FSI Korean Basic Course (new)

With around 77 million native speakers, Korean is the official language of both North and South Korea and is an official minority language in parts of northern China. Pockets of speakers can also be found in Russia as well as parts of Central Asia.

Korean is a fascinating language. As a language isolate, it is unrelated to any other languages – it is completely different from Japanese or Chinese, the languages of its closest neighbors.

Its script, Hangul, may look formidable at first, but in fact, it is supposedly one of the most perfect writing systems ever devised and can be mastered in only a few days.

Learning Korean will give you access to a country that is at the same time brashly modern and fiercely traditional. K-pop and Korean drama are popular throughout East Asia and the wider world, yet South Korea is also a deeply conservative country that maintains ancient traditions.

North Korea, on the other hand, is all but inaccessible to outsiders, but learning the language could also be a way of gaining a greater understanding of this so-called hermit kingdom.

Korean is a popular language to learn, especially in East Asia, so there are plenty of resources to turn to. However, this free online Korean course should be an invaluable addition to any study materials you decide to use.

Course Details

What is the FSI Korean Basic Course?

This FSI Korean basic course first appeared in 1968, but despite its age, it is one of the easier FSI courses to study. It provides a highly comprehensive introduction to the Korean language and consists of two parts, comprising a total of almost 50 units and many hours of audio.

In the first part, a system of transliteration is used, but since Hangul is so easy to master, the second part is written only in Korean script with an English translation next to it.

This means that, unlike many other FSI courses, you will be able to use this material to practice reading Korean rather than just speaking and listening.

How was FSI Korean Basic originally used?

FSI Korean was originally created for US diplomatic staff who needed to learn the language before being sent to postings abroad.

They had around 20 hours of class time per week, during which they spoke only Korean, and they were also expected to complete at least two hours of personal study per day.

Even when they weren’t studying, they were expected to speak only Korean among themselves, and in these perfect conditions, they were able to reach a high level of proficiency in Korean in around only six months.

How can you use FSI Korean Basic?

Although you probably can’t recreate anything like the conditions enjoyed by US diplomats, if you know how to adapt them to your needs, you can benefit greatly from the wealth of learning materials found in this FS Korean course.

If you are studying Korean with another coursebook, you can use the dialogs and drills contained in this course to work on your pronunciation and fluency.

Alternatively, since this material is so well-written and easy to use, you could use it as your primary source of Korean language input, supplementing it with any other material you can find.

Taking it further

Volume 1

Student Text (Original)

Unit	Audio
Introduction	Audio
Unit 01	Audio
Unit 02	Audio
Unit 03	Audio
Unit 04	Audio
Unit 05	Audio
Unit 06	Audio
Unit 07	Audio
Unit 08	Audio
Unit 09	Audio
Unit 10	Audio
Unit 11	Audio
Unit 12	Audio
Unit 13	Audio
Unit 14	Audio
Unit 15	Audio
Unit 16	Audio
Unit 17	Audio
Unit 18	Audio