An unmissable collection of eight unconventional and captivating short stories for young adult and adult intermediate learners of Korean. "Olly's top-notch language-learning insights are right in line with the best of what we know from neuroscience and cognitive psychology about how to learn effectively. I love his work - and you will too!" - Barbara Oakley, PhD, Author of New York Times bestseller A Mind for Numbers Short Stories in Korean for Intermediate Learners has been written especially for students from low-mid intermediate (ACTFL) level of Korean. Mapped to B1 and approaching B2 on the Common European Framework of Reference, these eight captivating stories are designed to give you a sense of achievement and a feeling of progress when reading, and most importantly - enjoyment! What does this book give you? - Eight stories in a variety of exciting genres, from science fiction and crime to history and thriller - making reading fun, while you learn a wide range of new vocabulary - Controlled language at your level, including the 1000 most frequent words, to help you progress confidently - Authentic spoken dialogues, to help you learn conversational expressions and improve your speaking ability - Accessible grammar so you learn new structures naturally, in a stress-free way - Beautiful illustrations accompanying each story, to set the scene and support your understanding - Pleasure! Research shows that if you're enjoying reading in a foreign language, you won't experience the usual feelings of frustration - 'It's too hard!' 'I don't understand!' With intriguing plots that will spark your imagination and keep you reading, Short Stories in Korean for Intermediate Learners will take your grasp of Korean to the next level with key features to support and consolidate your progress, including: -A glossary for bolded words in each text -Full plot summary -A bilingual word list -Comprehension questions after each chapter. As a result, you will be able to focus on enjoying reading, delighting in your improved range of vocabulary and grasp of the language, without ever feeling overwhelmed or frustrated. From science fiction to fantasy, to crime and thrillers, Short Stories in Korean for Intermediate Learners uses reading as the perfect tool to not only delight in learning Korean, but to accelerate your journey towards fluency. Use the codes inside the book and ebook to access a bonus story for free and the discounted audiobook on our Language Readers Library site or in the Language Readers app.

Do you know what the hardest thing for a Korean learner is? Finding PROPER reading material that they can handle...which is precisely the reason we've written this book! You may have found the best teacher in town or the most incredible learning app around, but if you don't put all of that knowledge to practice, you'll soon forget everything you've obtained. This is why being engaged with interesting reading material can be so essential for somebody wishing to learn a new language. Therefore, in this book we have compiled 20 easy-to-read, compelling and fun stories that will allow you to expand your vocabulary and give you the tools to improve your grasp of the wonderful Korean language. How Korean Short Stories for Beginners works: - Each chapter possesses a funny, interesting and/or thought-provoking story based on real-life situations, allowing you to learn a bit more about the Korean culture. - Having trouble understanding Hangul? No problem - we provide you with the same story twice - one version fully in Korean and the other version with English translation added below each paragraph, allowing you to fully grasp what you are reading! - The summaries follow a synopsis in Korean and in English of what you just read, both to review the lesson and for you to see if you understood what the tale was about. - At the end of those summaries, you will be provided with a list of the most relevant vocabulary from that chapter, as well as slang and sayings that you may not have understood at first glance. - Finally, you'll be provided with a set of tricky questions in Korean, giving you the chance to prove that you learned something in the story. Don't worry if you don't know the answer to any - we will provide them immediately after, but no cheating! We want you to feel comfortable while learning Korean; after all, no language should be a barrier for you to travel around the world and expand your social circles! So look no further! Pick up your copy of Korean Short Stories for Beginners and level up your Korean language skills right now!

Yoomi loves Grandma's cooking—except for stinky, spicy kimchi, the pickled cabbage condiment served at Korean meals. "You can't eat it because you're a baby," her brothers tease. And they don't play with babies. Determined to prove she's not a baby, Yoomi tries to find a way to make kimchi taste better—but not even ice cream can help. Luckily, Grandma has a good idea, and soon everyone has a new food to enjoy. Celebrating family, food, and growing up, this story about a Korean-American family will appeal to picky eaters and budding foodies alike. Aram Kim's lively art is filled with expressive characters and meticulous details—and of course, mouth-watering illustrations of traditional Korean dishes and ingredients. Backmatter includes information about kimchi and how it's made, and best of all, a recipe for Grandma's kimchi pancakes to try yourself! For more about Yoomi and her family, don't miss Let's Go to Taekwondo! by Aram Kim. A Junior Library Guild Selection!

This colorfully illustrated multicultural Korean children's book presents Indian fairy tales and other folk stories--providing insight into a rich literary culture. Korean Children's Favorite Stories is a captivating collection of Korean folktales for children which are still being told, just as they have been for generations. Some are Korean-specific, while others echo those told in other countries. Written with wit and pathos, they unveil the inevitable foibles of people everywhere and expose the human-like qualities of animals and the animal-like qualities of humans. Pulsating with the rhythm of life and the seasons, these Korean fables transport the reader to a wonderland where ants talk, a baby rabbit outwits a tiger, a tree fathers a child, and a toad saves a whole village. Korean stories include: The Story Bag The Pheasant, the Dove, and the Magpie The Bridegroom's Shopping The Bad Tiger The Great Flood The Pumpkin Seeds The Grateful Tiger The Three Princesses And more… The Children's Favorite Stories series was created to share the folktales and legends most beloved by children in the East with young readers of all backgrounds in the West. Other multicultural children's books in this series include: Asian Children's Favorite Stories, Indian Children's Favorite Stories, Indonesian Children's Favorite Stories, Japanese Children's Favorite Stories, Singapore Children's Favorite Stories, Filipino Favorite Children's Stories, Favorite Children's Stories from China & Tibet, Chinese Children's Favorite Stories, Balinese Children's Favorite Stories, and Vietnamese Children's Favorite Stories.

Improve and practice your Korean through real, native-level resources. Immerse yourself in a variety of classic and entertaining folktales using modern, real-world grammar and vocabulary. If you can read the alphabet and know the basics in Korean, you can start accelerating your learning through Korean folktales. Each story comes together with full grammar explanations and vocabulary definitions so you can follow along. Each folktale is written naturally (what a native Korean speaker might read or write) and similar to what you can find in real Korean writing – you're getting the real deal. This book contains over 800 vocabulary words, and all are listed in the glossary for easy reference. Through this book you’ll practice Korean reading at an advanced level, while refining and expanding your grammar, vocabulary, and reading skills along the way.

The Best Short Stories of Yi Kwang-Su (HB) by Chang-Wuk Kang, M.D. Yi Kwang-Su (1892-1950) has undisputedly produced some of the greatest literary works to ever come out of modern Korea. Here is a collection of his short stories, some of which have never before been published in English. He has written over twenty-eight novels, innumerable short stories, poetry collections, treatises, and countless commentaries from literature to art and science—not to mention culture and humanity—and published in all of the available paper media of his time in Korea. His writing style revolutionized Korean literature and the written language itself. These stories abound with Buddhist-themed meditations on matters of the human spirit and soul, as well as his thoughts on overcoming karmic condemnations. His consistency and the sincerity in his writing are such that one cannot help but believe that he practiced what he preached. He was a moralist, and his writing very didactic. It’s not surprising that he asserts that without religion, one cannot improve one’s character. The last two short stories in this collection were written during the period from shortly before the end of the WWII to Korean Independence in 1948. The chaotic and uncertain situation of Korea, along with harsh criticism, forced him to remove himself to the countryside and to live on a farm like an ordinary farmer, even maintaining an ox. Around that time he also stayed in a temple by the grace of his cousin, Yi Hak-Su. It was a time of meditation and refuge for him. There he worked on his spiritual journey, although he never wore a monk’s robe. He accumulated as many experiences as he could, and then he decided to pursue further education. Chang-Wuk Kang, M.D. translates these works beautifully, richly capturing the essence of Yi Kwang-Su’s style and the culture of Korea. He begins the compilation with a biographical summary of Yi Kwang-Su’s life as well as his political influences and literary impact on Korea. (2016, Hardcover, 214 pages)

Somewhere on the periphery of Seoul, between the modern metropolis and the traditional farming communities, lies a "distant and beautiful place," the neighborhood of Wonmi-dong. Here, a young couple from the city struggles to make a home for themselves; a hapless "salary man" is forced into door-to-door sales after losing his job; a precocious seven-year-old questions the meaning of friendship and community. Everyone seems to be chasing the intangible dream of a better life. Set against the backdrop of South Korea's breakneck drive for industrialization and economic development in the 1980s, these compassionate and often humorous stories capture the essence of modern South Korean life-including the ubiquitous atmosphere of violence and fear that clouded the country prior to democratization in 1987. They also depict the Korean people's unfailing optimism and love of life. A Distant and Beautiful Place first appeared as a series of linked stories in literary journals between 1985 and 1987. It was published as the collection Wonmi-dong saramdul in 1987 and quickly became a best seller. Yang Kwija, one of South Korea's most respected and popular authors, has since published dozens of novels and shorter pieces.

Homer B. Hulbert and James S. Gale, two of the most famous North American missionaries to come to Korea in the 1880s, were very fond of ghost stories, but for years the Korean scholars they met swore that no such stories existed in Korea. Eventually, they discovered that Korea, too, had a plentiful supply of ghosts and spirits, celebrated in many eerie tales. However, because the stories had seemed too frivolous or were connected with shamanism and Buddhism, the scholars had been ashamed to talk about them. A main source of these stories were collections of yadam. These were a form of short tale, especially popular in the Joseon period. Whereas Confucian classics were the gateway to officialdom, yadam offered an escape valve, dealing with things much closer to daily life. The stories told there were about individuals who were not always admirable paragons of Confucian virtue; rather, they were often artful dodgers who managed to escape from tricky situations; survive traps; deal with ghosts, spirits, and nine-tailed foxes; and even get rich in the process. As we celebrate the one hundred-fiftieth anniversary of the birth of Hulbert and Gale, the present selection of Korean ghost stories—nostalgic for their echoes of the lost world of old Korea and its many ghosts—is offered for the pleasure of readers in the twenty-first century, one hundred years after their original publication.

‘An ever-surprising and stylistically diverse anthology that will surely stand as the touchstone collection of Korean literature for decades to come’ Literary Review This eclectic, moving and wonderfully enjoyable collection is the essential introduction to Korean literature. Journeying through Korea's dramatic twentieth century, from the Japanese occupation and colonial era to the devastating war between North and South and the rapid, disorienting urbanization of later decades, The Penguin Book of Korean Short Stories captures a hundred years of Korea's vibrant short-story tradition. Here are peddlers and donkeys travelling across moonlit fields; artists drinking and debating in the tea-houses of 1920s Seoul; soldiers fighting for survival; exiles from the war who can never go home again; and lonely men and women searching for connection in the dizzying modern city. The collection features stories by some of Korea's greatest writers, including Pak Wanso, O Chonghui and Cho Chongnae, as well as many brilliant contemporary voices, such as P'yon Hyeyong, Han Yujoo and Kim Aeran. Curated by Bruce Fulton, this is a volume that will surprise, unsettle and delight. Edited by Bruce Fulton With an introduction by Kwon Youngmin