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| Elena Smalko, who teaches Korean language at the King Sejong Institute in Minsk, Belarus / Courtesy of King Sejong Institute Foundation |
By Kwon Mee-yoo
Korean language teachers from across the globe gathered in Seoul to share and discuss their teaching methods at the seventh World Korean Educators Conference at Grand Hilton Seoul, running through Wednesday.
Elena Smalko, currently teaching elementary and intermediate level Korean at the Minsk King Sejong Institute located in the Belarusian State University (BSU) in the capital of Belarus, attended the conference.
Belarus is an Eastern European country landlocked by Russia, Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine. The country is relatively unfamiliar to Koreans, but more and more Belarusians are taking interest in Korea, thanks to the ever-popular K-pop and the state-of-the-art technology of Korean companies.
There are about 10 students studying Korean at the BSU and some 40 at the Minsk King Sejong Institute. The Minsk branch was established in 2013 and it is rapidly growing.
"Now a lot of people show interest in studying Korean as their major and hallyu is a big motivation for many of them to learn Korean," Smalko said an interview with The Korea Times. "Many people come to the Minsk King Sejong Institute to learn Korean. Some of my students work part-time jobs so they can visit Korea during their holidays and the trip to Korea motivates them to study Korean even further."
Smalko, 26, started learning Korean about seven years ago, when there was virtually no sign of "hallyu," or the Korean wave in the Eastern European country. The Belarusian State University (BSU) has Department of Oriental Linguistic and Country Studies and Smalko decided to specialize in Korean.
"To be honest, I didn't think of learning Korean until I entered university. Korean was something new and there was no other people speaking Korean in Belarus. It was a great time for me to learn Korean," Smalko said. "I didn't know anything about hallyu back then but more interested in Korean traditional culture. I am more attracted to Korean culture and history than K-pop or Korean dramas."
The Minsk King Sejong Institute offers a variety of Korean classes in grammar, speaking and listening. The motivation for Belarusians to learn Korean varies. "Some of them are interested in modern culture like K-pop, look up the country on the Internet and then fall in love with the country," Smalko said. "I love Korea, a country where tradition and modernity coexist in the same block."
The institute also offers cultural activities such as Korean movie screenings and traditional performances in cooperation with the Korea Foundation. "Watching Korean movies could help learning Korean language a lot as it provides good examples of dialogue. I liked the film ‘Sunny.'"
There are few students majoring in Korean language in Belarus, but the scarcity brings them opportunities as the two countries expand interchanges.
"The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) opened a Belarus branch last year and Korean major students could get a job there. Some of them work at the Korean embassy in Minsk or teach Korean like me," she said. There are Korean native speakers teaching the language at the King Sejong Institute, but Smalko said Russian speakers are better at explaining complicated grammar in Russian.
Smalko said Asian countries are leading the world these days and Korea is one of them. "They are smart and have 'Oriental wisdom.' I am grateful for my opportunities to learn and teach Korean," she said.
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