Study in Korea (Part-3 / Korean Language Programs)

K-Pop or K-culture are the popular words one gets to see while searching for media, music, films, dramas and culture - related to Korea. With the Korean wave these are considered as the drivers of globalizing Korea. A very interesting part is the fact that in many countries, where Korean wave created tsunamis, people had no clue about the language whose programs or music they loved and could relate to..most of the time dramas were subtitled or dubbed. Countries like Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Kenya, Azerbaijan, Denmark, France, Germany, Thailand, Malaysia to Canada and the US - there is a growing interest in Korean media and hence, to know Korea which further developed into a desire to learn Korean language called "Hangul".

Many universities are offering Korean language programs (KLP)  for foreigners. Mainly two types of program are popular: KLPs focusing on conversation and the ones' used for academic reasons. Sogang university is popular with conversational programs and Yonsei university in academics. Many universities have a melange of two and some have interestingly further divided their programs for student coming from specific regions e.g. classes for Japanese and Chinese students (due to similarities with Korean, Hanja or classical Chinese characters) are separate from those coming from the rest of the world, however, the choice to choose which program to join is entirely left to the applicant.

Some of the popular KLPs in Seoul are at the following universities:

1. Yonsei
2. Sogang
3. Seoul National University
4. Kyunghee University
5. Ehwa Women's University
6. Sookmyung Women's University

Basically, there is no scholarship to learn Korean unless you are in a KLP of your home country and only then one is eligible to apply. MoU's between governments also bring language scholarships holders to Korea. NGOs and companies also send their candidates to study Korean language. In case you are a Korean Studies major or are planning to join one...at some stage you may apply for such a scholarship in Korea. Once you are in Korea - there is no scholarship to study Korean language at all...but do not get disheartened, while in Korea - you will have countless opportunities to learn and practice Korean language. Seoul Global Center and Korea foundation offers free classes of Korean language to the foreign residents (both children and adults) of Korea on regular basis in different levels after taking a placement test. Many universities, at times, offer classes for free for Korean language and one of them was Seoul City University. Social Network groups and NGOs also offer Korean language classes....hence, there are countless opportunities to learn Korean.

Personally, I have noticed that some of my friends who studied Korean at universities in cities outside Gyeonggi and Seoul area - learn Korean fast in lesser time because they could NOT find many people who would speak with them in English which is often the case in Seoul. If you try Korean outside the class - most natives reply back in English than in Hangul (Korean)...which could be very frustrating at times.

I studied Korean at Kyunghee and Sogang universities and my advice is once you start to learn Korean...don't quit in the middle but instead, try to finish at least 4 levels in a stretch. Furthermore, unless somebody has taken TOPIK (Test of Proficiency in Korean) - it hard to understand what level are you actually in. An intermediate level of one university with that of the other does NOT mean the same thing hence, when you learn Korean language my advice is : don't forget to take TOPIK step by step: that will bring you to the general standard of Korean language proficiency that the Ministry of Education of Korea requires...hope this will help!!!

TIPS

If I had an option of  "undo" in real life then I would have chosen this:

1- Study Korean in cities other than Seoul and Gyeonggi province.

2- I had taken TOPIK exam after passing each level.

3- I would have told people that : 영어 못해요! (I don't know English).

4- I had hanged out with Koreans rather than foreigners.

Last but not the least, knowing Korean language has surely made life much richer in many ways so try to stay positive ;-) .