The Korean Cultural Centre Nigeria (KCCN) has advised Nigerians to tap into the massive opportunities that come with learning and fluent speaking of foreign languages within and outside the country.
KCCN’s Cultural Events and Communications Officer, Jennifer Ezeonyeasi who gave this advice during the 2024 Hangeul Proclamation Day organised for past and present students of KCCN King Sejong Institute, noted that learning foreign languages was not a waste.
Hangul is the Korean alphabetic writing system consisting of characters representing consonants and vowels that are combined into larger units representing syllables. It was introduced by the fourth Joseon king, King Sejong.
According to Ezeonyeasi, the KCCN brought together students of the King Sejong Institute to remind and expose them to the history of how the Korean alphabet came about, and also to encourage the language exchange between Nigerians and Koreans.
She said: “Language learning is not a waste, if you see a country that has the potential to do business with your country, you might as well go and see if you can learn something there, or learn their language because people are currently learning and with the way Korea is coming into Nigeria, they’re going to benefit.
“They’re going to be the future translators and liaison officers for Korean government officials and Nigerian government officials not even in the future, it’s already happening. I don’t think learning any language is a waste as long as they put their mind to it. It can be fulfilling at the end of the day and it will benefit everyone.”
The KCCN official who cited inconsistent classes due to the absence of teachers and poor language practice by students as major challenges affecting the learning of the Korean language in Nigeria, however, noted that almost 60 students were currently enrolled in King Sejong Institute to learn Korean language.
“We’ve started the classes again, and we don’t know how long it’s going to last for because the teacher is just here to the end of the year. We don’t know about next year so the main challenge is who to practice with but the current class are connecting with each other in class, they form study groups where they can rehearse together and speak Korean to each other.
“Our students are making progress in terms of Korean language learning and the opportunities that they stand to gain when it comes to learning Korean language
“It will help Nigerians intending to travel to Korea either to study or do anything Korean-related, as well as to work in Korean-related organizations. Those that want to write the Korean proficiency test can also do that by learning the Korean language course at the Korean Cultural Center.”
A student of the institute, Okoro Daberechukwu Praise, said she was learning the Korean language to enable her to get a scholarship to study in Korea, as well as make communication easier if she gets the scholarship to study in Korea.
“I want to study abroad so I have to learn the language to be able to get the scholarship. The language is not like the English language; you have to learn the Hangul which is like a drawing, and you have to read it in that form, and you have to try and remember what they represent. So in that aspect of the Hangul, it has been my challenge but the class has been going well.”