English Shortcut to Korean Learning (쉽게 배울수 있는 조선어) is a self-study textbook published in 2019 by the Korea Publications Export and Import Corporation of Pyongyang (DPRK).
I bought this book during my stay in the country because it seemed interesting and because of the fact that there isn’t much recent Korean language learning material from the North.
While the 142-page book certainly isn’t a comprehensive study resource, being more of a phrase book, the authors tried their best to make the book as helpful as possible by covering a wide range of topics that might be be of use for a traveller.
The first part of the book is an introduction to Korean characters, how to read and write them. The second part is the main part with 24 chapters of useful phrases, words and expressions grouped by topic.
- Greetings
- At a Hotel
- Currency Exchange
- In a Restaurant
- Asking for Directions
- Post and Telephone Office
- In a Shop
- Age
- Days of the Week
- Days of the Month
- Weather
- Apologies and Thanks
- Congratulations
- In an Airport
- Rail Travel
- Customs Check
- At a Bookstore
- Seeing a Performance
- Medical Situations
- Mutual Cooperation
- At a Banquet
- Everyday Expressions
- Places to Visit
- Major Holidays
While such a phrasebook may not be of much interest nowadays, this book might be of use for people interested in the contemporary North Korean language.
I have taken it on myself to transcribe the example sentences and the vocabulary and I will periodically release them on this site under the tag eskl.
Corrections and other feedback are welcome, just let me know!