Sookmyung University's International Institute of Language Education teaches American youths
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- Writer 커뮤니케이션팀
- 보도일자 2015-07-09
On the morning of June 29, 49 youths from the U.S. gathered at our university's Sookmyung Professional Development Center. These students are scholarship students who have applied to the NSLI-Y program sponsored by the U.S. State Department and were selected for their excellent grades.
NSLI-Y is a government funded project that selects 7 languages that are worthy of notice for American youths and sends exchange students to the corresponding countries where the language has originated. The purpose is to send students to major countries affecting the U.S. national security to learn the language as well as experience various cultures so that they can develop into experts of the corresponding regions.
Korea was selected as a strategic nation in 2009 and 50 to 60 students have been visiting our country every year. This is our university's first partnership with the program and our school's International Institute of Language Education (LinguaExpress) has been placed in charge of teaching the students Korean for 6 weeks.
The students who gathered at the Sookmyung Professional Development Center on this day were assigned to different classes after a simple grammar and writing test in the morning. Although their level of Korean wasn't very high, they took the test very seriously as if to prove they were scholarship students who applied for the program on their own will.
In the afternoon, orientation was in full swing. The OT which started with a welcoming message from Hong Deok-kyu, the Dean of Office of Academic Affairs, progressed to promotional video of the school, introduction of Korean culture and description of the course. In particular, the students expressed a lot of interest when a student from Sookmyung Cultural Ambassador, leadership group under the Korean Culture Institute, talked about Korean entertainment and food culture such as K-POP.
After a very long lecture, the day's OT ended with a visit to the history museum and museum at the Centennial Hall led by the ambassador. All the students seemed to agree that they "are a bit tired because of the time difference but the friendly hospitality of the school was impressive."
The students are to stay in Korea until August 8 to learn Korean at our university and participate in mutual exchange activities for youths by visiting high schools. Also, the program is scheduled to conduct activities such as understanding Koran culture through camp experience, volunteer activities and homestay experience at the same time. The Team Leader of International Institute of Language Education (LinguaExpress), Seong Hye-jin, said, "As this is a great opportunity to introduce Korea and inform the students of the history and virtue of Sookmyung Women's University, we will give our best efforts to faithfully conduct the educational program."
