Korean alphabet taking root around the world

[영어도우미]

Korean alphabet taking root around the world

 

http://www.korea.net/news/news/newsView.asp?serial_no=20070720015&part=109&SearchDay=

 

 

Learning Korean is becoming increasingly popular in the nations bordering Korea .

Japan , for one, has been showing a steady increase with the number of students studying Korean behind only those studying English and Chinese.

According to the July 11, 2007 , edition of Japan 's Yomiuri Shimbun, Korean was the most popular second language -- next to English and Chinese -- for college entrance exams. French and German moved down to 4th and 5th place, respectively.

Examination centers which only offered English, French and German in the past, extended options to include Chinese in 1997 and Korean in 2002.

According to the survey by Japan 's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), the number of high schools that teach Korean increased from 73 in 1995 to 286 in 2005, ranking third for second-language education in Japan . Chinese placed second after increasing three fold during the same period from 192 places in 1995 to 553 in 2005. That's over 800 schools dedicated to Korean and Chinese. There are 248 schools for French and 105 schools for German.

Korean drama "Winter Sonata" which was a major hit in Japan.

Hibiya High, one of Tokyo 's most prestigious high schools, chose only Korean and Chinese as options for second language courses. Most schools with Korean classes teach the subject once or twice every week on average. Schools generally use in-house textbooks developed by a group of Korean language teachers within the school.

As for why Korean has grown so popular in Japan together with Chinese, the ministry points to the increase in cultural and economic exchanges between Japan and its neighbors, coupled with the schools' decision to teach students with languages in close proximity to the country.

The popularity of Korean dramas and pop culture is considered as another strong motivation.

Yomiuri Shimbun added that the increase in the number of students studying Chinese and Korean could contribute greatly to improving ties among the geographically close neighbors in the future.

Hangeul school students reach 100,000 overseas

Korean alphabet book for foreigners.

Korea's Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development (MOE&HRD) calculates that the number of students enrolled in official Korean language centers and schools overseas has increase by 128 percent, from last year's 1,693 to 3,854 people this year.

To promote overseas Korean education, the MOE&HRD backs Korean Education Centers. The five KEC Hangeul schools in Kobe , Japan , had the most number of students at 853, followed by Sapporo 's four Hangeul schools and 701 students.

The number of KEC schools in Japan increased from 38 last year to 50 this year. The number of faculty members also nearly-doubled from 109 to 187.

Next to Japan , Hangeul schools in Russia saw a big increase from last year's 138 to 151, along with the number of students from 11,801 to 13,667. That's nearly 2,000 additional students within the turn of year.

KEC Hangeul classes are offered in Vladivostok , Sakhalin , Khabarovsk and Rostov-na-Donu. Russia 's interest toward Hangeul is largely based on regional trade.

KEC in the United States runs 747 Hangeul classes with 43,746 students in big cities, including New York and Los Angeles . Last Year, the Hangeul center in Los Angeles became the first to see one of its Anglo-American students pass the Korean teacher examination administered by the State of California . The new teacher, David Hanes, 41, will work with Korean-American students at an L.A. high school.

Then there are 105 centers with 5,776 students in Canada and 54 schools with 4,185 students in Australia learning Hangeul.

In Europe , Germany boasts the most number of students learning Korean with 36 Hangeul schools and 1,516 students. Britain follows with 21 schools and 765 students. France has 11 schools with 361 students.

The interest in Hangeul is also growing in Latin America . There are 21 Hangeul schools with 1,353 students in Brazil , 16 Hangeul schools with 918 students in Argentina and five Hangeul schools with 210 students in Paraguay .

More Hangeul students can also be found in Central Asian nations such as Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan .

All of these sum up to some 100,000 people studying in over 1,500 Hangeul classes run by 35 Korean institutions dispersed in some 14 nations around the world.

The actual number of foreigners studying Korean is even higher, given the large number of unofficial classes taught by individual overseas Koreans.

 

 

VOCABULARY LIST :

 

dispersed - distribute widely: to distribute something over a wide area, or become widespread.

 

DISCUSSION POINTS :

 

1. How do you feel about the news that learning Korean is becoming popular all around the world?

2. What do you think are the reasons for the increasing popularity of Korean overseas?

3. What could be the benefits of this trend?

4. Personally, have you studied another language aside from English?

    If yes, what language did you learn and why did you choose it?

    If no, what language would you want to learn and why?

5. In your opinion, what foreign languages should be offered in schools in your country?

6. Can you suggest other ways of promoting Korean in other countries?