International high school students come and learn Korean at YU
Klaudia Wiktoria from Poland who came for the Hallyu, Oyama Kouta from Japan in search of his roots
[August 6, 2012]

 "I don't think the Korean wave, or Hallyu, is something short fad. Polish high school students are in love with K-pop. Interest in K-pop is resulting in interest in Korean culture, Korean history and its language. I will come back to YU next year so I can learn proper Korean."

 Klaudia Wiktoria is the high school senior in Poland and Oyama Kouta is the high school freshmen in high school in Tokyo International School, Japan. They came to the YU Korean Language Institute to learn Korean during their summer vacation.

 The Hallyu frenzy that captivated the entire world is attracting international high school students to Korea. They are taking short-term Korean language courses during the vacation.

 Currently, there are 112 foreigners from 20 different countries learning Korean at the YU Korean Language Institute. Two of them are high school students who are really enjoying learning Korean. They are Klaudia Wiktoria Buza-Blonska (16) from Poland and Oyama Kouta (14), a fourth generation Korean-Japanese. Klaudia is currently in her third year in high school in Warsaw and Kouta is in his first year at an Tokyo International School.

 Klaudia is a bashful girl with brown hair. She wanted to learn Korean during summer vacation so she looked around over ten Korean universities. She chose YU because of the prompt and satisfying response, the reasonable tuition, and the systematic education system and flew over to YU in Korea from Warsaw, Poland in early July.

 Poland is a cultural powerhouse famous as the 'Chopin's country'. Despite this, the Hallyu is taking over Poland. Klaudia went with her friends to the K-Pop concert held in France in June of last year. She said, "My friends who did not know anything about K-pop just a year or two ago, now have high interest in Korean pop culture and have natural conversations saying, 'I like SHINee' or 'Super Junior is my favorite'. Korean TV dramas are also popular. 'Boys Over Flowers' is especially popular."

 Klaudia fell in love with Korea in not even a month staying here. She said, "Last night I talked with my mom on the phone and told her that I didn't want to leave Korea," adding, "Koreans are very warm and loving people. I became interested in Korea through K-pop, but the more I learn about Korea, the more I become attracted to Korea. I want to study Korean harder in the future and major in something related to K-pop and dubbing."

 Another international high school student came to the YU Korean Language Institute during summer vacation to learn Korean as well. He is Oyama Kouta (14). He is the youngest student at the YU Korean Language Institute and is a fourth generation Korean-Japanese.

 "When I was in the first grade in elementary school, I first became aware that I was Korean and that I had a Korean name, 'Kwak, Tae-sang'. I was surprised at first, but after some time passed, my interest in Korea grew." By studying Korean whenever he could, he is currently taking classes for second-level Korean.

 He said that his friends gave him a mission to bring back photos and albums from Girls' Generation and KARA. He stated, "I want to enroll in a university that has sister relations with YU and come back to YU later." He also added with a smile, "I want to work in a field related to international exchange such as student exchange between Korea and Japan. For this, I need to really study more about Korea and the Korean language."

 Director of the Korean Language Institute, Professor Suh, Jong-hak (61, Department of Korean Language Education), explained, "The Hallyu on pop-culture such as K-pop, TV dramas and movies, is leading to interest in Korean language, the Korean people, and the Korean society." He added, "We must make more preparations and efforts to improve the education environment and quality so that they can return to their homes and spread Hallyu even more."