The hallyu wave, or so-called the rise in popularity of Korean culture, seems to have reached UVU. A group of students have come together to learn the Korean language in a student-led class on campus every week.
The lesons were started by Kuho Sin, also known as Kyle, who started this class last semester. Sin is from Seoul, South Korea and is studying Aviation at UVU. He leads this class in-between his own school schedule. He says he started the class for fun, but he wants the students to get something out of it.
“Personally I have a couple goals, definitely [the students] understanding Korean culture, that’s probably the most important part for me… and I want [the students] to be able to read Hangul,” said Sin.
Sin meets with other students in the library every week to study Hangul, the Korean alphabet, and Korean vocabulary words. They also discuss Korean culture and terms that might be relevant to students who plan to visit Korea or want to learn more about the general culture as well.
About 30 students from different majors signed up for the class, including many students who were also interested in the K-Pop club on campus, that on its own had over 80 people sign up to be involved with this semester. “You would be surprised how many people would like to learn Korean culture,” Sin says.
Indiana Jaynes, who is attending both the Korean language class and is involved in the UVU K-Pop club, says the reason she originally became interested in learning Korean was her interest in K-Pop and K-Dramas.
“A lot of shows didn’t have English subtitles so I started studying Korean,” said Jaynes “Then I started to become really interested in Korean culture and made some friends from Korea that I really wanted to be able to speak with more easily. Plus I just really fell in love with the Korean language.”
Sin started the class after he found that there are no Korean classes being taught at UVU, which is something that he is eager to change. He believes that having this class could provide more opportunities for international students, and for Korean students as well, particularly in tutoring.
“By teaching Korean they can actually practice how to speak in English. If we have a Korean class at UVU, maybe we can make an exchange program.” Sin says.
Sin leads the Korean language class every Monday in the library from 4:30pm to 6:30pm, and is looking for other students who are fluent in Korean that are interested in helping. If you want to get involved, whether to learn the language or to teach, you can email Sin at ohuse456@gmail.com.
