Where to Find the Best Korean Audiobooks

Audiobooks do a great job of immersing you in the Korean language and culture by bringing you into contact with content for native speakers. The wide variety of audiobooks available will suit people with different tastes and language levels.

Here are some tested and approved tips on where to find Korean audiobooks online, some book recommendations and how to learn Korean faster with them.

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1. Audien

This will become your go-to platform if you’re looking for the latest Korean audiobooks. Audien is the best Korean e-commerce store to access Korean audiobooks. Why? Because that’s all they do! Audien offers a great selection of the latest novels, essays, autobiographies, fantasy books, economics books and classics. Most audiobooks are available for purchase, but some content is free as well.

Start by clicking “로그인” (log in) and then “회원가입” (membership sign up) on the top right corner to create an account. 

Recommendations:

“왕의 초상” (The Portrait of the King) by Jeon So-young — This captivating novel won first prize for Public Choice Award in Korea in 2013. “The Portrait of the King” tells the fascinating story of a man looking to avenge the death of his father by killing the King. Cast against the background of Korea’s Choseon dynasty, the man becomes the King’s portraitist to get closer to him, and eventually plots his assassination.

“연남동 빙굴빙굴 빨래방” (Yeonnam-dong Laundromat) by Kim Ji-yoon — The genre of cozy slice-of-life novels has become extremely popular in Korea over the last couple of years. The premise is often that the main character escapes a busy life of burnout to open a convenience store or a book store that becomes an epicenter of warmth and community for the locals. Here is one such novel that is set in a laundromat in the Seoul neighborhood of Yeonnam-dong. 

2. Amazon

Amazon offers a solid curation of Korean audiobooks to get you started. You’ll find mainly learning audiobooks on the American e-commerce giant, but there are a few stories in Korean that are worth your while. Most audiobooks can be downloaded or include a hard copy with their accompanying CD.

Recommendations:

“Berlitz Korean for Your Trip” by Berlitz — This has everyday and travel phrases to navigate Korea with confidence. The pack includes a booklet with phonetic transcriptions, handy tips and key word reminders. The audio CD runs for 60 minutes and the contents can be easily downloaded as well.

“Korean Nursery Rhymes” by Danielle Wright — Who said learning Korean wasn’t magical? For children and kids at heart, this beautifully illustrated book includes Korean songs and rhymes to learn the Korean language. Bilingual and perfect for multicultural families, the book includes text in both English and Korean and includes an audio CD with recordings of kids singing in both languages.

3. Darakwon

The website of book publisher Darakwon offers an extensive choice of language-learning audiobooks. Suitable for beginners to advanced students, the site features a solid variety of books, from old-school textbooks to more colorful, out-of-the-box learning methods, or TOPIK guides.

Audiobooks are available with their hard copy and MP3 files or CDs. For orders outside of South Korea, place your request by email or purchase directly from the Darakwon English website linked above.

Recommendations:

“설화로 배우는 한국어” (Learning Korean Through Folk Tales) by Soon-lye Kim and Ha-na Kim — This colorful audiobook includes 16 stories read by lively actors. Designed for intermediate students, it’s designed to help you acquire new vocabulary with ease. For maximum efficacy, complement your listening sessions with reading practice using a hard copy of the textbook. It’s a series so check the other two books as well!

“이야기가 있는 한국어 한국 문화” (A Story of Korean Language and Korean Culture) by Multicultural Society Institute — Based on storytelling scenarios, this book discusses various elements to help Korean students better understand the language through culture, lifestyle, customs, traditions and art. This is a great audiobook if you’re looking to grasp the ways that Koreans think.

4. Librivox

The Librivox free public domain audiobook library features a good selection of Korean books read by native speakers. All titles on this popular site are available for free online. The focus is primarily on literature, poetry and history, and you’ll find numerous exciting titles to help you advance your Korean studies.

Recommendations:

“인권 선언” (Universal Declaration of Human Rights) by United Nations (U.N.) — For those interested in learning more about history and diplomacy, this audio document will make your day. It’s a reading of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, ratified in 1948 by the U.N. General Assembly, which famously defines the fundamental rights of individuals.

“금수회의록” (Assembly of Animals) by Geum-su-Hue-I-Lok — “Assembly of Animals” is an allegorical tale published in 1908 about animals meeting together to criticize mankind. In his dreams, the narrator sees a group of animals gathered to discuss everything they believe is wrong with man, from his inability to say proper thanks to his narrow knowledge or his thirst for power. It was the first modern novel in Korean, and its publication was banned by the Japanese—who colonized Korea—in 1909.

How Korean Audiobooks Help You Learn Faster

They help you acquire listening and reading skills

Korean audiobooks do a tremendous job of allowing you to build familiarity with the Korean language. They keep the focus on Korean listening skills so you develop a greater understanding of the unique sounds and delivery of Korean.

In addition, the content is read by Korean natives chosen for their perfect pronunciation and intonation, so you don’t have to worry about picking up bad “habits” later on.

They make it easier to assimilate Korean

Audiobooks support your Korean studies by focusing on a combination of visualization and audio-based stimulation, a process that helps speed up memorization. Beyond this, it’s a more comprehensive approach to learning the Korean language. Understanding that communication is rooted in real-life situations, it targets a variety of delivery methods to better prepare you for a variety of scenarios.

Most importantly, audiobooks feature plenty of high-quality content without the tedious aspect that comes from studying books. Now, that, we like!

They make learning Korean more engaging

Learning Korean is by no means a piece of cake, so if you’re able to learn Korean while having fun, take it. Keep in mind that your journey to mastering the language isn’t a dash, it’s a marathon. Make sure to take pleasure out of it, as that will keep you committed in the long run.

Audiobooks are great helpers in this respect; they sometimes feature lively dialogues and sound effects that make the experience more realistic and—dare we say it—magical. Voice actors are typically chosen for their unique acting and voice-over skills, so if you’re expecting the robotic, dull voice, you’re in for a treat!

They are accessible anytime, anywhere

Carrying books can be burdensome and reading them requires you to be still, which is a problem you won’t ever have with audiobooks. Audio CDs can be digitalized to MP3 files or downloaded directly to your phone, so you can access and listen to them wherever you are—even offline without a Wi-Fi connection.

Listen to them when you have “empty” time, including when you are on the subway, driving, walking, washing dishes or doing errands.

How to Study Korean with Audiobooks

• Take notes. You’ll pick up new vocabulary while listening to audiobooks, so be sure to do your part and keep track of it. Write down all words and expressions you’ll want to remember and review your notes on a regular basis. The personal element makes all the difference: These aren’t random vocabulary lists, they are words that have been carefully chosen by you as useful words.

• Hit the replay button. Audiobooks are fantastic for listening practice because they let you replay content as often as you want. Use it to review portions you don’t fully understand. Don’t give up until you’re confident that you fully grasp what is being said, and even play it until you are able to utter the full sentence out loud without error.

• Read the hard copy. Supplement audio sessions with reading. If you’re looking to target listening, start by playing the audio first, and later work with the book in front of you. To target comprehension and reading, read first and add in the audio later. Be sure to alternate both activities, and to focus on one particular skill at a time to correct imbalances. For example, focus on reading if your listening is better, and vice versa.
• Supplement with visual content. Visual content, such as your favorite K-drama, offers cues that can make it easier to catch the main idea of what’s being said. This can be a great way to ease into listening to material that’s above your skill level. And, it also mixes up your study schedule a bit to keep everything fresh and engaging.

  Virtual immersion programs are another good place to find visual content to supplement your audiobooks. A program like FluentU, for example, has bite-sized clips with professional translations and subtitles.

  FluentU takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.

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• Complement with grammar materials. Audiobooks won’t usually explain why sentences are structured a certain way. Use grammar textbooks along the way to set the foundations and make sure you understand the rules. “Korean Grammar for International Learners,” for example, is the ally of choice if you’re using audiobooks because all roots and structures are conveniently indexed and searchable.

I hope you have as much fun listening to these fantastic audiobooks as we did! Happy studies!

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

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