Korea introduces its language, culture to local school
Korea introduces its language, culture to local school
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
After successfully introducing various Korean products to
Indonesia -- from cars to TVs -- South Korea is now encouraging
state schools to teach its language.
Since March, Senior High School (SMA) No. 27 in Kemayoran,
Central Jakarta, has been holding Korean language classes every
Monday and Thursday.
Unfortunately, due to a lack of facilities, only 40 of the 150
students who registered to participate in the program were
actually able to take part.
"Our students enthusiastically welcomed the offer from the
Korean Language Education Institute to provide them with free
Korean lessons," deputy principal Zainal Arifin told The Jakarta
Post recently.
The Korean language program in SMA 27 is jointly organized by
the South Korean Embassy, the Seoul-based International Korean
Language Foundation (IKLF), and the Korean Language Education
Institute (LPBK).
The Korean Embassy's press and cultural attache, Kim Sang-
Sool, said in his opening remarks to the launch of the program
that it was an initial step to the introduction of the Korean
language more generally to Indonesians.
Meanwhile, IKLF director Park Young-Soon said that the
language program could serve as an entry point for Indonesians to
learn more about Korean culture.
The director of the LPBK's education affairs division, Didin
Samsudin, said that the LPBK and IKLF were currently discussing
the launching of similar programs in other schools.
According to Didin, the program was a follow-up to a meeting
between LPBK director Baek Chang-Hoon and the president of the
Seoul-based National Academy of the Korean Language early in
March.
"This Korean language program has received the strong backing
of the South Korean government as it is part of the campaign to
introduce the country's culture to Indonesia," Didin told the
Post.
According to Didin, the shortage of Korean language teachers
was the main constraint on the program.
He said there were only two universities here that offered a
Korean literature courses -- the University of Indonesia and
Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University, with both courses having
only started in 2002.
"After the universities produce graduates in Korean literature
who can also serve as Korean language teachers, our problems will
be solved," Didin said.
According to Zainal, the reasons why students wanted to take
part in the program varied. But most of them believed that having
Korean language skills would help them gain employment in Korean
firms.
"Many of our students will not continue their studies at
university because of financial constraints. Therefore, they hope
that by learning Korean, they will be help to find jobs more
quickly."
Zainal said that Korean was the third foreign language to be
taught at the school after Arabic and English.