Home > National > Social Affairs

Hannam University students engage in intensive summer Korean language program to enhance speaking skills

Published: 21 Jul. 2025, 16:16 Updated: 07 Aug. 2025, 14:39

Foreign students study Korean at Hannam University in Daejeon, learn Korean on July 3. [JOONGANG ILBO]

Over 20 students at Hannam University’s Korean Language education center in Daejeon spent a scorching afternoon on July 3 wrestling with Korean grammar, as the heat outside pushed past 32 degrees Celsius (89.6 degrees Fahrenheit) — but their ambitions stretched even further.

They tackled sentence particles like “eun/neun” [topic marker], “i/ga” [subject marker] and “eul/reul” [object marker] — linguistic essentials that don’t have exact equivalents in English but shape the meaning and emphasis of every Korean sentence.

The students are enrolled in Hannam University’s 2025 summer Korean language program, which began on June 9. Students spend four hours each weekday in class, working toward fluency.

Instructor Park Won-ho guided them on July 3 through the various conjugations of the verb “to be hot”: deowoyo [It’s hot], deowosseoyo [It was hot], deowotjiman [It was hot, but...].

Students repeated after Park, wrote on their tablet PCs and built complete sentences based on the grammar they had just learned.

Foreign students study Korean at Hannam University in Daejeon, learn Korean on July 3. [JOONGANG ILBO]

Many of the students began learning Korean back home in Vietnam, but they said that speaking the language here is a different challenge.

“Writing is hard, but speaking is even harder,” one student said.

Korea’s system of honorifics and its many particles often trip them up when trying to form natural sentences. But many of them are determined to continue.

“I want to come back for the fall and winter terms and eventually get into a Korean university,” another student said.

Hannam University launched its Korean Language Center over 20 years ago as part of its efforts to recruit international students and promote Korean language learning.

The center runs four terms each year — in spring, summer, fall and winter — and prepares students for the Test of Proficiency in Korean (Topik). Those who pass level 5 or higher — level 6 being the highest — can apply to Korean universities without taking the national college entrance exam.

This summer, 128 new students enrolled in the Korean program, bringing the total number of students currently studying Korean at the center to 1,086. Including undergraduates and graduate students, the university hosts 2,090 international students — the largest number among universities in Daejeon and South Chungcheong. Tuition for a 10-week course is 1.4 million won ($1,020), with housing and meals charged separately.

Students must demonstrate basic Korean skills and pass an in-person interview at a Korean embassy to receive a six-month D-4 visa.

Foreign students study Korean at Hannam University in Daejeon, learn Korean on July 3. [JOONGANG ILBO]

First-time students are required to live in the university’s dormitory, where Hannam provides academic counseling and departmental orientations to assist them in selecting a major and pursuing full-degree programs.

“We closely manage attendance and offer extracurricular activities so students can settle in smoothly,” a school source said.

Three Vietnamese students interviewed at the center are all studying Korean to enter a Korean university. Each has been learning the language for one to one and a half years.

Huyen, 20, from a city near Hanoi, became interested in Korea during high school. Now, a year into her stay, she cooks Korean dishes like soft tofu stew at home and dreams of studying information technology or media-related majors.

Min An, 24, from Ha Long Bay, is a fan of Jennie from girl group Blackpink. She is in a Topik level 5 class and plans to enroll as a first year student at Hannam University next year.

“I came here because I like Korean culture,” she said. “I work part-time four hours a day and manage fine thanks to a scholarship.”

Sunny, 20, hopes to study mechanical engineering and return to Vietnam to work for a Korean company.

“We offer scholarships to our top students, and we also support job placement and entrepreneurship,” said Hannam University President Lee Seung-cheol. “Our goal is to help international students discover their potential and take their next step into the world.”

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY SHIN JIN-HO [[email protected]]