Let's Learn Korean - koreanclass 101 review

Total words: 569

The EFL Geek a.k.a 왕음치 ( 王音癡) described a new KSL class online and I am in the process of giving it a try. Koreanclass101 is growing and currently has ‘newbie lessons’, beginner lessons and a little more (the audioblog seems geared toward stronger Korean ability). The site offers free podcasts and additional paid material. When you sign up, you get a free week of access to the premium material, including transcripts and review.

I am about to game the system. I don’t recommend this, but I will soon sign up with a second email address (doesn’t everyone have a handful of email accounts these days?) for a further week of free access to the full service. My trivial excuses are: 1) I’m doing this for you -helping give you a better account of the services offered, and 2) I was busy that week - it was a bad time to explore the content.

A more serious reason is that I have not yet found my true level in the material offered. Again, I was busy. Perhaps a level test is needed (is ‘level test’ a Konglish term -it rolls naturally off my tongue but I’m not sure). I would even accept a sort of eye test: “Can you read and understand this line?” “How about this line?” There’s not much point in cheating on a level test, after all.

I don’t mind, and probably need, review. I am not a ‘newbie’ but, well, false beginners are always hard to place.

Anyway, the podcasts are clear and stand alone well. The documentation prints out in good format, but I don’t really like PDF files. I would prefer a simple ‘.txt’ file that I could store in my phone’s ebook folder and read while listening on the bus. That would be handier than paper in my situation.

I found the audio wonderfully clear and having the proper tone. Keith and Sol are fun to listen to and sound like they are having fun. This is good, professional work, not like the audio I prepared a year ago and still plan to do more of.

Keith’s two emails to me, encouraging me to sign on with a premium account (about $25.00 or 25,000 won) were a little annoying in tone. I don’t begrudge his entrepreneurial spirit at all, but his “I know what you’re thinking” line was, indeed, annoying.

I would also like the individual podcasts to have clearer titles. A typical title is “003_B3_082707_kclass101.mp3”. I think this was lesson3 in beginner class and I suspect it was saved on July 27, 2007. That’s nice but I would prefer something like, “Beginner class 3 kclass101” or the like. I am not sure about class 3, but many of the classes have extra (paid) content so “Beginner class (main)” and “Beginner class (extra)”, “…(review)” and similar, more-meaningful titles.

This is a great site and the material is portable. The best purely online site in my view, is Sogang University’s KSL site. Facebook has a ‘Korean word of the day’, should you want more supplemental material.

I didn’t ‘game the system’ but I have downloaded a few more free episodes. I do recommend the site but strong beginners or better should wait as content is still being built up. I have decided not to pay for further content…yet. When further content is added, I plan to sign up for basic or premium content.

Posted by kwandongbrian on Wednesday Oct 31, 2007 in Korean around me Podcast Internet Resources | |

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트랙백:

I think this is a fair review...and here’s my two cents:

I joined a few weeks ago, and yes, as it is just getting started, most of the content is absolutely below my level. However, the audio blogs were what drew me in. They are very well done. Simple enough for me to get the gist at first listen, but complex enough to challenge my vocabulary and grammar.

I haven’t had the same file name problem you have, maybe because I am using iTunes, so each file on my ipod is labeled exactly like you’d expect.

While it might be hard to justify the cost if you are beyond “어디에 가요?” there is a road map to cater to stronger students. Check out “News #8” for details. Just last night they released the first in a new series of more advanced lessons. The intermediate lesson 1 is several steps above the newbie lessons, and focuses on some real natural conversation. While there still is plenty room for an advanced level, I don’t fault them since the site is quite young.

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난 한국어 잘 했으면 좋겠어요.

Posted by 오스틴 on Wednesday Oct 31, 2007 at 09:06 AM
A “level test” in proper English is a “proficiency test.”

Posted by Sonagi on Sunday Nov 18, 2007 at 03:23 AM
Actually a level test and a proficiency test are two different though similar things.

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호랑이 굴에들어가야 호랑이 새끼를 잡는다

Posted by 王音癡 on Sunday Nov 18, 2007 at 06:56 AM
I’ve just taken a look at the Koreanclass101 site for the first time and noticed that they offer “free TOPIK tests” at the Premium level.

They are free anyway, aren’t they?

Posted by 이유란 on Sunday Nov 25, 2007 at 06:55 PM
안녕하세요.

Posted by bluedog on Monday Feb 4, 2008 at 02:02 PM