First Step Korean
- Free
- Paid certificate
- Beginner
- 2 weeks
First Step Korean is Yonsei University's elementary course in the Korean language, taught in English on Coursera. After a short introduction it works through five lessons: the Korean alphabet, greetings and introducing yourself, family, time and date, and daily life. Each lesson is built from dialogues, pronunciation practice, vocabulary, grammar, quizzes and role-plays, and the course as a whole covers reading, writing, listening and speaking.
Coursera estimates the lessons at three to four hours each and schedules the course at two weeks of ten hours a week on a flexible timetable, at beginner level with no prior experience required. By the end, the page says, you should be able to read and write the Korean alphabet, use basic everyday expressions and know something of Korean culture. The course is flagged as free, so all lessons are open without payment; a shareable certificate is available as a paid option with no price stated, and financial aid is listed.
What you’ll learn
- Read and write the Korean alphabet
- Greet people and introduce yourself in Korean
- Talk about your family, the time and the date
- Use basic expressions for daily life
- Recognise basic aspects of Korean culture
Who it’s for
Absolute beginners in Korean who want to learn the alphabet and everyday phrases; not for learners who already read Hangul.
Syllabus
6 sections as listed on coursera.org, 17 h 31 min in total.
- Introduction 8 min
- The Korean Alphabet 3 h 37 min
- Greetings and Introducing 3 h 8 min
- Family 3 h 39 min
- Time and Date 3 h 29 min
- Daily Life 3 h 30 min
Instructor
- Seung Hae Kang Associate Professor, Korean Language Education as a Foreign Language, Yonsei University
Course details
- Skills covered
- Literacy
- Oral Comprehension
- Writing
- Language Competency
- Grammar
- Vocabulary
- Language Learning
- Culture
- Includes
- 6 modules · 20 assignments
- Prerequisites
- No prior experience required
- Subtitles
- 23 languages
On coursera.org
Rated 4.9 out of 5 by 53,522 learners; 1,774,517 enrolled, as shown on the course page on 20 Oct 2026. These are coursera.org’s own figures, not ours.
Source: Coursera (opens in a new tab) · Verified · Report a change
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