47% of SNU int'l students do not understand Korean lectures

Nearly half of international students in Seoul National University say they do not understand lectures of their majors given in Korean, according to the university's Diversity Council. / Korea Times file

By Jung Hae-myoung

Nearly half of the international students attending Seoul National University (SNU) said they do not understand lectures of their majors given in Korean, according to a survey by the school's Diversity Council.

According to the report disclosed on Monday, 24.3 percent of 432 foreign students said they do not understand lectures “at all,” while 22.9 percent said they don't understand a large part of the lectures.

Only 17.8 percent said they can understand most of them.

Due to the language barrier, 50.9 percent of the international students said they find it hard to join debates during lectures and 36 percent struggle to participate in team assignments.

Students who came via the Global Korea Scholarship must take Korean language classes for a year before entering the university, but 34.6 percent of the 107 people under the scholarship program said the language class was “very insufficient,” and 8.4 percent said it “did not help at all.”

Only 11 percent of SNU's 10,904 classes were given in English, and 36.1 percent of foreign students wished for more lectures in English.

“The solution should be carried out with a long-term perspective, increasing the number of English lectures while supporting international students' Korean language education more systematically,” the council said in its report.

“Providing English subtitles during the lecture, or making a tutor program between students can also be alternative solutions.”