Korean Beginner 1

Develop the listening and speaking skills necessary for engaging in simple conversations about daily life. This beginner Korean course is perfect for those with no prior knowledge of Korean. This introduces the Korean alphabet (Hangeul), as well as a range of essential vocabulary and basic grammatical structures for everyday communication

Learn about culture and everyday life in modern Korea while practicing conversation in pairs and small groups. Strengthen your grammar and expand your vocabulary through classes that include a variety of interactive activities, audio recordings, videos, and worksheets.

By the end of the course, you’ll be able to:

• read and write the Korean alphabet, Hangeul, with basic familiarity use greetings suited to social situations
• ask and answer personal questions
• ask and answer the name of an item with demonstratives
• talk about someone’s possessions
• count items using Korean numbers and counters
• order food and beverages

Course outline

This is not a prescriptive list. Exact course outlines are determined by the instructor to best meet the needs of the class. This is meant to serve as a guideline and suggest what may be covered at this level. It is often necessary to repeat levels in order to become completely comfortable with the skills at each stage with a different teacher and style.

Communicative objectives

• Greet others using daily expressions
• Introduce yourself and others
• Describe another person
• Exchange telephone numbers
• Ask and answer questions about items (what/whose)
• Talk about someone’s profession
• Discuss hobbies and preferred activities (to do)
• Make requests
• Ask for and describe quantities; count
• Read and write the Korean alphabet, Hangeul

Linguistic objectives

• Understanding and familiarity with the sound and writing systems of Korean
• Development of pronunciation skills
• Topic–comment sentence
• Topic–comment sentence structure: negation
• Topic–comment sentence structure: questions
• Particles: the topic, subject, and possessive markers / noun connectives
• Conjugation: polite and honorific endings
• Demonstratives
• Numbers and noun counters
• Question words
• Expressing possession

Expected Effort

You can expect to spend about three hours per week attending live, virtual classes and completing course work on your own time. Expect double this amount during the intensive summer term.

Textbook

This course requires the purchase of the textbook I Love Korean: Student’s Book 1 (2019, Seoul National University, ISBN‑10: 8952128745). Students can purchase the textbook here: I Love Korean: Student’s Book 1. Lessons 1-5 will be covered in this course.

Course Format

This course is offered online and/or in-person. See Available Sessions for details on the course format.

Our online conversational courses offer a virtual classroom experience where you can see and interact with your teacher and classmates over Zoom. Log in at a set time to participate in individual, pair and group work, ask questions and receive feedback from your instructor.

Outside of class time, access course materials online at your own pace for up to three weeks after the course ends.

In-person classes are offered at UBC Robson Square in downtown Vancouver. 

Learn more about online learning at Extended Learning.

How am I assessed?

This is a non-credit course without letter or numerical grades. You receive verbal feedback on your conversation and grammar skills from your instructor during class. Written homework is typically corrected in class. Some lesson modules may include quizzes.

Record of completion

Students who have successfully completed a course can access completion documents two weeks after the course ends. Course completion means 80% attendance and/or 80% completion of mandatory assignments.

Technology requirements

For all languages classes, you’ll need access to the internet, a personal email account and an up-to-date web browser.

For online classes, you will also need a video camera and a microphone on your device.

The day before your course starts, you will receive an email with instructions on how to access the course.