Online teaching site to offer programs for multicultural families
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Helen Kim, CEO of Hangungmal.com
By Chung Hyun-chae
Helen Kim has pledged to provide basic Korean language and cultural programs for multicultural families through her site Hangungmal.com, an online teaching site for the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK).
The online education company formed a partnership with a new cable TV channel, Multi Cultural tv, to broadcast its TOPIK lectures starting next montht o help marriage migrants and their mixed-heritage children to improve their Korean language proficiency and help them better understand Korean culture.
“We plan to offer basic Korean language and cultural education programs through the channel,” Kim told The Korea Times in a recent interview.
“We realized that a lot of foreign women living here after marrying Korean men want to take TOPIK preparation courses,” she said.
She pointed out that foreign wives need TOPIK scores to get jobs, adding that they also want to improve their Korean proficiency to help their children speak Korean properly and do well in school.
“When I lived in the United States with my children, I witnessed that some Korean children, whose parents cannot speak English, could not improve their English,” Kim said. “Poor language skills destroy children’s self-confidence and make it difficult for them to form and maintain relationships with their classmates.”
Kim noted that multicultural family members who want to improve their TOPIK scores to get a job also need basic Korean language education to lead a decent life in Korea.
Hangungmal.com is working with Pagijong Press, a publishing company specializing in Korean language textbooks and literature, to make video lectures based on the publishing company’s books.
The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding, Jan. 28, to develop Korean study material.
According to Kim, they plan to create a video lecture of the book titled “Simple Korean,” a basic Korean language textbook which is written in four languages ― Korean, English, Chinese and Japanese.
They are also thinking of making a video lecture for a Korean culture guidebook titled “Talk Talk Seoul Story.”
“We will teach each region’s culture in detail through our lectures,” Kim said.
Hangungmal.com also plans to produce fairy tale e-books written by an immigrant wife this year to encourage more biracial children to read and find their identities.
The books contain fairy tales of many countries from which the marriage migrants come. The stories are written in Korean and other languages by the foreign spouses.
“I hope children will learn about their mother’s countries and feel pride in them through our e-books,” Kim said.
Hangungmal.com also formed a partnership with the Korean Family Guardian Association in February to support multicultural families’ Korean language education.
“I hope we will provide our education content for more multicultural families,” Kim added.
Hangungmal.com currently provides two online TOPIK lecture programs: Korean reading given by Kim Su-hyun, a Korean language lecturer at Kookmin University’s Korean Language Center, and writing by Kim Nam-mee, a professor at the Sogang Center for Writing of Sogang University.
The two lecturers focus on taking a practical approach instead of an academic one to help students learn Korean easily.
The Korean proficiency test is divided into two parts ― TOPIK I and II. Prior to July 2014 it consisted of three types ― beginner, intermediate and advanced.