The information presented in Elementary Korean is essentially the backbone of my present Korean ability. In each lesson, aspects of Korean grammar are nicely layered on to what you have already learned in the previous lessons. Plus, this book forces you to learn Hangul because romanization is not given after the fourth lesson. This makes it a good resource for those intimidated by the Korean writing system.
This book is an authentic textbook (like something one would certainly use in an university Korean language course), but it is well-equipped for the self-learner as well. The vocabulary presented in this text is clear and relevant; however, you won't realize this until the sixth lesson (Lesson 5 introduces some odd vocabulary like "imported goods"). Also, the grammar notes are just detailed enough so that one can grasp the information without much external help.
The dialogues presented at the beginning of each lesson are informative and sometimes amusing. And, usually, there are additional sentences for reading after the dialogues. The book provides many examples for each of the Korean grammar concepts it teaches, so you will learn exactly how to use them. It should also be noted that this book mainly deals with the polite style of Korean speech, but it introduces the other styles as well.
The audio CD contains native speakers acting out the dialogues and reading the example sentences used in each lesson. Unfortunately, only the vocabulary from Lesson 5 is read on the CD. Personally, I find that the readers speak too quickly, but this can be easily remedied by slowing down the audio with Windows Media Player or something similar.
The end-of-lesson exercises are highly pertinent to the material presented in the text, and the answers for every exercise is presented in the back of the book. I have noticed, however, that a few of the answers are incorrect. Ultimately, I suggest buying Elementary Korean Workbook
along with this text. The lessons are thoroughly expounded in the workbook, and you get additional listening practice as well.
On a final note, there is an index and glossary in the back. The Hanja for certain terms are displayed in the glossary, but this feature is not that useful for beginners with no background in Chinese characters.
I thoroughly recommend this textbook for any newcomer to the Korean language.