Great first step (learning the alphabet)! It's good to learn how to read and pronounce a language right off the bat. Or else how can you do much else? A little bit of both :) Here's my opinion on learning vocabulary: http://www.italki.com/discussion/91279 Here's my opinion on language and Korean studies: http://www.italki.com/question/301202 Actually, there's nothing wrong with learning some specialized or technical vocabulary (though I'd save the bulk of it for a little further on - low-intermediate and up). If it's something you're interested in, you need to know how to talk about it. Whether it's computer, math, engineering, etc specific vocabulary, it's great to be able to discuss your interests with someone. One day you'll run across a Korean with the same interest too, I'm sure, and knowing a decent number of related vocabulary will be extra helpful for delving in and explaining what you do/like to do. You don't want to start off with something too grammatically complex. You would give a 3- or 4- year old a sentence about rocket science, eh? You want to build a strong foundation. Just remember that you're not exactly a little kid. Feel free to push yourself outside of your comfort zone gradually to make better, stronger, longer sentences. Korean relies a lot more on grammar than vocabulary to convey certain meanings and nuances, so take it easy and don't stress. Good luck and feel free to contact me for more help and/or resources :)

I would learn Hanguel -consonants, vowels, dipthongs as the base to get elsewhere. Then . names of foods (you will have to eat) -- even if you can just say "bap" . money (you have to pay) . directions ( you will have to find the shop) Useful links https://translate.google.com/ - can be very weird but useful http://www.koreanclass101.com/korean-dictionary/ Look for the youtube videos from "Professor Oh" Hopefully you will be a much better student than I me :-<