading from the back with the 문화 (munhwa) culture.
Informative. Easy to verify in Google. Fun.
So many exercises There are so many exercises in Yonsei books (don’t know about other levels but this one is good) I have two that I really really like and I wish they were in 90% of Korean textbooks one is actually. The 알맞은 어휘 (correct word) is usually in most Korean textbooks but so far as I have seen not to this extent in one single chapter the Yonsei book can have almost 5 of these which is so lovely really. Then there is the “Interview” and although this is meant to be done in a classroom setting I find perfect to do on my own ~ what’s wrong with asking yourself a question (from the book) then creating a scenario in your heard of what you would answer if you were not YOU! Basically I see it as an opportunity to make up things and find ways of saying things in Korean I wouldn’t even think about. In terms of exercises I can hands-down has exercises for anyone. Definitely something for everyone’s learning style.
Dialogue the dialogues are not very long, actually they are the same length as the dialogues in Integrated Korean: Beginning 1 which is a little disappointing but there is a lot of new words incorporated and lots of grammar which is used in many different ways to help understand what the grammar can express.
Now for the ‘not so good’ sections of Yonsei Korean 4-1 >.<
No answer key Personally I don’t mind that there is no answer key, sometimes it irritates me and sometimes I see it as a good point, I can’t peak on answers 😀 #mixedthoughts. Although I have to say it is a downside either way, means its not exactly suitable for self-study usage but you can learn to get used to it and appreciate it but I don’t think you can do that when it gets to higher levels (Levels 5 to 6) for Yonsei 4-1 I can handle it /challenge though ^^
So, the no answer key is a downside for someone who is self-studying they have no way of knowing if their answers are correct ; just can’t check them! >.<
No English …anywhere The level I chose (4-1) is written in complete Korean there is no English in this book whatsoever. English is only available from Level 1 to Level 3 ; then from 4-1 upwards the explanations are only offered in Korean. Which is a challenge ^^
Yonsei books are pricey >.< These books are actually very expensive in my opinion one level is put in two volumes (4-1 and 4-2) which is about 30$ for one book which = 60$ for two books plus if you add the shipping it would be close to 90$ for one level ㅠ.ㅠ
Then, you would probably want to get the ‘Workbook’ for each level which is reasonable at least at about $17 at most online stores 🙂 that is a good price to me hehe~
Conclusion
I give it four stars (****)
The book is good I would buy it actually. The lack of an answer key gives us as self-study learners a disadvantage because we won’t know where we are going wrong if there is no one for us to ask. The lack of English explanations would make it harder to study with as well! But there are a lot of dictionaries and books you can get to help with all that, even just asking someone can help. I myself use Yonsei together with Korean Grammar In Use when I study, and it helps to clarify some things ^^
The dialogues are really good ^^ good reading practice too.The CD provides a great way to practice pronunciation with the “follow along” exercise. However it does leave gaps ^^ because their is no English u.u
ISBN : 978-89-97578-92-4
ISBN: 978-89-97578-91-7 (SET)
RECOMMENDED PRICE : 20,000원
Feel free to leave your opinions 🙂
It’s expensive because we pay for it’s very good quality paper and look how colorful it is! 갖고 싶다. 난 돈이 많았으면 좋겠다.
I never thought of it like that ^^ 저도 돈이 많았으면 꼭 살 거예요 🙂
어머 I typed it’s instead of its.ㅎㅎㅎ
Yonsei books are really expensive including the shipping. But I bought Yonsei book 2-2 from the korean language course in my country, so i paid $36
You are lucky there isn’t a Korean language Course Centre in my country so I have to buy everything online ㅠ.ㅠ
Ah, explanations only in Korean? orz One day… one day…
How much do you feel you’re getting from the book? Does it feel like you’re putting more in trying to understand the book rather than learning from it or does it feel like it challenges you in a way that makes you retain more information? I’m still like @.@ on whether or not to try their textbooks later. XD I love their reading books and fell in love with Ewha recently, but I still want to try the challenge of using a Yonsei book. Oh! Also, do you think it’s best to use these with the workbooks or no? I’ve kinda abandoned workbooks. >.> It just happened all of a sudden. Maybe because it reminds me of school.
I think the workbook of Yonsei series seem better. First, it provides us with many exercises and also the answer keys. The exercises vary from vocabulary, grammar, reading , listening to writing skill.
It even provides a list of onomatopoeic words, 한자성어, 속담,관용어 and exercises for those parts.
I think I can self-study and benefit from the workbook rather than the textbook. ^^
Woah. :O That sounds like a really good workbook then. I’ll keep that in mind for when I decide to try the series.
Yeah only in Korean ㅠ.ㅠ the Korean actually pains me too hahaha ~ like you one day I will be comfortable with it ^^
I’m going to answer your questions lol ~ I feel like I am learning a lot, the sections I see improvements on most are reading/understanding and pronunciation followed by vocabulary! Sometimes it does feel like I am putting more than I am getting out of it but still I am putting that effort and even though I don’t see improvements and progress right away I know I will see it soon if I just continue with the process, and yes it does challenge me but it doesn’t actually affect the way I retain the information I still sometimes forget stuff like any other textbook. This one though I tend to remember more vocabulary than anything else. I actually want to try Ewha textbooks as well but I won’t but anything till I finish with the ones I have otherwise I will be half-way on every textbook I have and that will get very overwhelming for me ㅋㅋㅋ I don’t have the workbooks but I am buying them soon so I will say another time 😀
Thanks for answering my horde of questions, haha. It seems like Yonsei’s textbooks are one of those things where you really have to give it a try to know if you’ll love it, hate it, or feel “meh” about it.
I’m gonna be half-way on every book I have too. It’s like it’s imprinted in my DNA and I need to rewrite it. XD
Thanks for the review. 🙂 We’d like to reblog the post but how can we do? Cannot find the reblogging button.T_T
You can just copy the whole article if you want and do a pingback (link) 😉 and it my pleasure I am enjoying the book 😀
okay-
Woah! I never new that Yonsei 4 and up doesn’t have English translations haha! Anyways, I think Yonsei books are really great. For me, the perfect combination with Yonsei books are GOOD Korean language instructors. I agree with your point that Yonsei books seem quite difficult for people who are self-studying Korean but I think it can give them more challenge to improve without the help of instructors. Yonsei’s Level 4 books suites Intermediate to Advance learners the most. I wonder what’s the difference of the new set of Yonsei textbooks from the old version.
Haha neither did I actually when I chose this book I had no clue, boy did I get a shock when I saw it /scream but either way I saw it as a good learning curve I wanted to step up and work harder because I am prone to laziness and this was just what I needed. To be thrown into the deep-end of Korean language learning ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Yeah I do believe they are good too but I want to leave it open to try new book/series to find whats best for me although so far I love Yonsei 🙂
I like challenges so that is actually another reason to like Yonsei books, like you said it gives your a challenge because the lack of instructor means you have to put some real effort into making it ‘work’ for you. Yes it does, and I don’t consider myself Intermediate lol ~
Haha! I don’t actually know the diff between new and old version ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Thanks for the comment 🙂
Hey Kay! I’m always inspired by your intense passion for studying Korean! And Congrats on reaching this level！나도 이제 연세 4책을 보면서 공부해. 근데 시건이 완전 부족해서 공부할 시건이 별로 없어 ㅠㅠ 블로그를 계속해서 잘해~^3^ I always read your blog.
Lindie! ㅋㅋㅋㅋ 오랜만이네요 ^^ Thanks although the 연세 books are actually hard ~ but in a good way it gives me a challenge 😀 네! 계속 잘 할거예요 🙂
If you were to start at level 1 and go through the books, by the time you get to level 4 do you know enough to be able to understand the instructions (even if its in korean?)
I would assume so (I’m not certain!) but from Book 1 its beginner with one curriculum and working through to book 4 it would be logical to have acquired the skills to understand it, although I would still say use more than one resource as you are working so you know ‘more’ Korean to understand Book 4. I myself don’t ‘fully’ know all words I have to look some up ~ good luck and hope I helped in some way 🙂
Thanks haha yeah it was helpful! 🙂
Good!
Hello do you have the book for yonsei korean 2-2 audio cd? I bought the book but the book 2-2 audio cd is spoilt. Do you think you can share with me the mp3 you have downloaded from the disc? As i could not find it anywhere else on the internet. Your help is deeply appreciated!
Hello. I am so sorry but I don’t have the Yonsei 2-2 book I only have Yonsei 4-1! ;; I’m so sorry. But if I find it I will let you know.
http://product.dangdang.com/1195716423.html
Hey. thanks for the blog. I am Chinese now living in the US. I bought yonsei 1-6 http://product.dangdang.com/1195716423.html
here. Including international shipping(takes 4 days), I only paid $110.
Hello, When you said it has good quality, glossy paper, do you mean that the paper is like photography paper? (the type of paper which makes some people cringe?) I’ve been thinking about getting this book for a long period of time now, but I’ve been wondering about the type of paper they use as some types of paper make me cringe.
Thanks in advance~~
It’s like a lighter form of photo paper yes. And glossy like photo paper which is nice but sucks with highlighters.
Ah i see, thanks for the info!! I might have to rethink whether i want to buy them then.. but i really want to buy them *-* haha