Seoul National University offers a variety of language classes, through which, according to the Faculty of Liberal Education’s official website, students can think critically and express themselves academically, without difficulty in communication. This variety includes classes in Chinese, Classical Chinese, English, French, German, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Swahili, Mongolian, Finnish, Hebrew, Sanskrit, Japanese, Arabic, Hindi, Malay-Indonesian, Turkish, Vietnamese, Classical Greek and Latin.

Classes are offered in four levels: elementary 1, 2 and intermediate level 1, 2. The first three levels are centered mainly around grammar. Students with little experience with the language can begin with Elementary 1, which is designed to cover everything from the basic alphabet to simple conversation and grammar. For example, in Elementary Spanish 1, students begin by learning how to pronounce the Spanish alphabet and read pronunciation symbols. Then, students learn verb conjugations, pronouns, and sentence structures. This continues until the Intermediate 1 classes, which cover more complex grammatical topics.

In order to supplement the strong text-based nature of the elementary classes, both courses require students to participate in additional speaking classes. A native speaker of the language instructs the class once a week.

With this solid grammatical foundation and a familiarity with the language now established, students can go on to Intermediate 2 level courses. Here, their grammatical and lexical knowledge is enhanced through the reading of more advanced cultural and literary texts. “Since Intermediate 2 classes are designed for students who are now familiar with most of the grammatical structures, they cover literary works,” said Professor Ae-young Choe (Department of French Language and Literature). Professor Choe teaches with a selection of novel excerpts, essays, and short stories. “These help students to better understand the linguistic customs of the native speakers as well as the cultural connotations.”

For international students at SNU, Korean itself may be a foreign language, and one they are eager to learn fast. For these students, the Faculty of Liberal Education provides Elementary, Intermediate 1, 2, and Advanced Korean classes. Elementary Korean is a beginners’ class for foreign students that have little experience with Korean. It covers the basics of Hangeul (the Korean alphabet), as well as expressions and vocabulary. Intermediate level students can intensify this knowledge through classes that teach a more diverse selection of cultural and literary texts. In the final Advanced level class, students practice analyzing, summarizing, and orally presenting more complex texts such as newspaper articles and academic papers. The course material for these classes mainly consists of “I Love Korean”, the textbook published by the SNU Language Education Institute.

There are a number of reasons, often interrelated, for students at SNU to try their hands at a foreign language course. Curiosity or interest in that language or culture is one. Other reasons are more practical: often, proficiency in a particular language is a requirement in certain professional fields.

Whatever motivation is behind their choice, students show remarkable passion and effort in these classes. “Students are very diligent,” remarked Professor Choe. However, they face challenges. She noted that there were cases where students would listen for one or two weeks, only to soon give up, presumably because of the overwhelming difficulty of acquiring a whole new lexical system. “In the beginning of learning a foreign language, we often see what is called a ‘yo-yo effect.’ You start, you learn a little, then you stop, and soon enough you’re back where you began.” She emphasized that despite the initial difficulties that one is bound to encounter, it is important to persevere and make steady progress.

So, what are the benefits of learning a new language? According to Professor Choe, there are three advantages. Pragmatically speaking, the ability to understand and convey a new language opens access to sources of new information. From a communicative point of view, language allows for the creation and building of new relationships. “It is much more effective to communicate using a language that is infused with the culture and emotions of the listener.”

Lastly, Professor Choe highlighted that our thoughts are made up of words. Each language has its own syntactic structure and expression, and articulating your thoughts in a new way means learning to think differently. In doing so, students can acquire new perspectives of the world, and take a step back from the existing framework of thought in their minds, to connect elements of thought in different ways.

Written by Minjoo Lee, SNU English Editor, mjl1018@snu.ac.kr
Reviewed by Professor Travis Smith, Department of Asian Languages and Civilizations, tlsmith@snu.ac.kr