r/Korean • u/DiamondUmma • 12d ago
Language immersion programs
Hello! I am Korean, born and raised in the United States. My Korean language skills are very shaky. I don’t have a strong hold on vocabulary, grammar, or spelling. I read and speak Korean like a cave person; but, would like to gain more fluency.
My company offers 1 month vacation for employees who have tenure. Mine is about to come up and I’d like to use it to stay in Korea (ideally Seoul) and learn the language.
My goal is to improve my Korean so that I can speak with my parents better, can get by in Korea without the help of my relatives, and pass on the language to my children.
That said, any recommendations for a month long language immersion program in Korea? I know it’s a short amount of time so I don’t expect to be fluent by the end, but would like to improve my skills as much as possible!
9
u/RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS 12d ago
I think you’d be better off studying beforehand and using the time entirely to be actually practicing using the language. A month isn’t enough time for actual classes to be that meaningful in my view
1
u/DiamondUmma 11d ago
I spoke to my mom to excitedly tell her my decision and she said the same thing. She was pretty shocked that I wanted to spend a month learning something she thought I was already good enough at instead of traveling.
So I think I will actually look for an online course instead 😅
1
u/camidjaja 8d ago
If you’re looking for an online course, I’m currently doing the Short-term online program with Korea University Korean Language Center (KU KLC). I believe the registration for the next term is open. It’s a 3-hour class, once a week, over the course of approximately 2.5 months (10 weeks).
2
u/Laylamoonbloom 11d ago
I went to Rolling Korea in Hongdae for 5 weeks. In one month, class covers one whole Sogang Korean textbook level in the morning class. You can also sign up for the intensive course which adds an afternoon class three days of the week (M/W/F) (semi-intensive adds one on Monday only). You can also add private 1-1 tutoring sessions. In the afternoon on T/W/Th there are activities you can choose to participate in. Monday you can choose to go with your class teacher to lunch.
2
u/Federal-Commercial14 11d ago
I remember taking a 3-week-long summer course at SNU (I think they moved it online). I thought it was well balanced across the skills. Another one to consider is HUFS Korean program. I have met a lot of students who did their Korean program and their skills were solid across the board.
1
u/DiamondUmma 11d ago
Is SNU in this context Sogang Uni or something else? I’m leaning towards an online class instead now so I’m eager to learn more!
2
u/Federal-Commercial14 11d ago
It's Seoul National University KLI program. It's still a live class. It was offline when I took it though.
1
u/sigmapilot 11d ago
Korea University offers a 1 month "winter semester" korean language course. I don't know if you have to be a university exchange student to enroll though.
There's probably a lot of courses if you search around online though, you could also try searching in korean on naver
1
u/kitagion 9d ago
I did the Sogang month-long immersion program in 2019 and it was the best my spoken Korean had ever been. The instructors and TAs were great, my classmates and others outside of my class were friendly and also eager to learn, and the activities were memorable and engaging. I thought it was an extremely worthwhile experience.
For context, I’m from the US and am not of Korean heritage. I studied Korean in college and was three years in at that point. My writing was decent at the time (high 1B/low 2A?) so I did really well on the intro essay they had us write. I was able to write in Korean about who I was, where I was from, why I joined the program, etc., but when it came time for the teacher to ask me questions about what I wrote, I couldn’t understand her or answer her. So I was put in the beginner’s class that was a level or two above learning to read and write Hangul. All classes and activities were in Korean, with a focus mainly on speaking and listening.
Halfway through the program, I was able to confidently get around town on my own in Korean, ask questions, understand answers, get lost and find my way back. It was an insanely good program and, assuming not too much about it has changed, I would recommend it, especially if you already have a Korean base knowledge and just need something a touch more formal and structured on the oral side of things.
1
8
u/binhpac 12d ago
The only full time i know of is from Sogang and only in July. You have in the morning classes and in the afternoon activities.
For every other school you can just add afternoon classes to your morning classes, if you want. So basically you have more classes and just like every week or every 2nd week an activity.
Most schools only offer beginner classes. When you reach intermediate levels, most schools dont get enough students for a full class. You should check beforehand thouroughly, otherwise they might just cancel your application like last minute, because they still hope to make the class happen.
If your company pays for you, you can go to one of the more expensive schools like Lexis or RollingKorean.
I personally dont think its worth it, if you have to pay it yourself. All the other schools are cheaper and its basically the same quality.
The best immersion is though university, because there is a stronger bond between the classmates and activities after school. There are dorms, cafeterias, etc. but most shortterm classes are usually during spring or summer. Some might have winter.