korean essays pdf

Beginning Korean 1

Sang-Seok Yoon, Johnson County, Iowa

Joung-A Park, Johnson County, Iowa

Jeehae Yoo, University of Hawaii System

Copyright Year: 2022

Publisher: University of Iowa

Language: English

Formats Available

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Reviewed by Noori Kim, Assistant Professor, Purdue University on 12/3/23

The textbook is more like a workbook for students who learn Korean as a second or third language for the first time. Each chapter is linked with a YouTube lecture link and a necessary audio file link for testing the concept learned. The textbook... read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

The textbook is more like a workbook for students who learn Korean as a second or third language for the first time. Each chapter is linked with a YouTube lecture link and a necessary audio file link for testing the concept learned. The textbook covers all the basics for Novice level Korean language learners.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The content is error-free, and the author translates Korean content into English based on the context. For example, if one translates “Let’s discuss” literally, it could have been written in Korean differently. But the author, wrote it as “Let’s think” (if I translate the sentence literally in English), which is more suitable based on the context.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The textbook uses up-to-date content and applications popular in South Korea, such as Kakaotalk (like a messenger that 99.99% of Koreans use) and pictures of contemporary Koreans. The text is also arranged in such a way that necessary updates will be relatively easy and straightforward to implement, as it uses separate YouTube links for delivering each chapter’s main concept.

Clarity rating: 3

The clarity of this textbook is fair but may need improvement in terms of students’ activities (such as group work and the structure of questions in each chapter).

Consistency rating: 4

The text is internally consistent in terms of terminology but the framework varies in each chapter. However, I think this variation can turn into a good approach for learners.

Modularity rating: 4

The textbook is more like a workbook or practice book of lecture series. The textbook consists of 7 chapters, and each chapter is linked to relevant YouTube lecture links. Each chapter involves numerous practice pages to master the concept of the chapter. Visual aids provided also help students digest the learnings. The chapter is the highest category and there is no subunit under each chapter.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

The topics in the text are presented in a logical, but there is no clear structure to form each chapter. The overall organization of the textbook is free but contains necessary content for readers to learn Korean.

Interface rating: 3

The textbook does not have any interface issues, but it heavily depends on YouTube links. In case of internet disruption, the textbook’s identity will be lost.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The text contains no grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The examples used in the textbook makes use of examples that are inclusive of a variety of genders, races, ethnicities, and backgrounds.

This textbook does not stand alone. Without watching the Youtube lectures, this book cannot provide necessary learnings to readers.

Table of Contents

• 책을 펴내면서 Forward
• 등장인물 Characters
• 0. 과 한글 Hangeul, Korean Characters 
• 1. 과 안녕하세요 Hello
• 2. 과 오늘 뭐 해요 What are you doing today
• 3. 과 집이 어디예요 Where is your house
• 4. 과 오늘 한국어 수업이 있어요 I have a Korean class today
• 5. 과 어제 왜 안 왔어요 Why didn’t you come yesterday 
• 6. 과 생일 파티를 했어요 I had a birthday party

Ancillary Material

• University of Iowa

About the Book

The Beginning Korean 1 is designed for elementary Korean learners to practice and learn how to communicate in Korean. It provides basic grammar, vocabulary, and discourse information that are essential to beginning level students. This book is ideal for learners at the Novice Low to Novice High levels who want to practice writing and pronouncing hangeul, communicate in Korean by creating sentences using basic grammar and vocabulary, and understand and create simple conversations that are useful in everyday conversations

About the Contributors

Sang-Seok Yoon , University of Iowa

Illustrator

Jeehae Yoo , University of Hawaii System

Joung-A Park , University of Iowa

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TOPIK Essay Writing Guide – Evaluation and Marking Scheme

The readers of TOPIK GUIDE have frequently been writing to us for some guidance on the Essay part of TOPIK Writing (쓰기) section. So Here We are putting this detailed article about this.

Most of the questions in TOPIK are multiple choice and objective type where there is, clearly, only one correct answer. You don’t even need a human to check if the answers are right or wrong. Mostly OMR recognition softwares do the job.  The problem is with the subjective type questions. In these questions there is no ‘one correct answer’. Different persons can give different answers and they all may be correct. Sometimes it is difficult to even say whether the answer is right or wrong because it may be partially right and partially wrong.

This type of questions generally appear in the Writing section of TOPIK. And believe me, you are not the only person who find them difficult. Evaluating this type of questions is the most difficult task for Examiners as well. As these questions are evaluated by real humanss and not the machines, there are high chances of variation in evaluation process depending upon the personality and psychological status of the examiner. And that”s why it confuses the test takers on what and how to write the answer of such questions so that it looks correct to the evaluator. Particularly, the TOPIK Essay writing part is the most difficult of these subjective questions.

Most of TOPIK test takers are confused at some point of time about what and how exactly they are expected to write in the essay. Do they want to check your grammar vocabulary, spelling etc? or Do they want to test your writing skills, like how beautifully and logically you put your thought, how great your thoughts are? or Do they want to see how beautiful your handwriting is? Will using difficult words and complex sentences get you more marks? There are many such questions that confuse the mind of test takes, specially when they appear for the first time. Many people find themselves in a very difficult situation when the topic of the essay is related to Korea. I know many people  who thought writing anything wrong about Korea or Koreans will fetch them poor marks. 😉

In this series on TOPIK essay writing, we are going to clear all those doubts. We are going to tell you exactly how TOPIK essays are evaluated and marked. The series is based on ‘ model evaluation guideline ‘ from NIIED, the organization that conducts the TOPIK test.

We have divided the series in to 3 parts in which we will take 3 model essays each from beginner, intermediate and advanced levels of TOPIK and will analyse the evaluation system by giving detailed marking pattern of 3 model answer essays.

Below is the model guideline that all the evaluators have to follow, according to NIIED:-

We will start with the Beginner Level .

Here is the Essay Question that we will take as a model:-

I am leaving you with three example answer essay. read properly and think how you would mark them if you were the examiner. In the next post we will see how the TOPIK evaluators marked them.

TOPIK Beginner Model Essay 1

TOPIK Beginner Model Essay 2

Go to TOPIK Essay Writing Evaluation Analysis – Beginner Level

Dr. Satish Satyarthi

Satish is the Founder and CEO of TOPIK GUIDE. He is passionate about languages. He created TOPIK GUIDE website to help Korean language learners learn Korean effectively, succeed in TOPIK test and achieve their goals. He has a PhD in Korean language. His research area has been 'Teaching Korean as a Foreign Language (외국어로서의 한국어교육)'. He is a Seoul National University (GKS) alumni. He has been active in Korean language teaching and research for more than 10 years. We are a team of passionate researchers from Seoul National University specializing in Korean language and linguistics. We are committed to helping international students prepare for the TOPIK test. You can connect with us on Facebook , Twitter , Google+ or YouTube

Hello, thanks for this post.İ think first one is best, right Because second one has some mistakes and third one is not good How abkut this essay’s points. İ wonder bexause i will get this exam next year.그래서 열심히 공부 합니다. 정말 감서헙니다.

Thanks a lot for sharing this nice and informative post, This posts shows your efforts that how do you cover any topic research. I really like your blog because your blog has updated posts on different current issues. I would request you to keep sharing your thoughts. Essay Writing

이것은 너무 도와주신 글인데 감사합니다 선배님.

hello i hav a doubt.. see topik test are conducted 4times in evry 1year…and as for me i will be giving my test in the 40th topik…i have 3years…but i live in india and here the educational sessions end in june…so my point is that i wont be able to make it in the beginners level 1 test which is conducetd in january…should i wait for another year or shud i give level 1 topik in july???

This beginner essay writing will definitely be a great resource for the students who will write essay first time in their academic career. Essay writing is not so much tough, just need a little bit attention due to which students can write essays of excellent quality. Buy Essay

Thanks for this post, I speak spanish,and I dont found information about it. thanks

Great to know that it helped… Thank you.

Hello. Thank you for the great review and the whole site… it helps a lot 🙂 I am preparing for the intermediate level TOPIK, and I was just wondering if the 400-600 characters are counted with or without space?? Do you know anything about this? I was sure it’s without space (because that’s how usually it is at language tests), but then just to make sure, I put a sample essay from the official TOPIK paper and copied it to Word, to see how many characters it is. And it turned out that it’s 353 characters without space, and 456 with space… So I’m kind of confused now :/ Do they count it with space? It makes a huge difference actually….

Actually it’s with spaces…

Thank you so much for the quick reply ^^

Hi, I would like to know if you have to write the essay using the ㅂ니다 form. I have been learning Korean on my own and talking to my friends. We usually just use the polite speach ending in 요. But Since this is a test I guess I will have to use the other form right?

You can check this post:- https://www.topikguide.com/2012/07/which-form-of-language-to-use-in-topik-exam-formal-plain-or-informal.html

hi , i want to know if i can pass the level 2 of topik exam how can i use by this score, thank you for your answer

It can help you getting into a Korean university or getting a job in a Korean company… It also helps you get certain types of Visa…

Good morning teacher.nice to meet you in your team chart. am from Cambodian now i stay in Cambodian too . but i want to test Korea exam how can i do it because am so far from here. so u can advice me how to do? am looking for you reply me back .thank you so much. i want to study more in Korea but am so poor so i don’t have money to study at there. if you have a good advice for me please tell me …i can test from internet or anther test .thank you.good bye see u reply soon..from Sophea Cambodia..good luck for you.

많은 분들이 한국어를 공부하시군요. 다들 좋은 결과 얻으시길 희망합니다. !

my big problem in topik exam is the writing part , i had no clew about it . but this article made me feel more comfortable and bit ready for it 🙂 thanks a miliiooooooon 🙂

same problem

hello, thanks for this post i am preparing 31th intermadiate topik exam and i wondering about essays topik?

thanks for this information..now when you are told to write about a countries love or parent love what are the essential things to write???

It depends on the level..

여러분 열심히 공부 하세요

There’s a little bit of spelling errors in Example 2. Here’s some of the ones that I caught:

“카탸가 제 비밀들은 질 지켰습니다.” — 잘* “하지만 우리 지금 만나면 저는 너무 행벅해집니다.” — 행복* “우리가 맛있는 자를 마실겁니다.” — 차* “저는 제 친구 너무 보고 싶어서 발리 러시아에 가거싶습니다.” — 빨리* and 가고 싶습니다*

Also, any tips on how to get Level 6? What kind of essay structure are they looking for to get level 6? If I get all points or at least enough points to reach level, is that how I can get level 6?

Example 3 also has a bit of errors.

“체 취미 축구입니다.” — 제* and I think it sounds better to write 제 취미는* “이 사람이 세게에서 진짜 유명해요.” — 세계* “그리고 이 사람안테…” — 한테* “나중에 아마 저는도 유명 축구사람 됩니다.” — 저도* and 유명한* and 축구선수* “만나면 아추 좋아합니다.” — 아주* “우리 집에 조대할고예요, 우리 아버지게서도 정말 좋아요.” — 초대 할 거예요* and 아버지께서*

I could be wrong, but I think those are some errors.

Yes, those are errors. That’s why example essay 2 & 3 got less marks. Check this post: https://www.topikguide.com/2012/04/topik-essay-writing-guide-beginner.html

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Key to Korean Motivation & Resources for Learning Korean

ALL Previous TOPIK Writing Topics for ALL Levels

This page is a collection of ALL the previous TOPIK Writing topics from ALL the levels from 2006-2014 (Tests 10-32) :

• Beginner (1급-2급) Writing Topics
• Intermediate (3급-4급) Writing Topics
• Advanced (5급-6급) Writing Topics

Each link contains a full text of the question from the previous tests, as well as a Downloadable and Printable DOCX file with all the questions.

Good luck on your TOPIK Writing!

And don’t forget to check out the CHANGES to TOPIK Writing that are beginning in July, 2014!

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A note about topik registration in korea.

Warning: TOPIK II test locations fill up quickly! Less than 2 hours after registration opened, I was 17,878 in line. After 5 hours, everything that opened for registration today was full. Be early, or be sorry. (Or wait for IBT TOPIK from 2023.)

120 Days to TOPIK #1 – Gather Resources

Gather your resources! This is one of my favorite parts of any new Challenge because it can be fun to look over the kinds of materials you WANT to use and the kinds of things you WANT to learn (plus, Continue reading 120 Days to TOPIK #1 – Gather Resources

How I Will Study for the TOPIK II in 120 Days (and You Can Join Me)

Well, that was unexpected. I recently wrote a post outlining my plan to cram for the TOPIK II in 30 days. I had been planning to take the test on July 19, 2015. But, I guess plans change. As it turns Continue reading How I Will Study for the TOPIK II in 120 Days (and You Can Join Me)

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Korean Worksheets – Exercises for your language skills

Last modified: Jan 10, 2024 | 8 min read | By Laura Toyryla

In this article, we will provide you with different Korean worksheets that can help you study Korean.

When you are studying a new language, practice really does make you perfect. Thus, you will want to utilize as many resources as possible , be it language apps , watching K-Dramas , listening to Korean songs , or taking quizzes . Besides our membership program, we have so many wonderful and educational articles available in our free blog.

The tips we share can make learning the Korean language as fun and efficient as possible. Using these resources is an efficient way in which you can enhance your Korean language studying. And luckily, we have a couple of them for you to get started on immediately!

• 1.1 Korean alphabet worksheets for beginners
• 1.2 Beginner Korean Worksheets on Vocabulary
• 1.3 Korean number worksheets
• 1.4 Korean Grammar Worksheets
• 1.5 Korean Reading Worksheet
• 1.6 Korean Writing Worksheet
• 1.7 How to Study Korean (Free Resources)

Different Korean Worksheets

Below, we will introduce you to our compilation of helpful resources and Korean learning worksheets, which you can get started by filling out right at this moment.

These free resources will be especially useful as you learn Korean in terms of beginner-level grammar patterns, common Korean vocabulary, and, of course, the Korean alphabet. You can also find resources for practicing reading and writing specifically.

We’ve added their links to each section. If you’d like to have your copy of the worksheet, simply click on the red button for the PDF.

Korean alphabet worksheets for beginners

In this section are resources on the Korean alphabet (Hangul) that are perfect for beginner-level learners. Its worksheets will be especially helpful to those still at the starting stage of learning the Korean alphabet.

Korean Alphabet Worksheet

Our Korean Alphabet worksheet is perfect for when you are just getting started on studying Korean and need to get a firm grasp of its alphabet (Hangul).

Korean Alphabet -worksheet

Utilizing this worksheet, you can learn not only the letters but also how each character sounds. Besides total beginners, this Korean worksheet works as a great refreshment if you’re struggling to remember each character or are returning to your Korean studies after a break.

Korean Vowels Worksheet

Learning Korean alphabet can be overwhelming for some. This Korean alphabet worksheet focuses solely on familiarizing you with the different vowels in the Korean language.

You’ll find a list of Korean vowels that you can refer to for practicing. As Korean vowels are also categorized into basic and double vowels, this worksheet can help you focus on these lessons.

Korean Vowels -worksheet

Korean Consonants Worksheet

In a similar fashion to the abovementioned vowels worksheet, this one is dedicated to consonants thoroughly.

In this Korean consonants worksheet, you’ll have a list of the Korean consonants alongside the simple activities that will help you practice and remember the letters.

Korean Consonants -worksheet

Beginner Korean Worksheets on Vocabulary

In this section are resources that will help you build a strong and diverse Korean vocabulary.

This is an excellent worksheet to start familiarizing yourself with common Korean words and vocabulary. Do this first before moving on to other Korean worksheets on vocabulary so that you’ll have the best basic skills and understanding.

Korean Words and Basic Vocabulary to Learn First -worksheet

Korean number worksheets

In this section, you can find resources that are focused on Korean numbers. Get acquainted with Korea’s two number systems and counters with these Korean worksheets.

Korean Numbers Worksheet

This worksheet makes knowing all the different Korean numbers and how to count in Korean so easy and convenient.

You’ll get to learn and practice using the Sino-Korean and the Native Korean Numbers System. By having knowledge of numbers in Korean, you’ll also be able to learn about other essential things easier, like a person’s age , Korean phone numbers , or the Korean currency .

Korean Numbers (Step by Step Guide for Counting in Hangul) -worksheet

Korean Counters Worksheet

With the help of this worksheet, you can expand on what you’ve learned about Korean numbers. It’ll make counting anything and everything in Korean super easy.

Having prior knowledge of Korean words for people, objects , date , time , and measurement can help as you would pair these words with their respective counters. There’s a long list of words that are used as Korean counters, and this worksheet can greatly help you to be more familiar with using them.

Korean Counters (Essential Words to Use with Numbers) -worksheet

Korean Grammar Worksheets

In this section, you can find numerous useful resources that will help you understand and utilize Korean grammar . Specifically, this covers Korean verbs, conjunctions, conjugations, and particles.

Whether you are a beginner-level learner looking for anything helpful or a more advanced one looking to prep up specific grammar, you’ll find a fitting worksheet in this section.

Korean Grammar Worksheet

This worksheet is perfect for any beginners who want to get an efficient grammar study. This briefly covers the different parts of grammar and how they are used together in sentences .

Korean Grammar for Beginners -worksheet

Korean Verbs Worksheet

This worksheet gets you familiar with all the most common Korean verbs . It’s a must-do if you want to expand your vocabulary as much as possible. Having knowledge of Korean verbs will make learning about Korean adjectives and adverbs a lot easier.

Korean verbs -worksheet

Korean Conjugation Worksheet

If you want to practice conjugating in the Korean language, there’s no better way to do so than with the help of a worksheet like this. Knowing how to conjugate correctly can help you with forming adjectives, too.

Korean Conjugation -worksheet

Korean Conjunctions Worksheet

Learning all the different sentence connectors in Korean is a must if you want to be able to speak and write Korean like a pro . This resource is a quick way to master the different basic conjunctions popularly used in the Korean language.

Korean Conjunctions (Basic Sentence Connectors) -worksheet

Korean Particles Worksheet

Another important aspect of Korean grammar is its particles. These serve as markers in the sentence to help the reader identify what a certain word’s role is. There are different types of particles, but the most common ones are the topic, subject, and object particles.

Korean Particles – worksheet

Korean Reading Worksheet

In this section, you can find worksheets that can help you read Korean. This will be mighty useful in practicing your reading skills and speed . You’ll soon be able to read different vocabulary, phrases, and sentences .

Korean Writing Worksheet

On the other hand, if improving how you write in Hangul is your priority, the free resources below can help you take them to a higher level.

These Korean worksheets below go hand-in-hand in helping you practice writing Korean letters. The Korean writing worksheet contains pages that you can print out and write on for practice.

The Hangul stroke order worksheet, on the other hand, provides you with a step-by-step guide on how to write each Korean letter. With enough practice, you’ll surely see improvements in your Korean handwriting !

Hangul Stroke Order

How to Study Korean (Free Resources)

Lastly, you can find free resources on tips for studying the Korean language for free and efficiently under this section.

A Step-by-step Guide in Learning the Korean Language

This resource offers you a quick but educational guide on many different aspects of learning Korean. It includes but is not limited to offering some amazing resources with which you can master Korean.

Following this guide can help you determine the order of studying specific topics.

Learn Korean Online: How-To Guide for Language Study

Tips on how to learn Korean fast

To build on the other resources, with the aid of this one, you can masterfully quicken the pace with which you can learn Korean.

It’s a really handy guide to have as you learn a language. You can think of it as a marathon rather than a sprint, where you also don’t want to waste your time if there are faster ways to learn.

18 Fantastic Tips to Learn Korean Fast

With these lessons and resources, you have now been equipped with some amazing resources you can use to learn and practice Korean. How many of our worksheets have you already finished? What kind of resources would you like to see more of?

Are worksheets the preferred way of studying for you? If you prefer learning Korean through textbooks, we have a list of recommendations in a separate article . Let us know what you think of these resources and learn from them by leaving a comment below! If this isn’t quite enough for you to learn from today, do sign up for our membership program or check out more articles on the blog .

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Korean Worksheets | Free PDF Worksheets For Studying Korean

Looking for printable Korean worksheets to help you study Korean? On this page, you can find all of LearnKorean24’s Korean worksheets . All these Korean worksheets can be downloaded for free and come as a printable PDF file. These worksheets are a great way to supplement your Korean studies and are designed to complement our free Korean lessons and vocabulary pages .

Korean Worksheets

These Korean worksheets are arranged by topic . To download a worksheet, simply choose from the topics below and click on the link to download the PDF worksheets.

• Korean Alphabet Worksheets 100 Korean Verbs: 1-10 , 11-20 , 21-30 , 31-40 , 41-50 , 51-60 , 61-70 , 71-80 , 81-90 , 91-100
• 100 Korean Adjectives: 1-20 , 21-40 , 41-60 , 61-80 , 81-100
• Sino Korean Numbers
• Native Korean Numbers
• Days Of The Week Worksheet
• Months Of The Year Worksheet
• Animals Vocabulary Worksheet – Pets
• Animals Vocabulary Worksheet – Zoo Animals
• Animals Vocabulary Worksheet – Sea Animals
• Animals Vocabulary Worksheet – Farm Animals
• Buildings And Places Vocabulary Worksheet
• Clothes Vocabulary Worksheet
• Colors Vocabulary Worksheet
• Daily Routines Vocabulary Worksheet
• Family Members Vocabulary Worksheet
• Feelings and Emotions Vocabulary Worksheet
• Fruits Vocabulary Worksheet
• House Vocabulary Worksheet – Rooms
• House Vocabulary Worksheet – Furniture
• House Vocabulary Worksheet – Appliances
• Greetings Worksheet – Common Greetings in Korean
• House Chores Vocabulary Worksheet
• Introductions Worksheet – Common Introductions in Korean
• Jobs Vocabulary Worksheet
• Location Words Vocabulary Worksheet
• Love and Dating Vocabulary Worksheets
• Movie Genres Vocabulary Worksheet
• Parts Of The Body Vocabulary Worksheet
• Parts Of The Face Vocabulary Worksheet
• Sickness/Health – At The Hospital Vocabulary Worksheet
• Sickness/Health – At The Pharmacy
• Sickness/Health – Common Symptoms/illnesses
• Sports Vocabulary Worksheet
• Stationary Vocabulary Worksheet
• Tastes and Textures Vocabulary Worksheet
• Transportation Vocabulary Worksheet
• Vegetables Vocabulary Worksheet
• Weather Vocabulary Worksheet

These Korean worksheets feature in our vocabulary lessons and complement our free Korean lessons. You can also download free printable flashcards on our Korean flashcard page.

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Learn Korean with Free PDFs

Want to learn Korean with PDF cheat sheets and lessons?

At KoreanClass101, you get the biggest collection of Korean PDF Lessons… for free .

And you get to speak MORE Korean because these lessons teach you words and phrases for the common conversation topics like Weather, Hobbies, Love, Work, Family, and much more. Learn Korean words and phrases just by quickly reading and reviewing the PDF lessons.

Learn Korean Language PDFs at KoreanClass101

3 reasons to learn korean with our pdf cheat sheets, you learn & speak a lot more korean.

PDF Lessons cover all kinds of topics — how to talk about family, how to talk about the weather, talking about your hobbies, and much more — which means you’ll learn and speak more Korean

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We release new PDFs every month. By signing up for a free account, you’ll get in on every single PDF lesson we release in the future

You Can Print & Keep Them Forever

Are you looking for Korean learning material that you can keep for yourself? No problem. You can save PDFs to your computer and even print them out. Review these PDFs as many times as you want to remember all of the words and phrases inside

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Scott Lincoln

Donald Baker

Korean Confucianism was firmly rooted in the Chinese Classics. Moreover, Korea paid close attention to developments within Chinese Confucianism over the centuries, and, as a result, Korean Confucians debated many of the same issues Chinese Confucians debated. However, that does not mean Korean Confucianism was a carbon copy of Chinese Confucianism. Koreans made Confucianism their own and felt free to use the tools Confucianism provided to address issues that were of particular interest to them. One of those issues, particularly salient during the Chosŏn dynasty, was the contradiction between the assumption of human moral perfectibility and the recognition of human moral frailty. A related concern was the psychology of self-cultivation. Koreans delved much deeper into moral psychology than Chinese Confucians normally did. They did so out of a desire to find a way to overcome the human moral frailty that Chinese Confucianism told them should not be a major problem, but Koreans recognized as a strong barrier to developing the ability to consistently think and act appropriately. The search for an explanation of human moral frailty, motivated by a desire for a way to eliminate frequent moral lapses, lies behind many of the twists and turns in Chosŏn dynasty Neo-Confucian thought. In exploring those twists and turns, I will pay particular attention to the 4-7 debate, the horak debate, and the appeal of Catholicism in the late 18th century. I will end with a discussion of the Confucian elements in Tonghak thought, and how that relates to the problem of human moral frailty. Before I do that, however, I need to briefly discuss a point of tension at the heart of Confucianism from the beginning, a tension that Koreans showed particular interest in and sought to resolve in distinctively Korean ways. That tension is the tension between the assumption that human beings are innately virtuous and the recognition that consistently acting virtuous is not always easy. We need to note that the Confucian assumption that virtue is innate is not the same as saying that acting virtuously is easy, as least not at first. The statement that virtue is innate in human beings is simply another way of saying that all human beings are capable of developing a virtuous character, and virtuous habits, through their own efforts. It doesn't mean that human beings are born acting virtuously. It simply means that they don't need external assistance, such as help from a god, to become virtuous. All they have to do cultivate their natural virtuous tendencies. This is clear even in the A nalects when Confucius makes clear his belief that virtue is definitely not something far away and unobtainable. Confucius states, of supreme virtue, " Is Goodness

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20+ Korean Workbooks for Free! [PDF]

* If you have doubts about how to download free books from InfoBooks, visit our guide to downloading books .

Korean is gaining relevance in the world and more and more people are interested in learning it.

For this reason, we thought it was important to compile in our virtual library a collection of korean workbooks in PDF format, available on the Internet. This collection is the perfect complement to our selection of Korean learning books.

Although it is not the most popular language in Asia, its relevance is certainly noticeable. Currently, there are about 75 million Korean speakers in the world. If you already have some knowledge and are interested in learning more in depth about this amazing language, do it with our collection of Korean workbooks.

South Korea is one of the fastest developing countries in the world, one of the most stable economies today. It is an example for the region and in recent decades has captured the attention of millions of people, especially young people who are interested in its culture.

At the technological level, it has made great advances and is at the forefront of innovation. This has also meant that, from a business point of view, many businessmen and economies in other countries have turned their attention to South Korea to establish business relations.

Proficiency in Korean is also beneficial on the job front, as adding it to the resume could open many doors for young professionals. Also, South Korea is an amazing country for tourism and it would be nice to be able to communicate in its native language and immerse yourself in its culture.

Interestingly, Korean is not a very difficult language to learn and its writing is easier than other Asian languages such as Mandarin and Japanese. So, with disciplined practice, it can be mastered very well.

Encourage yourself to continue learning this interesting language with our more than 20 Korean workbooks in PDF format, available for immediate download in this section.

Korean Exercises Basic Level

The Korean language, like the rest of the languages that make up the speech of the peoples of the world, has its own rules of grammar, writing and pronunciation, so learning it requires dedication, effort and a lot of perseverance.

That is why we have a special selection of basic level Korean exercises , where you will learn the first steps of this language. As the material is dedicated to exercises, you will be able to immediately practice the theory you are learning.

You will find the correct way to write the Korean alphabet, how to pronounce it, as well as how to compose and read compound words. At this basic level it is essential to learn the first steps, and with these materials you will certainly be able to do so.

True Beginner Vocabulary 1

Key to Korean

True Beginner Vocabulary 2

Beginner Vocabulary Quiz 1

Beginner Vocabulary Quiz 2

Korean Exercises for Children

Children have an amazing ability to learn. We are often amazed by this ability, but as parents and teachers, we must take advantage of it to teach them new languages, such as Korean.

For children it is much easier to internalize than for an adult, since for them it can be a game, because the lessons are usually done through simple techniques such as painting the hangul, completing the characters of a word, associating images with words, etc.

In our special section of Korean exercises for children you will find useful tools for learning Korean, from coloring books to stories in the language, you will also learn proven methods that are useful in teaching Korean; no doubt they will be very useful.

Animals in Korean – Worksheet (Beginner)

Fresh Korean

01 - 10 Korean Number Writing Practice Worksheet

Korean Calligraphy Exercises

Calligraphy is a basic and indispensable exercise when learning a new language, it serves to learn and improve your handwriting. Many of us did a lot of calligraphy when we were children, even great writers still do it, as writing “pretty” is considered an art.

Korean, being a totally different language from other languages in the world, has its own writing system, which is more like drawing hieroglyphs than writing any letters, although each of those characters has its own meaning.

It is absolutely necessary, if you are learning this language, to know how to write it correctly, since many of them are very similar, and if you make a mistake you would not be able to understand them. For this reason we have made a special selection of Korean exercises – calligraphy that will be very useful for you.

Korean Alphabet worksheet for Beginners

Miss Elly Korean

Forming Syllables

Pathway to Korean

Writing Syllables Pathway to Korean

Korean Number Exercises

One of the most surprising things when studying the Korean language is the specific way they have to write numbers, this is because they do it through their hangul, and not as we in the West do it through numeric characters, which is something quite interesting.

It is a peculiarity but it also has some difficulty, however through our materials of Korean exercises – numbers that we have for you it will be much easier to learn them.

In addition, you will get an idea of how the Korean mathematical system works, as well as the important use of tens. It is certainly a rather new world for Westerners, but quite accessible to learn.

Korean Numbers Part 1 (Sino-Korean)

GO! Billy Korean

01 - 10 Chinese Number Writing Practice Worksheet (Sino Korean)

11 - 20 Chinese Number Writing Practice Worksheet (Sino Korean)

Korean Exercises Verbs

Verbs are a fundamental part of any language, they indicate the action performed by the subject and form the essence of sentences. In Korean the use of verbs is always surrounded by nouns and adverbs to simplify actions.

In our selection of free books in PDF format you will find Korean exercises – verbs , a lot of material that will help you understand in a concrete way the conjugation of each of them, as well as their corresponding tenses (past, present, future).

You will have study guides, explained examples and also exercises for you to solve, as well as the solutions to each of them, so that you can evaluate your progress by yourself.

Past/Present/Future Tense Practice Worksheet

Sydneytoseoul

100 Korean Verbs 1-10

LearnKorean24

100 Korean Verbs 11-20

100 Korean Verbs 21-30

100 Korean Verbs 31-40

Korean Vocabulary Exercises

Vocabulary is the other side of the coin in the study of a language, you can learn to write it but it is essential to speak it for your learning to be complete that is why we have made a select collection of books that we put at your disposal.

The Korean exercises – vocabulary will help you in your study, since you will learn its pronunciation from beginning to end, as well as intonation of the language, the interrogative form, negations, affirmations, expressions, etc.

One of the easiest ways to learn Korean vocabulary is to perform dialogues in different tenses, so you will get an idea of what real conversations are like. More detailed explanations can be found in the recommended books.

Active Korean 1

Active Korean 2

Active Korean 3

Active Korean 4

Korean Grammar: Practice using some grammar points Sydneytoseoul

Well, this was our collection of Korean Workbooks books in PDF format. We hope you liked it and find your next book!

If you found this list useful, don’t forget to share it in your social networks. Remember that «Sharing is Caring».

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A very cranky language blogger dishing out brutal language tips.

20+ Korean Worksheets PDFs: Printable Exercises for Beginners

Want to learn Korean?

Then you’ll need resources that help you practice Korean… and do some “work.”

And that’s where Korean Worksheets come in!

In this Linguajunkie guide, I will give you 20+ FREE Korean worksheets. You can download, print them, and go nuts practicing.

-> Download the PDF worksheets by clicking the images below.

Why am I giving them to you for free? Because I want you to remember Linguajunkie and use my resources! Plus, in my opinion, some of the best Korean resources you can have are not digital but physical… where you can write and practice.

Tricks for Learning Fast with My Korean Worksheets

These Korean worksheets are simple… and they’ll be useful to you whether you are 12 years old, 35 years old, or 88 years old.

You download them. You print them out. And you write on them. Write out the words, phrases, and grammar examples. It’s pure writing. And you know what? The more you do it… the better all of it will stick. You will know Korean easily simply because you spent time writing it out.

Why? Because USING Korean is what will help you learn the most. Not by reading about rules. Not by watching YouTube videos. But USING Korean.

Remember, you can also print the same worksheet several times for even more practice.

Korean Worksheets for Beginners

What does a beginner need? In my opinion… A few things: direction, the alphabet, and the right mindset. So, here, you get the Korean PDFs to help you with that.

The Korean CheckList/Worksheet for New Beginners

As a new beginner… it’s hard to know where to start.

So, you go download a few apps, subscribe to a few YouTube channels… and… you overwhelm yourself with a poop-ton of resources that you will never finish. So you feel guilty. So you try again. You give up again. And maybe you come back 2 or 3 years later… and you regret all the lost time. You could have been fluent or close to fluent by now.

That’s what happens when you have no guidance.

So, that’s where this Checklist-Worksheet comes in. Follow the recommended steps and you should be on the right track. Inside, you’ll also get a link to another resource that will teach you how to stay motivated, consistent, and have the right mindset.

You know what else a brand new Korean learner needs? You’d know if you were using the check-list above.

The alphabet. So, here are some worksheets that you may find useful.

The Korean Hangul Workbook by KoreanClass101

Goal: Teaches you the Hangul (Korean alphabet)

This one’s not mine but KoreanClass101 is my go-to, recommended learning program. And they offer this printable Hangul workbook where you can practice writing out the letters one by one. This is a nice, big, step-by-step guide, as you can see by the picture below.

Quick Hangul Worksheet

Goal: Teaches you the Hangul (Korean alphabet) quicker

The above is actually a workbook that may take you a bit to finish.

If you want something lighter and faster, feel free to use my Hangul worksheet — it’s only 2 pages long and will teach you all of the Hangul characters. Or, you can use it for review and brush up, after you’ve learned Hangul.

Hangul Stroke Order

Goal: Teaches you the Hangul stroke order

This is another Hangul worksheet that’s focused more on the Hangul stroke order. Want to know the correct way to write the characters? If you do, inside, you’ll see the stroke order broken down step-by-step with arrows.

You can use this resource together with other worksheets here. Use this to get used to the stroke order. Use the others to practice the characters outright.

Hangul Combinations

Goal: Teaches you all the Korean vowel and consonant combinations .

With the Korean alphabet, you learn the characters for consonants and vowels. But, you can also combine them.

Take the letters ㄱ – (g) and ㅏ – (a). Combine them and you get 가 (ga).

And that’s where my Hangul Combinations Worksheet comes in. You get all of the possible consonant and vowel combinations, and you can practice writing them out on the provided lines. Use this after you mastered the Alphabet.

Korean Phrases Worksheets

This next section is all about Korean phrases . What are the must-know phrases to know as a beginner? Well, in my opinion, you will want to introduce yourself in Korean. You will want to talk about your likes and dislikes. Your Korean goals. So, I cover these topics and more.

10+ Korean PDF Worksheets Bundle

Goal: Teaches you how to talk about yourself in Korean.

Here, you will get 10+ Korean PDF worksheets and workbooks by KoreanClass101 — which I mentioned before. These Korean PDFs cover all topics: greetings, how are yous, love phrases and much more.

Talking About Yourself Korean Worksheet

Want to introduce yourself in Korean ? Say where you’re from? And that you’re learning Korean? Of course you do! The moment you’ll start speaking with native speakers, they’ll be asking about you and you will be using these very same phrases. So, master these phrases here first.

Likes & Dislikes in Korean – Worksheet

Goal: Learn how to say “I like, I love, I hate, I dislike…”

What do you love? Or hate?

We all have things we like and don’t like? And these are VERY common and FUN phrases that you use in English. So, you WILL use these in Korean as well. Learn how to say I like you in Korean. Or, I hate broccoli. Or, I love big apples. This Korean worksheet covers saying “I like…,” “I don’t like…,” “I love…,” and “I hate…”

And oh yea, it would be fun to learn to say I hate you in Korean too, right?

Phrases Saying I Want… in Korean

Goal: Learn to express your wants in Korean.

I want to teach you Korean.

What do you want? Do you want to download these free Korean PDF worksheets? Of course you do. So, download this one and practice various “I want…” in Korean phrases. It’s a good indirect grammar lesson as well.

Korean Vocabulary Worksheets

Next up are the must-know Korean words. As a learner, you should learn the most common words and the best way to do so is to practice writing them out. Don’t worry, you won’t learn random words like “zebra” and “economy,” but words you actually need.

50 Korean Core Words Worksheet

Goal: Master the core words that make up everyday conversations.

Core words are the words that are most commonly used in everyday speech. If you think of English, it will be words like “a,” “an”,” “the,” “he,” “she,” etc. Core words are generally the first words you would start with.

So, if you want to learn Korean words, you should start with core words. Hence, this Korean Core Words Worksheet.

Language Learning Words Worksheet

Goal: Learn must-know words to know in Korean if you are going to learn Korean.

If you’re learning a language…

You should know a specific set of words. Knowing these words will help you “learn Korean in Korean” instead of English. So, what words do I mean? I mean… knowing how to say word, phrase, ‘verb, adjective, and other language-related terms. Because eventually,… if you grow to be more advanced, you WILL be learning Korean in Korean. So, these words are a must.

Opposite Korean Adjectives Worksheet

Goal: Master the must-know adjectives .

Instead of learning Korean adjectives one by one…

You should learn the antonyms — or opposites. It’s more efficient. So, if you learn to say hot in Korean. You should learn cold as well. And that’s where this Korean PDF worksheet for adjectives comes in.

Korean Opposite Verbs Worksheet

Goal: Master the must-know verbs .

Same concept as the above, but instead with Korean verbs. Learn the opposites like “stop and go” and “open and close.” You’ll learn a total of 30 verbs.

Korean Worksheets for Numbers

Here, you’ll get the worksheets for Korean numbers and Korean counters. I will also update this section for Korean number phrases as well later on.

Korean Numbers 1 to 100 Worksheet

Goal: Learn Korean numbers from 1 to 100 ,

Learning numbers is another of the basic steps that a learner should take.

Luckily it won’t be hard if you use the worksheets. Just fill out the worksheet and practice learn to count in Korean from 1 to 100. Hana… Dul… Set… Net…

Korean Counters Worksheet

Goal: Master common counters.

In English we can say… one pencil, two pencils, three books, four people, five computers…

But Korean is different. Like Japanese, Korean has unique counters DEPENDING on what you’re counting: people, bottles, books, cups, and so on. Sounds frustrating for beginners because of how “unlike” English it is.. but this is something you “get used to.” Intermediate and Advanced learners are no longer bothered by it — they got used to it. How? Practice and time. And you can practice as well with this Korean Counters worksheet.

Korean Grammar Worksheets

Ah, Korean grammar. Scared? Don’t worry. These Korean worksheets cover basic grammar… but more importantly… you don’t have to memorize stuff. With Linguajunkie worksheets, you learn by doing. So, you will naturally get used to the grammar by using it.

Korean Particles Practice Worksheet

Goal: Master the most common Korean particles .

Particles are an important part of grammar. They indicate

Get ’em wrong and you sound like a “learner.” Get ’em right and you sound like a confident speaker who’s clearly good at Korean.

So, this PDF will help you practice the most common Korean particles.

Goal: Practice the Korean SOV sentence pattern .

English has an SVO (Subject-Verb-Object) sentence structure — “I eat rice.” Korean however is an SOV (Subject-Object-Verb) language — “I rice eat.” So, if you want to “grasp” the language, it makes sense to get used to the Korean SOV sentence structure. Which is where this worksheet will help you.

I Hope You Don’t Read This Last Thing…

I always wonder if people read the final bits of a blog post.

I don’t. And I know if you’ve looked through enough posts, it’s some generic blah-blah “filler” crap.

So, I don’t blame you.

But, let’s say you made it down here…

Let’s say you downloaded a few of these Korean worksheets…

What last thing would I want to leave you with? Well, I would just remind you of this….

1. Using Korean is the Best Way to Learn Korean. I said it before and I’m saying it again — using Korean is better than just reading or watching YouTube videos. Which is why you should immediately use what you learn — whether speaking, writing or if you’re reading or listening, look for what you’ve just learned.

So, that’s why I am bribing you to love me with my worksheets.

2. Writing is an Underrated Way to Improve Your Korean. If you practice writing words and phrases, they’ll become more natural to you. If you practice writing out sentences and grammar examples, they’ll become more natural to you. And guess what? Because you know these words well, this automatically improves all other areas of Korean: reading, listening, and speaking. Because the words are stuck in your head, it’s easy to say them.

3. I Want You to Leave Me a Comment . You’re getting these PDF worksheets for free. So, leaving a comment is the least you can do! Just so I know someone is using them and finds them useful.

Oh, and you may find these additional resources useful:

• Korean PDF Lessons
• Korean Workbooks

And that’s it!

Go on, you little rascal.

– Written by the Main Linguajunkie

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South Korean Parliamentary Election Projected to Hand Defeat to Leader

The vote on Wednesday was a big test for President Yoon Suk Yeol, who has forged closer ties with the United States and Japan but whose domestic agenda has stalled.

By Choe Sang-Hun

Reporting from Seoul

In the two years since he was elected, President Yoon Suk Yeol has made his mark in foreign policy, forging deeper ties with the United States and Japan. But his business-friendly domestic agenda has been stalled by his own missteps and an opposition-controlled Parliament.

Now, Mr. Yoon is facing the threat of being a lame duck for the remainder of his single, five-year term.

In a parliamentary election held on Wednesday, voters were projected to have handed Mr. Yoon and his party a crushing defeat, giving the opposition one of its biggest electoral victories in recent decades. Polls closed at 6 p.m. and official results were expected on Thursday morning.

Dozens of parties were vying for the 300 seats in the National Assembly, South Korea’s single-chamber legislature. However, the contest was largely between Mr. Yoon’s conservative People Power Party and the main opposition camp, the liberal Democratic Party.

This was the first general election since Mr. Yoon won the presidency in 2022, beating Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party by a razor-thin margin. While the results will decide the makeup of the Assembly for the next four years, they also serve as a verdict on the two rival leaders .

Exit polls conducted Wednesday by South Korea’s three major TV stations predicted that Mr. Yoon’s People Power Party and an affiliate would win no more than 105 of the 300 seats in the Assembly. Mr. Lee’s Democratic Party and a partner were projected to garner as many 197. A separate exit poll by the cable channel JTBC predicted a similar outcome.

For the past two weeks, candidates have greeted voters at subway stations, woven through their districts on trucks mounted with loudspeakers, and even knelt and bowed before voters, as is customary in the country. All that canvassing stopped as voters began filing into balloting stations across the country at 6 a.m. on Wednesday, which was declared a national holiday for the election.

The outcome of the contest is unlikely to have any immediate impact on Mr. Yoon’s efforts to expand security cooperation with Washington and Tokyo to deter North Korea, as foreign policy is concentrated in the hands of the president.

But Mr. Yoon’s long-stalled domestic agenda — corporate tax cuts and other business-friendly measures as well as his efforts to drastically increase the number of doctors — looks increasingly imperiled.

In contrast, Mr. Lee is likely to get a big push from the election if the exit poll projections are accurate. He hopes to run for president again in 2027.

The rivalry between the two leaders has become symptomatic of the deep political polarization in South Korea.

Mr. Lee’s party billed the election as an opportunity for South Koreans to punish Mr. Yoon over everything from rising consumer prices to allegations of corruption and abuse of power involving his family and the government.

“We must serve a warning that if the worker is not faithful enough, he can be driven out of his job,” ​Mr. Lee said this week​,​ a comment that South Korean news media said hinted at the possibility of impeaching Mr. Yoon if the opposition wins enough seats.

Under Mr. Yoon, Mr. Lee and his wife have been scrutinized by prosecutors and now face various criminal charges. The opposition for its part has passed bills that mandate investigations into allegations of corruption involving Mr. Yoon’s family and former prosecutors and judges. The president has vetoed those bills.

Each side, analysts said, focused on demonizing the other instead of offering policy proposals. Mr. Yoon’s party called Mr. Lee and his party “criminals.” The opposition warned that South Korea under Mr. Yoon was turning into a “dictatorship,” accusing him of using prosecutors and state regulators to suppress unfriendly journalists and politicians; at times, Mr. Yoon’s bodyguards have even gagged and carried away citizens who shouted criticism at him.

“I have never seen an election like this: No campaign promise or policy has become an election issue, except for the forces from the opposite poles clashing to win at all costs,” said Heo Jinjae, an analyst at Gallup Korea.

For one voter, in Seoul, the capital, the choice was between bad and worse.

“Instead of it being a battle of good policy, the election is about picking the least worst candidate,” said the voter, Hong Yoongi, 28, who lives in the city of Seongnam, just outside Seoul. “It’s a shame.”

Kim Eun-joo, a resident in her early 40s, voiced a similar notion but said she cast her vote as a warning against Mr. Yoon’s government.

“I don’t trust any party,” she said. “But I know that the economy has worsened and politics have become more disruptive under President Yoon.”

Nearly a third of the country’s 44 million eligible voters had already cast their ballots in early voting on Friday and Saturday. Experts said that the election would be decided largely by two overlapping blocs of swing voters. The first was people in their 20s and 30s. The second was the roughly 20 percent of eligible voters who hold the middle ground between progressives​ and conservatives. Many voters in their 40s and 50s are progressives, while people in their 60s and older tend to vote conservative.

The two main rival parties competed for swing voters by playing up their enemies’ gaffes and past remarks.

Mr. Yoon committed one such gaffe when he visited a grocery store last month and made a comment that left South Koreans wondering whether he knew how much green onions, a staple, cost amid inflation. Since then, opposition candidates have brandished green onions at campaign rallies as a symbol of Mr. Yoon’s supposed disconnect from everyday life.

Pre-election surveys showed that a majority of voters in their 20s and 30s and those who called themselves moderates disapproved of Mr. Yoon’s performance.

“If anything, this election serves as a report card on Yoon Suk Yeol’s two years in office,” said Jaung Hoon, a political science professor at Chung-Ang University in Seoul.

Jin Yu Young contributed reporting.

Choe Sang-Hun is the lead reporter for The Times in Seoul, covering South and North Korea. More about Choe Sang-Hun

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NPR defends its journalism after senior editor says it has lost the public's trust

David Folkenflik

NPR is defending its journalism and integrity after a senior editor wrote an essay accusing it of losing the public's trust. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

NPR is defending its journalism and integrity after a senior editor wrote an essay accusing it of losing the public's trust.

NPR's top news executive defended its journalism and its commitment to reflecting a diverse array of views on Tuesday after a senior NPR editor wrote a broad critique of how the network has covered some of the most important stories of the age.

"An open-minded spirit no longer exists within NPR, and now, predictably, we don't have an audience that reflects America," writes Uri Berliner.

A strategic emphasis on diversity and inclusion on the basis of race, ethnicity and sexual orientation, promoted by NPR's former CEO, John Lansing, has fed "the absence of viewpoint diversity," Berliner writes.

NPR's chief news executive, Edith Chapin, wrote in a memo to staff Tuesday afternoon that she and the news leadership team strongly reject Berliner's assessment.

"We're proud to stand behind the exceptional work that our desks and shows do to cover a wide range of challenging stories," she wrote. "We believe that inclusion — among our staff, with our sourcing, and in our overall coverage — is critical to telling the nuanced stories of this country and our world."

NPR names tech executive Katherine Maher to lead in turbulent era

She added, "None of our work is above scrutiny or critique. We must have vigorous discussions in the newsroom about how we serve the public as a whole."

A spokesperson for NPR said Chapin, who also serves as the network's chief content officer, would have no further comment.

Praised by NPR's critics

Berliner is a senior editor on NPR's Business Desk. (Disclosure: I, too, am part of the Business Desk, and Berliner has edited many of my past stories. He did not see any version of this article or participate in its preparation before it was posted publicly.)

Berliner's essay , titled "I've Been at NPR for 25 years. Here's How We Lost America's Trust," was published by The Free Press, a website that has welcomed journalists who have concluded that mainstream news outlets have become reflexively liberal.

Berliner writes that as a Subaru-driving, Sarah Lawrence College graduate who "was raised by a lesbian peace activist mother ," he fits the mold of a loyal NPR fan.

Yet Berliner says NPR's news coverage has fallen short on some of the most controversial stories of recent years, from the question of whether former President Donald Trump colluded with Russia in the 2016 election, to the origins of the virus that causes COVID-19, to the significance and provenance of emails leaked from a laptop owned by Hunter Biden weeks before the 2020 election. In addition, he blasted NPR's coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict.

On each of these stories, Berliner asserts, NPR has suffered from groupthink due to too little diversity of viewpoints in the newsroom.

The essay ricocheted Tuesday around conservative media , with some labeling Berliner a whistleblower . Others picked it up on social media, including Elon Musk, who has lambasted NPR for leaving his social media site, X. (Musk emailed another NPR reporter a link to Berliner's article with a gibe that the reporter was a "quisling" — a World War II reference to someone who collaborates with the enemy.)

When asked for further comment late Tuesday, Berliner declined, saying the essay spoke for itself.

The arguments he raises — and counters — have percolated across U.S. newsrooms in recent years. The #MeToo sexual harassment scandals of 2016 and 2017 forced newsrooms to listen to and heed more junior colleagues. The social justice movement prompted by the killing of George Floyd in 2020 inspired a reckoning in many places. Newsroom leaders often appeared to stand on shaky ground.

Leaders at many newsrooms, including top editors at The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times , lost their jobs. Legendary Washington Post Executive Editor Martin Baron wrote in his memoir that he feared his bonds with the staff were "frayed beyond repair," especially over the degree of self-expression his journalists expected to exert on social media, before he decided to step down in early 2021.

Since then, Baron and others — including leaders of some of these newsrooms — have suggested that the pendulum has swung too far.

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New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger warned last year against journalists embracing a stance of what he calls "one-side-ism": "where journalists are demonstrating that they're on the side of the righteous."

"I really think that that can create blind spots and echo chambers," he said.

Internal arguments at The Times over the strength of its reporting on accusations that Hamas engaged in sexual assaults as part of a strategy for its Oct. 7 attack on Israel erupted publicly . The paper conducted an investigation to determine the source of a leak over a planned episode of the paper's podcast The Daily on the subject, which months later has not been released. The newsroom guild accused the paper of "targeted interrogation" of journalists of Middle Eastern descent.

Heated pushback in NPR's newsroom

Given Berliner's account of private conversations, several NPR journalists question whether they can now trust him with unguarded assessments about stories in real time. Others express frustration that he had not sought out comment in advance of publication. Berliner acknowledged to me that for this story, he did not seek NPR's approval to publish the piece, nor did he give the network advance notice.

Some of Berliner's NPR colleagues are responding heatedly. Fernando Alfonso, a senior supervising editor for digital news, wrote that he wholeheartedly rejected Berliner's critique of the coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict, for which NPR's journalists, like their peers, periodically put themselves at risk.

Alfonso also took issue with Berliner's concern over the focus on diversity at NPR.

"As a person of color who has often worked in newsrooms with little to no people who look like me, the efforts NPR has made to diversify its workforce and its sources are unique and appropriate given the news industry's long-standing lack of diversity," Alfonso says. "These efforts should be celebrated and not denigrated as Uri has done."

After this story was first published, Berliner contested Alfonso's characterization, saying his criticism of NPR is about the lack of diversity of viewpoints, not its diversity itself.

"I never criticized NPR's priority of achieving a more diverse workforce in terms of race, ethnicity and sexual orientation. I have not 'denigrated' NPR's newsroom diversity goals," Berliner said. "That's wrong."

Questions of diversity

Under former CEO John Lansing, NPR made increasing diversity, both of its staff and its audience, its "North Star" mission. Berliner says in the essay that NPR failed to consider broader diversity of viewpoint, noting, "In D.C., where NPR is headquartered and many of us live, I found 87 registered Democrats working in editorial positions and zero Republicans."

Berliner cited audience estimates that suggested a concurrent falloff in listening by Republicans. (The number of people listening to NPR broadcasts and terrestrial radio broadly has declined since the start of the pandemic.)

Former NPR vice president for news and ombudsman Jeffrey Dvorkin tweeted , "I know Uri. He's not wrong."

Others questioned Berliner's logic. "This probably gets causality somewhat backward," tweeted Semafor Washington editor Jordan Weissmann . "I'd guess that a lot of NPR listeners who voted for [Mitt] Romney have changed how they identify politically."

Similarly, Nieman Lab founder Joshua Benton suggested the rise of Trump alienated many NPR-appreciating Republicans from the GOP.

In recent years, NPR has greatly enhanced the percentage of people of color in its workforce and its executive ranks. Four out of 10 staffers are people of color; nearly half of NPR's leadership team identifies as Black, Asian or Latino.

"The philosophy is: Do you want to serve all of America and make sure it sounds like all of America, or not?" Lansing, who stepped down last month, says in response to Berliner's piece. "I'd welcome the argument against that."

"On radio, we were really lagging in our representation of an audience that makes us look like what America looks like today," Lansing says. The U.S. looks and sounds a lot different than it did in 1971, when NPR's first show was broadcast, Lansing says.

A network spokesperson says new NPR CEO Katherine Maher supports Chapin and her response to Berliner's critique.

The spokesperson says that Maher "believes that it's a healthy thing for a public service newsroom to engage in rigorous consideration of the needs of our audiences, including where we serve our mission well and where we can serve it better."

Disclosure: This story was reported and written by NPR Media Correspondent David Folkenflik and edited by Deputy Business Editor Emily Kopp and Managing Editor Gerry Holmes. Under NPR's protocol for reporting on itself, no NPR corporate official or news executive reviewed this story before it was posted publicly.