The strength of Meguro UNESCO Association’s Korean Language Class
Ms. Han Jung Sun, Instructor of Korean Language Class
There has been no other time like now, that the Korean culture has captured Japanese people’s attention. This is also true of learning Korean as a foreign language, which is in the spotlight more now than ever before.
I started teaching at Meguro UNESCO Association’s language class in January. That was only three months ago, but long enough for me to feel the strength of this Korean class that was never felt in other language classes. A rapid increase in the number of people learning a foreign language is usually followed by a rapid decrease. But in this class, many of the students say that they have been studying for more than four years.
I think one of the most difficult things in learning a language is the ability to continue. Now, I have found that these students have particular motivations: Firstly, they “enjoy” attending classes, exchanging big smiles with each other, and secondly, they have an “enthusiasm” to memorize one more word during each class. In this Korean class those two aspects co-exist in a good and balanced way, which is most satisfying for me. My students never attend a class with a passive attitude as if they were waiting for a teacher to teach, but they are always very active in learning language through enjoying the atmosphere. This pulls out the motive power to continue learning a foreign language and is the strength of this class.
Now I am happy to say, although each student may have a different reason for learning Korean, each of them is playing a leading role in Japan-Korea cultural exchange
