This book is written in English with two main goals in mind : content learning and language improvement. That is, the first goal is to provide students with a systematic knowledge of the fundamental aspects of Korean studies. The second goal is to help students achieve a professional (superior) level of proficiency in Korean language and culture through content based instruction. This book will be of great use not only to Korean language learners all over the world but also to general Korean native speakers who would like to have a comprehensive knowledge of how Korea has evolved through ups and downs from the time immemorial to the present, how Korean tradition, arts, language, and literature have grown and developed, and what contemporary Korean social, cultural, and economic lives are like.

CONTENTS

Preface

1. History I: Prehistory to Unified Silla - Ho-min Sohn

2. History II: Kory- Dynasty - Ho-min Sohn

3. History III: Chos-n Dynasty to 1945 - Dong-Kwan Kong

4. History IV: Post-1945 Korea - Hee-Jeong Jeong

5. Religion and Philosophy - Bumyong Choi

6. Education System - Sumi Chang

7. Language - Ho-min Sohn

8. Literature - Inbum Kang

9. Politics and Government - Hyeonju Son

10. Economy - Sunwoo Lee

11. Society - Yeonhee Yoon

12. Family and Gender - Sang Yee Cheon

13. Visual Arts - Eunho Kim

14. Performing Arts - Sang Yee Cheon

15. Science and Technology - Jongwoo Park

16. Food and Sports - Da-jung Son

17. Hallyu - Seung Yeun Oh

AUTHOR

HO-MIN SOHN is Professor of Korean linguistics and Director of the Korean Language Flagship Center at the University of Hawaii at Manoa (UHM) and President of the Korean Language Education and Research Center, Inc. which has developed twenty Korean language textbooks.
He is a past chair of the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures (1993-2000) and a past director of the Center for Korean Studies (2004-10) at UHM and a past president of both the International Circle of Korean Linguistics (1979-81) and of the American Association of Teachers of Korean (1994-7). His numerous publications include Korean Language in Culture and Society (2006), The Korean Language (1999), Korean: Descriptive Grammar (1994), Linguistic Expeditions (1986), Woleaian- English Dictionary (1976), Woleaian Reference Grammar (1975), and A Ulithian Grammar (1973).