Korean language class to be offered this fall
By Yeoshin Kim
Summer Forty-Niner
Cal State Long Beach
will offer for the first time a beginner level Korean language class this
fall semester.
The course titled
"Korean Language and Culture," also known as Asian Studies 490, will teach
the fundamentals of the Korean language.
"Korean classes are
important for the Korean Americans who are slipping away from their cultural
identity and for the non-Koreans to develop an understanding of the Korean
community," said professor Eun-Ai Shrake of the Asian and Asian-American
studies department.
During the 1998 fall
semester, professor Shrake taught a class titled "Korean-American experience"
where she realized the high level of interest in the Korean culture amongst
students.
Students at the Korean
Business and Economics Student Association began efforts to start a Korean
language class at CSULB. Together, they gathered 360 petitions to
open the class.
"Relying on off-campus
funds to open a language class was very difficult," said Eun-Tae Kim, president
of KBESA. He is glad the department finally recognized his efforts
and the demand for opening a Korean language class.
The College of Liberal
Arts allocated $10,000 to the Asian and Asian American studies department
to open two Korean classes for the fall semester — the Korean language
and culture class, and Korean American experience class. The department
will continue the program if it can fill at least 25 seats.
The Korean language
and culture class is not recognized as a foreign language class.
It will be an addition to the Asian and Asian American studies department
curriculum where courses in Chinese, Chamer, Tagalog are offered, but only
Japanese is recognized as a major.
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