Teaching Korean at height of raging K-Wave

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

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Sat, December 9, 2023 | 06:44

Society

Teaching Korean at height of raging K-Wave

Posted : 2019-07-10 16:31

Updated : 2019-07-10 17:16

Participants at the 17th International Conference of Korean Educators Abroad pose at the opening ceremony in the Sejong Hall of the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, Tuesday. From left are Satchukorn Kaewchuay, a high school Korean language teacher based in Thailand; Supaporn Boonrung, a Korean language professor at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand; and Seiitbekova Burulkan, a Korean language instructor at the Korea Education Institution in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. / Korea Times photo by Lee Suh-yoon

130 Korean language educators from around the world gather in Seoul

By Lee Suh-yoon

Satchukorn Kaewchuay, a high school Korean language teacher in Thailand, has no trouble keeping his students focused in class.

"I use examples that refer to EXO or BTS and the students perk up and participate," Kaewchuay told The Korea Times at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, central Seoul, Tuesday.

Kaewchuay and 130 other Korean language instructors and education officials from 38 countries arrived in Seoul this week to attend the 17th International Conference of Korean Educators Abroad, which runs from Tuesday to Saturday.

"If I simply read the example in the textbook, such as 'Why do you study Korean? Because I like Korean food!' no one would pay attention," he said.

Thanks to hallyu, or the Korean wave, the Korean language is now a popular second language subject at schools around the world, especially in Southeast Asia. As of 2018, the education ministry has helped open Korean classes at 1,495 elementary and middle schools in 28 countries. Currently in Thailand, over 37,400 students in grades seven to 12 take Korean classes, according to a ministry-funded Korean language institution based there.

Participants of the annual conference gathered to discuss teaching methods and policies to further spread Korean language education abroad.

Korean language instructors and education officials from around the world attend a networking night event at Lotte Hotel, Jung-gu, Seoul, Tuesday. / Yonhap

Professor Supaporn Boonrung, who set up the Korean language department at Chulalongkorn University, Thailand, says her students follow diverse career paths.

"Some work for Korean firms in Thailand while others work as professional translators. Some go on to Korean universities to continue their studies," she said.

Boonrung herself studied at Ewha Womans University in Korea through the ministry's Global Korea Scholarship program. She drafted Korean language textbooks for Thai middle schools, focusing on structure and grammar.

"Korean grammar is difficult for Thai people. In Korean, sentences go subject-object-verb but in Thai, it's subject-verb-object. We also don't have honorific forms like Korean."

Seittbekova Burulkan, a Korean language instructor at a ministry-run institute in Kyrgyzstan's capital of Bishkek, says her students struggle more with pronunciation than grammar.

"The students learn Korean grammar easily because Kyrgyz is similar to Korean in terms of sentence structure, though some students who only speak Russian do have more trouble," she said. "The most difficult part for the students is pronunciation. We don't have some Korean sounds like 'eo,' so my students always pronounce eomoni (mother) as ahmeoni."

Burulkan says Korean language instructors need more effective teaching tools and methods before being deployed to classrooms.

"At first, I taught grammar to students first, which was how I was taught. Now I think that method is wrong and try to make students talk in Korean as much as possible during class," she said. "I hope future support from the Korean government will focus more on training better teachers."

The education ministry, the host of the conference, welcomed the growing popularity of the Korean language and vowed to expand support for Korean language instruction abroad

"I'm happy to hear demand for Korean language education is climbing steadily in elementary and middle schools abroad due to Korea's raised international status and the popularity of hallyu," Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae said in a welcome speech. "We will actively help young people in various countries communicate in Korean and achieve their dreams."

sylee@koreatimes.co.kr