Korean audiobooks?

I’m beginning to punch my way through Harry Potter (the Rosetta Stone of the 21st century!) and am utterly failing to locate a Korean audiobook version of it. Or of much anything else.

Does anyone know any current sources of actual Korean audiobooks? Doesn’t have to be HP. I’m just looking for modest-level books that also have audio versions for sale, for import into LingQ.

Ideally it’d be nice to find audio for something that exists in a foreign edition that I already know, but that’s not critical.

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I’ve also been looking for audiobooks in korean for quite a while. Unfortunately my last conclusion was similar to yours; audiobooks are not very popular or possibly closer to nonexistent. Podcasts seem to be very popular, but with those it’s hard to find transcripts.

As for the Harry Potter series there is no official version either. And after having read through most of the first book, the translation doesn’t seem very good either. Lots of spacing errors and names being spelled in multiple different ways. Regarding the accuracy of the language I cannot comment as I am still a beginner.

If you happen to find any audiobooks please let me know.

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I typed 오디오 북 youtube and came up with this exciting little play list. null - YouTube
I’m not sure if those a bit too basic (children’s stories and I guess they look more like cartoons).

They could be converted to MP3 on a youtube to MP3 converter site.

If those aren’t your cup of tea maybe try 오디오 북 in youtube to see the other goodies. Even better if you know the more commonly used word in Korean for Audiobooks use that? I don’t know what it is…

Oh and there are a few books here too…

Sorry my response isn’t completely helpful! I would also like to know a place I could access Korean audiobooks easily…

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I’ve gone down many of click holes in the hunt for the elusive Korean audiobook. Unfortunately they don’t seem to exist in the form that we’re used to in the US – at least not at this particular moment. There are some audiobooks and audiobook-like content you can find (see below), but it’s very frustrating to try to find the right audio and text pairing that’s importable to LingQ.

For example, you may find an offshoot audiobook of a particular (usually shorter) book, but if it’s a translated, foreign title, you’ll quickly realize that multiple translations exist for that title, and none seem to match the audio version you have.

In most cases, the content you’ll find labeled as 오디오 북 will be closer to an abridged radio play adaptation of a specific title, with no transcript.

Actually, the closest content I’ve found was the KBS original radio dramas, with transcripts, that I’ve written about on another thread on this forum.

List of content that may help you:

  1. Audien – makes “adapted” audio books, (the website / signup is difficult to navigate) some content available on iTunes in podcast form (matching text hard to find) They also have an iOS app.
  1. Bookplayer – similar to Audien – iOS app gives you some free content – no transcript.

  2. KBS radio dramas with transcripts

  3. Google Play Bookstore – no audiobooks, but this is the best / only resource I’ve found for Korean e-books. With some massaging, they can be imported into Lingq.

I love studying with Audiobooks in other other languages, but for Korean, I’ve just resigned myself to a combination of radio dramas, and comparative reading of e-books without the audio.

I keep hoping Audible jumps on the K-wave, but I have a feeling it’s gonna be while before that happens.

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While waiting for my HP1 hardcover to arrive from GMarket I located a PDF, then later compared the two. My hardcover is the purple-cover revised edition (revised in 2013) and it has lots of differences from the PDF, missing paragraphs restored etc. I haven’t seen an actual paper pre-revised edition, so the differences I saw might be from mediocre OCR and spellchecking on the part of whoever made the PDF. But at any rate there was apparently enough demand to revise the book’s translation 11 years after it first came out.

Meaning: I’m hoping this somehow means this is a good translation, since I’m already starting to read it! :slight_smile:

My hardcover is essentially the version shown here (except that mine has “Harry Potter” written in English):

Edit: here’s mine (trigger warning: ginormous GMarket URL):
http://item2.gmarket.co.kr/item/detailview/Item.aspx?goodscode=841585472&pos_shop_cd=SH&pos_class_cd=111111111&pos_class_kind=T&keyword_order=�ظ�+���Ϳ�+��������+��&keyword_seqno=11359485457&search_keyword=�ظ�+���Ϳ�+��������+��

Hello!

Regarding Google Play Bookstore. Have you tried their audiobooks (since your last post)? For example 한강 - 소년이 온다 appears to be available as both audiobook and ebook. I’m not sure though if you are able to download the audio or if you have to use their apps, it looks that way… Either way I will try the ebook, hopefully not too tough drm protection.

Audiobook: https://play.google.com/store/audiobooks/details/한강_소년이_온다?id=AQAAAIDuWTrZxM
E-book: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/한강_소년이_온다?id=Q7uTBgAAQBAJ

If anyone else has found some new resource for audiobooks or ebooks, I’d appreciate any suggestions.

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Wow, this is definitely a major development! Thanks for letting us know! I have not been to the Google store in a bit. Looks like they started doing this late last year. But yes, the Han Kang book seems to be only one with an available English translation as well, so I’m gonna start reading and listening to that one ASAP!

Unfortunately nowadays there is few Korean audiobooks, but you may still check from the Audible.com to see if there is any audioboks in Korean. In case you need to convert Audible audiobooks to play on any other players in Korean, maybe you can use an DRmare audio converter to help you get rid of DRM protection. here are the top 5 audible converters recommended: 9 Best Audible Converters Free/Paid

To get more Korean audiobooks, you can search them on Audible, the world’s largest producer of downloadable audiobooks. But one thing you should keep it mind is that Audible audiobooks can play on authorized devices. If you would like to play Korean Audible books on MP3 or other devices, you need to use AudFree Audible Audiobook Converter from AudFree Apple Music Converter & Audible Converter to achieve it. Hope this is helpful for you.

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To be honest, the more as I know about audiobooks is about how to play iTunes audiobook freely. To convert audible audiobook to MP3 format is not easy as we know. All iTunes audio files are encrypted with fairplay DRM protection, it can be played on Apple devices only. If you want to enjoy all purchased or rented Apple music, audiobook on Android phone, Google Play, Chromecast, etc without limitation, you may need a DRM removal tool like iTunes DRM Audio Converter to remove DRM protection and convert audios from M4P to MP3, AAC, and multiple compatible formats at faster speed with zero loss quality. You can catch more info at: [OFFICIAL] ViWizard Audio Converter - Convert Apple Music, iTunes, and Audible audios to MP3 Hope this point is useful to you.

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Beelinguapp
Has text in Korean (or one of several other languages) and whatever your other chosen native language is. Reads sections and or whole stories so that you can go at your own speed.

Also there is of course Naver audio clips. The app is fine for podcasts but if you want any of their (extremely enticing) Korean audiobooks you have to send them all of your personal details including a copy of your passport/driving licence.

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Has anyone had any luck converting the googleplay bookstore audio/text into lingq?

I just stumbled upon this forum today, and I have to admit that something related to google was the last place I thought to search for Korean audiobooks! They do seem quite difficult to come by unless you’re in Korea.

Also, how was the audio for 소년이 온다? I have the paper book, but I haven’t actually gotten around to reading it yet. Would love to hear about that or other audio books you’ve listened to.

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Hi all, I’d like to recommend an Audible audiobook converter for you with which you can play all your audiobooks purchased from Audible without any limitation. There are audible audiobook converter for mac and audible audiobook converter for windows for you to choose from. See more at [OFFICIAL] ViWizard AA/AAX Audiobook Converter for Mac - Convert AA/AAX Audiobooks to MP3, M4A, AAC

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OP (from 2 years ago!) here.

There’s a nice series of 100 recordings-with-transcipts available on audioclip:

…which is from this series of 100 books for learners of Korean. Sort of graded readers:

http://commbooks.com/도서/외국인을-위한-한국어-읽기-세트-전100권/

…also available as ebooks from the Google Play store here:

They’re mostly fables, but include some historical books as well (climaxing in a 2-hour overview of Korean history as books 99 and 100).

At audioclip, be sure to look at the “클립 내용” tab for the transcript.

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Did you try 소년이 온다? I considered buying it but went with another book instead (아몬드). I looked around quite a bit trying to find Korean audiobooks allowing exporting but could only find translated books that allowed it. E-books works fine as long as the book has E-reader in the Best For section (in my experience).

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I thought audiobooks in GooglePlay has no DRM and you don’t have to convert them? I read a passage and it said so.

If you can’t find audiobooks in Korean, maybe you should look it up in Audible or iTunes. They have more resource than GooglePlay.

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The problem with Google Play is not drm rather the fact that you can’t download them. At least this was the case for the books I was interested in.
I tried the advanced search function at the Audible site but there was no Korean option in the language section. Apple Books has a very limited number of Korean audiobooks in my region. Apple Books would otherwise be great as you can find the .m4b file.

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It’s weird that Audible don’t have many Korean option. I see Audible has special volume for Latin, Chinese, and some other laguages…

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Hi! I’ve got a question regarding Naver Audioclip. As you mentioned, in order to confirm your identity you need to fill in a page with your personal data and send them a copy of your passport. I’m currently doing that right know. I’m curious to know if you’ve succeeded in getting your identity confirmed, and if you’ve been able to purchase their audiobooks. I’m asking because a lot of audiobook websites (Yes 24, Audien) require korean credit cards.

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http://www.talktomeinkorean.com has great (free!) podcasts on their website, as well as frequently posted YouTube videos.
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