After holding popular unofficial Korean classes for two years, the Fordham Institute of American Language and Culture has increased its offerings this year, holding two free Korean language courses and one Korean culture course every Wednesday for the duration of the fall semester.

Students can take these classes and receive a pass/fail grade for “Korean Workshop” on their transcripts, but they will not receive credit hours. Hie-Myung Jo, associate director of Fordham’s Institute of American Language and Culture, said “students were taking the (less official) class really seriously … so we thought offering a course for them would be a great opportunity.”

These courses are intended to offer a fun, free and practical opportunity for students to learn the Korean language. The beginner class professor, Kyung Eun Lee, noted how Korean can help you “see the world from a different point of view” and “expand your ideas and world of thought.”

Lee had previously taught at both Columbia University and New York University before joining Fordham as a Community-ESL (English Second Language) instructor in 2018.

She created the curriculum based on resources for learning Korean, including “Talk to me in Korean,” which provides learning materials for beginners to advanced students. The course will include a few assessments, a final presentation and one-minute speech later in the semester. The beginner class is “designed for those who have no prior knowledge of Korean.”

The courses have been offered in less official capacities for the last two years. Students previously gave great reviews, which prompted the class to be made more official. Kathleen Kye, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’22, said it was “more put together and educational than some of (their) other courses.”

“It did not feel like too much work on top of my other classes, but rather a fun break in the middle of the week to study something interesting and fun.” Gabi Hernandez, FCLC ’23

Gabi Hernandez, FCLC ’23, said she “really enjoyed the course, it was a lot of fun to participate in. It did not feel like too much work on top of my other classes, but rather a fun break in the middle of the week to study something interesting and fun.”

The beginner course saw an almost full classroom on Sept. 15, the first day of class. Students gave a variety of different reasons for why they wanted to learn Korean. Davis Pak, FCLC ’24, said he hopes to speak to his cousins because they currently can only speak to him in English.

Bell Pendon, FCLC ’24, said she joined the class because she wanted to know more about the culture and language. 

“I’m from the Philippines so when I was growing up, we were very catered towards Korean culture and Asian cultures in general.” Davis Pak, FCLC ’24

“I’ve always been interested in the culture,” Pendon said. “I’m from the Philippines so when I was growing up, we were very catered towards Korean culture and Asian cultures in general, and plus learning a language is cool.”

Another student, Rayne Davila, FCLC ’25, said that her passion for languages brought her to the class. 

“I really like learning languages so I learned Spanish in high school. I’m learning Mandarin here too, I just want to learn a lot of languages,” Davila said.

Reaching this level of legitimacy for the class was not an easy task, and a number of requirements had to be met. “We asked for the grant from the Korean government, then we got the grant and that’s how we unofficially started the Korean class,” Jo said. 

After receiving the grant, Jo and other involved faculty were able to offer the less official class and had to speak with the Korean government further to make it what it is this year.

There is some thought that this class could be expanded into a Korean minor, but there are no official plans for the program yet. The Institute of American Language and Culture wants to support the trial of a Korean program in fall 2022, given that there is funding and student interest.

Both Pendon and Pak said they would pursue a Korean minor if one was offered in the future at Fordham.