First of all, I'd like to admit that I don't own the book, but I used the Look Inside feature to sample it. I've been living in Korea for over 10 years, and have learned to speak Korean reasonably well. This book may serve someone who is casually interested in Korean, but for someone who really wants to learn Korean, it has at least one obvious drawback. The words aren't written in Korean. Korean has it's own phonetic writing system which is very easy to learn (I taught my mother the basics in only 2 hours). Furthermore, Korean pronunciation is significantly different from English that trying to write Korean words in English (or vice versa) is pretty futile.

If you just want to scan through, pick up a couple phrases like "Hello" and "Thank you", along with some cultural tips, this book would probably be fine for you. If you're really looking to study Korean, go elsewhere.

Usually, I don't read any of the "... For Dummies" books, because that's a pretty strong word to use. But, this one caught my attention.

As a tae kwon do student, we learn phrases and other basics in the Korean language. But, often, I've wondered the background of the words, and the cultural details.

"Korean For Dummies" is an easy to follow guide in not only speaking Korean, but also in understanding the non-spoken, implied social rules of the Korean culture.

For those who think, "Korean? I can't use that?" I say, "Think again." We are more global. And, if you relate the words, phonetics, and the social rules to something that you are familiar with, learning Korean can be easy, enjoyable, and profitable.

Because there are many Korean Americans in my area, I find it fascinating to walk into their businesses, greeting them with the same animation as I would with mainstream American owned businesses - only this is in their language. And they appreciate my interest in who they are.

Of particular interest in this book, is what they said about writing checks. We in the US, write our checks for the amount to withdraw from our bank accounts. In Korea, you don't withdraw money from your account so freely.

"Korean For Dummies" is a great guide to help you to build rapport Koreans in your area.

The cd that accompanies this, though, is not a good tool, unless you want to use it to listen to Korean being spoken, so that you acquire a mind set for the language. There are no translations in the cd - just opportunities to hear Korean dialogues.

This book is a great place to start when trying to learn the Korean language. I am a little disappointed in the Cd that came with the book. The Cd is made up of many different conversations using Korean. It would be better if after the lines were said in Korean, they were repeated in English. Only hearing the Korean language doesn't help when you are first learning.