Multicultural library integrates community
Children play with Vietnamese traditional artifacts at Modoo Library, northeastern Seoul, to learn and experience the culture of the country. The diversity-themed library organizes fairytale storytelling performances in various languages as part of an effort to boost multicultural awareness. / Courtesy of Modoo Library
By Choi Ha-young
Children’s laughs pepped up a library filled with fairytale books written in various languages. They were reading, talking to each other and listening to volunteers who told them about different cultures and languages, at the Modoo Library in northeastern Seoul, last Thursday. It is the first “multicultural library” in Korea.
The background of the library shows the nation’s immigration history. This place started as a hangeul class for illiterate housewives in 1998, set up by grassroots civic group Purun Community People.
“One day, a supermarket owner brought a foreign worker, saying he also needs to learn basic Korean language and letters,” said Seo Hwa-jin, the head of the library. Then, the group opened a language class for foreign workers. The class mainly taught them how to say, “don’t hit me,” and “please pay my salary,” indicating their poor working conditions.
In the early 2000s, the organization met an increasing number of marriage migrants. Now, their children are growing up, and the activists changed the class into a place where multiracial families and native Korean families can communicate through books.
“This library is my sweet home,” said 10-year-old Yeom Jin-su, who has a Vietnamese mother. “I come here every day. People are kind and I can read many books.”
Teenage volunteers learn about multiculturalism here. “I didn’t know Jin-su has a Vietnamese mother before he told me,” said Park So-hyun, 17. “Without knowing that, he is just a boy who is very bright and sociable.”
These days, the library invites foreign students to share their local culture with children. Lucile Houviez, 20, a French exchange student at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, showed a French video to the children. She also made a wool ball with them.
“Last time, we learned the meaning of the white, red and blue in the French flag,” she said. “Today we learn how to make a tricolor ball that my grandmother used to make.”
During such classes, children and young teachers communicate via body language. They poke each other for fun. Foreign students learn Korean from the children. On the day, they learned a new word: “goguma” which means sweet potato in Korean.
The parents hope their children learn to understand people of different cultures at this place. “My children used to point a finger at foreigners on the street and gaze them, but they don’t do that anymore,” said Park Hyun-jeong, 38. “Even though they don’t say what they have learned here, their behavior has changed a lot.”
Books build community
Marriage immigrants are often forced to teach their children only the Korean language and culture and their other ethnic identities disappear in many households. Many of them tend not to speak in front of their children for fear their children would make fun of their awkward Korean pronunciation.
The library is a place for multicultural children to recognize their mothers’ cultural identities. There are books written in multiple languages including Vietnamese, Chinese, Russian and Tagalog.
Beyond reading the books together, mothers even give storytelling performances to young visitors. “This enhances the mothers’ confidence in their ethnic backgrounds and forms a bond between mothers while they prepare the performances,” Seo said.
Books connect foreign mothers and Korean mothers. The parents who get to know each other here share concerns about their kids’ education. The foreign mothers also teach their mother tongues and local food recipes to other residents. “After such classes, children call them teacher and become respectful,” Seo added.
Sometimes, the foreign mothers open booths to introduce their culture or sell local foods on the street to expand their contacts in the community. Once a year, they organize an athletic meeting and parade. Through these activities, the local community steps forward toward a multicultural society.
The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family helps children of international families discover various career options utilizing their multilingual skills and multicultural backgrounds. / Courtesy of Ministry of Gender Equality and Family
Multicultural youth, future asset of Korea
Activities at the library are in line with government policy on multiculturalism ― boosting understanding of different cultures and fostering language talent for the globalized world.
As part of the policy, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (MOGEF) has built a database of multicultural students who are fluent in at least two languages.
“We will recommend them to governmental organizations, for example, Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) which need bilingual human resources,” said an official from the Korean Institute for Healthy Family, a ministry-affiliated organization.
The Ministry of Education has organized a bilingual speaking contest every year since 2013. The contest highlights their multicultural backgrounds as a footstep to become a global leader. Children who win the contest can be listed in the MOGEF’s database.
MOGEF’s policy is also moving to cater to multiracial children of different age groups, as the number of children attending middle and high schools is growing while most of them used to be elementary schoolchildren.
“Currently, 73 percent of multicultural children are elementary school students,” said Won Jin-sook, director of the Research Institute for Multicultural Education at Seoul National University of Education. “But as they get older, tailored programs for middle and high school students as well as adults will be required.”
Together with job-related government and private agencies, the government is offering programs to help them adapt to school life and decide on a career path.