A few days ago, I stumbled upon a fascinating interview on YouTube. It featured Dr. Ross King, a Harvard linguist, whose work I’ve admired for a long time. You might recall a previous post on my blog about “Lake of the Woods,” a language immersion village. Well, Dr. King spent eight summers there starting at the age of 10, learning various languages. Later, as a professor, he established a Korean language village here in 1999.
Dr. King has been studying Korean for over 40 years—longer than I’ve been alive—and teaching it for 30 years. His contributions to Korean language education are truly inspiring. As someone who also teaches Korean, I found his interview both relatable and thought-provoking, and I’d like to share some of the key points with you.
1981 Korea: A Different World
Dr. King first came to Korea in 1981 as a college student, thanks to the help of a mentor. At that time, Korea was very different from today. It was the early days of a military dictatorship, and most people around the world didn’t even know where Korea was. Unsurprisingly, there were very few foreigners learning Korean back then—primarily missionaries, Peace Corps volunteers, military personnel, or "spies".
The infrastructure for teaching Korean to foreigners was almost non-existent.
Korean Language Education Today
When Dr. King started learning Korean in the 1980s, only 375 students across all of North America were studying the language. Today, that number has soared to over 20,000, making Korean one of the top 10 most-taught foreign languages in the U.S.
Despite this rapid growth, he pointed out a key challenge: the lack of effective systems for teaching Korean. One particular statement in the interview resonated with me:
"For English-speaking learners, the biggest barrier to learning Korean is English itself."
Dr. King’s observation highlights a common issue. Many learners who live in Korea or have Korean spouses struggle to use Korean in daily life. They often default to English for smoother communication, which makes progress in Korean even harder.
And when they do seek help from Korean teachers, it’s frustrating if lessons are taught mostly in English. Dr. King’s comments made me reflect on my own teaching practices.
When I first started teaching Korean, I aimed to conduct lessons entirely in Korean. However, with beginner students, this proved too challenging, so I began incorporating English explanations. While practical, this approach sometimes feels like a compromise. After watching the interview, I’m motivated to increase the use of Korean in my lessons.
A Unique Challenge: Korean and Nationalism
Dr. King pointed out a unique characteristic of Korea: strong linguistic nationalism. More specifically, he criticized the overemphasis on Hangul in Korean language education, to the exclusion of other important aspects like Hanja.
Many Korean words are derived from Hanja, reflecting Korea’s long history within the Sinosphere. Before Hangul was created, Hanja was the primary written system in Korea.
Although I’ve taught Korean through platforms like 'italki' and the 'Podo Korean' app, I wasn’t fully aware of the lack of Hanja in mainstream Korean education. But after hearing Dr. King’s critique, I understand the issue and agree with his perspective.
Demystifying Hanja
Dr. King emphasized the importance of learning Hanja for mastering Korean vocabulary:
"If you want to truly excel in Korean, you need to study Hanja."
I’ve already incorporated Hanja lessons into my "Podo Korean" app, believing it helps students understand and expand their vocabulary more effectively. For those who haven’t tried it yet, I highly recommend giving it a shot!
One common misconception about learning Hanja is that it requires studying Chinese. That’s not true. Learning Hanja is completely different from learning the Chinese language. Just as many European languages use the Roman alphabet, East Asian languages historically used Hanja. Learning Hanja for Korean is simply about understanding the meanings and sounds—it doesn’t require memorizing how to write the characters. It’s simpler than you might think!
This interview was a wake-up call for me. It encouraged me to reflect on my teaching methods and how I can improve. The most important lesson I took away was this:
"The focus should not be on the Korean language itself, but on the needs of the learners."
By keeping learners’ perspectives at the forefront, I hope to make Korean more accessible and enjoyable for everyone. What do you think about Dr. King’s insights? Let’s keep the conversation going in the comments! 😊
