Korean, Foreign Languange That Gain Popularity

I still remember the first time I learn Korean. I’ve got mixed feeling between curious and nerveous because I never learn Korean before. I am totally blank about Korean, and at that time I thought that I would find difficulties in learning the language.

But when the teacher came in and begun teaching the Korean alphabet, my worries disappeared and change into enthusiasm. As a beginner I was so lucky that I had a really, really good teacher. She is a native Korean and used to be a kindergarten teacher so she knew well how to teach us, non-Koreans who learn Korean for the very first time. She is also good at creating a fun learning atmosphere so the students felt very comfortable and were motivated to learn.

There are about 20 students in my class from various range of age and background. Of course they have their own reasons to learn Korean. I am myself interested in learning Korean after watching many Korean dramas. The way Korean is spoken sounds good in my ears. Beside that, I like the songs that become the original soundtracks in some Korean dramas. I really want to be able to sing the theme songs, but how could I sing since I don’t know Korean at all. My reason might seem so funny but it is, so I decided to take Korean language class.

I don’t know if there are people like me who learns a new language just to be able to sing a song in that language. Most people learn Korean said that they learn the language for the purpose of their further study, they want to continue their study in Korea. Some people said learn Korean to add the value of themselves because they work in company belong to Koreans or for the purpose of working in Korea. 

Whatever the reasons are, since I start learning Korean two years ago, there are more and more Indonesians learning Korean specially among young people. Seeing this tendency, Korean can be one of the most popular foreign language among Indonesians  after English and others foreign language such as French and Japanese.

Enthusiasm in Learning Korean

To know about how far Korean attracted Indonesians to learn it, I asked Mr. Saiful Hadi, the owner of Bina Bangsa Karya  (BBK) Center, a private institution that offers Korean language course for Indonesians.

According to him, the Korean wave has triggered interest in learning Korean among the people of Indonesian, mainly young people who get in touch with anything Korea through K-Pop or Korean drama. 

Saiful Hadi who opened the language courses center since the year 2010 said the students learn Korean for many different reasons as I have said at the beginning of this writing. To help the students to learn Korean easier, He created the learning method called “Schematic Theory” for each level of study (basic, Intermediate and Advanced level). 

“Schematic Theory” is a technique to compose sentences according to Korean grammatical order “S-K-O-P”  (Subject-Adverb-Object-Predicate (verb)).
Saiful Hadi has also published books “How to Learn Korean Languange” to help people learning Korean easily.

“Number of people who take English course are still a lot more than Korean, but the participants of Korean language course also continue to grow from each year,” said Saiful Hadi who got master degree on social walfare from Chungnam National University, Daejeon, South Korea. 

He with optimism said that Korean has become popular among the young people and has a good prospect for Indonesian who learn it along with the increasingly close ties between Indonesia and Korea in various fields ; social, culture, education and economy. Today, there are many Korean companies open their offices in Indonesia. They do need many human resources with capabilities, Korean language skill included.

Enthusiams in learning Korean among Indonesians is also seen at Korean Cultural Center Indonesia (KCCI) in Jakarta. KCCI open new class every three month. Each time KCCI announces the opening of a new class, it is always fully booked. Total enrollment reached 700 people while KCCI can only accommodates 500 new students. Learning Korean in KCCI consists of eight level, and is more advantageous because all teachers are native Korean. The tuition fee is also affordable.

Learning Korean from Internet

As Korean become more and more popular in many countries including in Indonesia, learning Korean today is even more easier with the availability of many facilities in internet to learn Korean.  

I myself unfortunately only learned Korean basic level in KCCI. But I don’t stop learning, because I like Korean language a lot. I read some Korean learning guidebooks, and I also learn Korean from Talk To Me In Korean via internet. 

Recently, KBS World Indonesia also start a new service "Korean Drama Class" where we can learn Korean through the dialog used in Korean Drama so learning Korean is more interesting.

I find that learning Korean is really fun and challenging. I hope that someday I can visit Korea to practice my language skill in its native country. 

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