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This guide points you to some of the Library's main resources that will support the Korean language classes on campus. It focuses on resources to help learn Korean, as well as resources that are IN Korean. For a list of Korean Language classes at Carleton see the undergraduate calendar.
- For students living in Ottawa, the Ottawa Public Library has a number of resources that can help with learning Korean.
NOTE: Print books can be requested through the Library's Curbside Pickup service
Language Dictionaries
- Cambridge dictionary: English-Korean
- Korean standard dictionary <print only>
- Korean business dictionary: English-Korean
- Lexilogos: Korean - type in your word, then choose which dictionary to look it up in
- Naver Korean-English dictionary - can listen to native pronunciation, also has other learning material
- Periplus pocket Korean dictionary: Korean-English English Korean
- Tuttle's learner Korean-English dictionary
- Tuttle pocket Korean dictionary: Korean-English English-Korean
- WordReference.com: has Korean-English/English-Korean dictionary as well as a language forum so you can ask questions and get answers
Grammars
- Essential Korean grammar: A comprehensive reference for learners at every level
- Essential Korean grammar: Your essential guide to speaking and writing fluently in Korean
- Intermediate Korean: A grammar and workbook
- Modern Korean grammar: A practical guide <print only>
- Reference grammars - used more as thorough references tools to teach someone about the language and to allow users to look up specific details of a language. (as opposed to learner or pedagogical grammars which are aimed more at students learning a language, tend to be simpler, more focus on usage of the language)
General
- 500 basic Korean verbs
- 500 common Korean idioms <print only>
- Advanced Korean
- Elementary Korean
- Korean
- Korean for beginners: Mastering conversational Korean
- The Korean language <print only>
- The Korean language: Structure, use, and context
- The Sounds of Korean
K-Pop
- K-Pop Live: Fans, Idols, and Multimedia Performance
- K-pop: popular music, cultural amnesia, and economic innovation in South Korea
- Made in Korea: Studies in popular music
- Pop City
Reading Books in Korean:
We do not really have a collection of Korean literature, in Korean. We have a number of items, in translation. So, here are some other sources for free Korean ebooks and other fiction.
- Ridibooks is an online Korean bookstore. A number of ebooks are available for free. Because the site is in Korean, use this guide which explains how to set up an account and find the free books.
- If you're looking for shorter items you can always try a site like asianfanfics and search for Hangul to find Korean language fan fiction
- Naver's webnovel/webtoon site - for intermediate level, but a lot is available for free
Books in our Collection
Other Resources
- Learn Hangul
- Learn the Korean alphabet and read the Hangul characters
- Learn to read, write, and pronounce Korean
- Scripts- Hangul - download app that lets you practice writing Hangul with your finger on screen
- StudyStack-Korean - if your an old-school flashcard kind of person, this has a number of different flashcard sets for Hangul, e.g. Hangul consonants. A number of options from standard flashcards, to matching, to quizzes...
Scholarly journal articles
- Omni: our easy-to-use search tool, right on the Library home page. You can limit results by language OR
- You can search some of our other recommended databases:
- Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts (LLBA) : for more linguistics related articles (e.g. grammar, syntax, morphology etc) as well as other language related aspects
- ERIC: for articles related to teaching and learning of Korean
- Scholars Portal Journals: a full-text collection of thousands of scholarly journals, covers all subject areas
- Web of Science Core Collection : Don't let the name fool you: covers social sciences topics too. You'll be able to see if other articles have cited the ones you find in your search
News & Magazine Sources
We subscribe to a number of databases that have the full text of magazines, newspapers, and and other news sources from around the world
- Factiva full text news from around the world. Some important notes for finding material in Korean
- To find the most resources you need to search using Korean characters. If you search using English words results are more limited because only extra information such as subject terms are in English. The full text of the news items are in Korean.
- Note that the default date limit is "in the last 3 months", so change as needed
- You can choose one or more specific sources to search, example: Chosun Ilbo, Korean edition
- You can choose to search news sources from one or more cities, countries, or regions. Example: sources just from Seoul
- Very important: Remove the default language= English and add language = Korean
- Nexis Uni - To find the most resources you need to search using Korean characters. If you search using English words results are more limited because only extra information such as subject terms are in English. The full text of the news items are in Korean. You can then filter results to specific regions or specific sources. All dates are included by default
- Press Reader - access over 5000 newspapers and magazines from over 100 countries. 90 day backfile only. Language or country can be selected from the menu on the left, and then subcategories by topic. There are about a dozen titles in Korean.
- Chosun Ilbo - one of the top South Korean newspapers. English Edition and Korean edition
- BBC News - Korean
- Korea JoongAng Daily - Bilingual News - this Korean newspaper produces some news stories with both English and Korean transcripts. Look for the articles with KOR. The audio is in English, but you can practice your reading by using the bilingual transcripts
- Kids Donga - for beginners, current news, but since intended for children the language is simpler than a regular news source.
Our Collection:
- Do a Keyword search in Omni for a specific title or by topic.
- Once you get your results, limit the "Resource Type" to "videos" . (NOTE: you will probably have to click on the "Show More" to see the video options)
- Limit the language to Japanese
- If you only want to see videos available via online streaming, limit the "Availability" to "Available online"
- You can request physical DVDs through our Curbside Pick-up service.
- We also have 2 streaming video database you can search
- Films on Demand
- Kanopy - films not already part of our collection can be requested
Other Video Sources
- YouTube: you can find a vast amount of free Korean language videos and KPop videos. Don't forget you can use the YouTube settings to slow down the speed. Some channels that might be of interest:
- Easy Korean - good for beginners
- KoreanClass101 - all levels
- Korean Unnie - Your own big sister to take you around and show you the language as it’s used in a real setting.
- SBS Culture - from Seoul Broadcasting Service. Intermediate, has descriptions of videos in English. You can turn on English subtitles, some of the narration has Korean subtitles on screen.
- EBS documentary - for high intermediate to advanced, from Korea's Educational Broadcasting System. Documentaries are in Korean with Korean subtitles
- BANGTANTV - BTS official channel and BLACKPINK official channel
- Rakuten VIKI- Korea - streaming service for Korean films and shows, some free episodes available
- Your favourite video streaming service, for example:
- Netflix: just search "Korean" and you'll get a large selection of TV shows and movies. Note that sometimes they may default to an English dubbed version, so just change the audio to Korean and then choose your preferred subtitles: English or Korean.
- Prime Video: search "Korean". Some may only have audio in Korean with English subtitles (i.e no option for Korean subtitles)
Listening to KPop and other Korean music and following along with lyrics, can be a great way to improve your language skills, especially with pronunciation. Listening to audio podcasts is another way to get your ear familiar with rhythm, tone, flow of a language
General sources & Podcasts:
- KBS World Radio app - download the app to get news podcasts, Korean learning podcasts etx.
- KoreanClass101.com - you can set up an account for free and ignore their attempts to get you to upgrade to premium. If you go to their Lesson Library you can select "audio" and a category. For example they have "Absolute Beginner Season 1" with 25 episodes
- Korean listening pactice - app for Android OR Talk to me in Korean app for iOS
- Let's learn Korean - from the Korean Broadcasting System. 20 different audio lessons. Includes vocabulary and transcripts
- Ottawa Public Library: Mango Audio and text, each language course consists of 100 lessons. You must use your Ottawa Public library username and password to access Mango (anyone who lives in the city of Ottawa can get a free username and password, contact your local branch )
- The OPL has many other language learning resources: browse by going to their advanced search screen, search "Korean" and limit Collections to "adult language learning"
Music & Lyrics:
- Klyrics - Korean
- Youtube: keyword search a song, artist, "Korean", or "KPop" with the word "lyrics" to find lyric videos. Don't forget you can use the YouTube settings to slow down the speed. A couple of examples:
Curate your own playlist, or discover curated playlists of Korean language music using your preferred way of listening to music, here are some examples:
- Spotify : KPop- playlist. You don't need to pay for a Spotify account, the free version will just have ads added.
- Tune in: Korean music - lists a number of Korean radio stations you can stream live
