East Asia Institute Spring 2012

TheEastAsiaInstitute(EAI)attheUniversityofTexasatSanAntonio(UTSA)incollaborationwiththe

HoustonKoreanEducationCenterheldtwo10‐weekconcurrentbeginning‐levelKoreanLanguageandCulturecoursesthisspringsemester.Dr.DeukheeGong,DirectoroftheKoreanAmericanCulturalCenterofSanAntonioandMs.JinAh

CastilloofUTSA’sBicultural‐BilingualStudiesDepartmenttaughttheclasses.

TheclassesstartedoffbyteachingthestudentsbasicgreetingsandintroductionsalongwithbasicKoreanhistory.Thestudentslearnedthewritingsystemincludingconsonants,vowelsandcomplexvowels,inadditiontolearningvocabularyandformingsentences.Bytheend,theclasseshadattainedtheabilitytocarryonabasicconversation.Aftertheclassconcludedforthesemester,theEAIaskedtheteacherstheirthoughtsabouttheclass.

Korean Language and Culture Class at UTSA

Lean Korean at UTSA

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Korea 大韓民國

한글

Learn Korean at UTSA

“IhadnoideawhystudentswouldwanttolearnKorean!”laughedMs.Castillo.Shewasexcitedandwantedtosharehercultureaswell.BothteachersfeelthattheKoreanlanguagehaslittleexposure,especiallyinSanAntonio.“Koreahasdevelopeddramaticallyandrapidly,”saidDr.Gong,“therefore,ifyouknowKorean,youwillhavemorechancestogetajob.”

From left: Authentic Korean food tasting for the food lesson; Students wearing the traditional clothing (hanbok)

Theclassesweretaughtwithanagglomerationofpairandgroupwork.Inaddition,regularassignmentsandquizzesweregiventoencouragepractice.“Althoughthestudentscouldn’tevenreadanyKoreanatallatthebeginningoftheclass,”Castillocommented,“theybecameabletoreadfullsentencesandholdconversationsneartheendofthesemester.”Nowthattheclasshasended,bothteachersfeelaccomplishedandstillthinkoftheirstudentsoften.Nextsemester,theyplantoaddmoreactivitiesandpushtouseevenmoreKoreaninclass.

Inadditiontointerviewingtheteachers,studentswerealsoaskedquestionsabouttheirexperiencesandthereasoningbehindtakingtheclass.Onestudentrespondedwiththe

wordhallyu,whichreferstothespreadofSouthKoreanculturearoundtheworld.AnotherstudentexpressedthatshewantedtolearnKoreansoshecouldtalktoherboyfriend’smothersincesheisaKoreannativeandhardlyspeaksanyEnglish.OneclassmemberjokedsayingthatnowshewillbeabletowatchKoreandramaswithoutsubtitles. Thestudentshadmixedexpectationsbeforeenteringtheclasssincethiswasthefirsttimeacourselikethishasbeenofferedoncampus.Theyexpectedtheclasstobehard,butexclaimedthattheyhadalotoffun.Theylearnedalot,perhapsalittletoomuch.

Besideslearningaboutcultureandfood,onestudentstatedthatKoreanwillbecome

Korean culture is a big component of the Korean class at UTSA

End-of-the-semester presentation

handywhenheappliestotheTeachandLearninKorean(TaLK)Programinthefall.Moststudentsfeltlearningotherlanguagesisessentialandwillopenmoredoorslaterinlife.Afterall,themoreperspectivesonecanlookthrough,thegreaterchancethatchangescandevelop.

ThemajorityofthestudentswishedtocontinuetheirKoreaneducation.Manywereecstatictofindoutthatanintermediate‐levelcoursewouldbeofferedinthecomingfall.Themomentitwasoffered,morethan20studentsrushedtogettheirapplicationsinearlytoreservetheirspotinthenextclass.

“TheEastAsiaInstituteandUTSAaregratefulfortheover‐whelmingsupportwereceivedfromDr.JungJooParkandtheKoreanEducationCenterinHouston,”saidMimiYu,AssociateDirectoroftheEastAsiaInstitute,“BringingaKoreanlanguageandcultureclasstoSan

Antoniofinallybecamearealitybecauseofthiscollaboration.”“WehopemanyofourstudentswillgoteachandworkinKoreathroughtheTaLKandEPIKProgramstototallyimmersethemselvesintheKoreansociety,itscultureandlanguage,”saidJuliusGribou,UTSA’sSeniorInternationalOfficer,“IampleasedmoreandmoreUTSAstudentsareinterestedintheseglobalopportunities,whichwillbeverybeneficialtothemwhenitcomestocompletinginthepoliticalandeconomicarenainthefuture.”

Top: Dr. Deukhee Gong; Bottom: Jin Ah Castillo; Right: Inside the Korean class

East Asia Institute One UTSA Circle, MB 1.209

San Antonio, TX 78249 http:www.utsa.edu/eai

210.458.4943; eai@utsa.edu

LearnKoreanatUTSAinFall,2012Sept.11‐Nov.15(10wks)5:30‐6:45p.m.,Tuesday/Thursday

Registerat:www.utsa.edu/eai

TeachingopportunitiesinKoreathroughtheTaLKandEPIKPrograms

TaLK:www.talk.go.kr

EPIK:www.epik.go.kr

StopbytheEastAsiaInstituteforafreeconsultation