East Asian Languages and Cultures

Korean Language Program

Korean is spoken not only by citizens of the Korean peninsula and members of the Korean diaspora, but recently also by a growing number of non-Koreans for various purposes. Korea is a relatively small country, only slightly larger than Kansas, but its population, South and North combined, is twenty-times that of Kansas. Korean is the eleventh most popular language on the globe. Spoken Korean has served the native population for all colloquial purposes for several thousand years. Although the Korean vernacular script known as han’gŭl (great writing) was invented in 1446, it has enjoyed wide-spread popularity for only about a century. Han’gŭl is easy to master, which contributes to the nearly 100% literacy among Korean citizens. While more than half of the Korean vocabulary came originally from Chinese, the structure and grammar of the language are similar to Japanese.

KU is the only institution in Kansas offering elementary to advanced Korean language courses. The Korean language program at KU emphasizes almost equally speaking, listening, reading, and writing at each level. The first and second year Korean language courses consist of lectures (Tue and Thu) and drill sections (Mon, Wed, and Fri); third year Korean of three class meetings (Mon, Wed, and Fri) integrating lecture and drill. Many major universities in Seoul and other cities in South Korea are centers of learning for Korean language and culture

Links

Selected Korean Universities Where One can Study Korean Language and Culture

• Ehwa Womans University: http://ewha.ac.kr/english
• Hallym University: http://english.hallym.ac.kr
• Korea University: http://www.korea.edu
• Pusan National University: http://english.pusan.ac.kr/html/00_main/
• Seoul National University: http://www.useoul.edu
• Sogang University: http://www.sogang.ac.kr/english/index.html
• Yonsei University: http://www.yonsei.ac.kr/eng

Online Korean Newspapers

• Korea Herald: http://www.koreaherald.co.kr
• Korea Times: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/index.asp
• Yonhap News: http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/

TV & Radio Broadcasting

• EBS: http://www.ebs.co.kr/index.jsp
• KBS: http://kbs.co.kr/
• MBC: http://www.imbc.com
• SBC: http://global.sbs.co.kr/English/AboutSBSPro/index.jsp?loganal1=GNB_glb&loganal2=blank
• 라디오 코리아: http://www.radiokorea.com/

Other Useful Links

• Daily Exchange Rates from 1981 to Present:
  http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/DEXKOUS/downloaddsts
• Fellowship for Korean Language Training: http://www.kf.or.kr:8080/eng/program/fellowship1.jsp
• Korean Art: http://universes-in-universe.de/asia/kor/english.htm
• Online Shopping for Korean books, DVDs, CDs, etc.: http:www.seoulselection.com
• Places in Korea: http://witcombe.sbc.edu/ARTHLinks3.html#korea