Interview with Instructor Yi Su-hyeon,
who won the Award by the Chairperson of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee at the Outstanding Teacher Contest at the World Korean Educators Conference

The 2023 World Korean Educators Conference held in Seoul in August was an event that brought together Korean educators from around the world. We asked Dispatched Teacher Yi Su-hyeon of KSI Budapest, Hungary, who won the Award by the Chairperson of the Culture, Sports & Tourism Committee at the Outstanding Teacher Contest Award Ceremony, how she felt about winning the award, as well as a few other questions.

Good morning, Ms. Yi Su-hyeon. First of all, please tell us about yourself for the readers of Monthly Knock Knock.

Pleasure to meet you! I have been working as a Korean-English interpreter and translator for many companies. In 2010, I happened to teach Korean to foreign executives. However, I realized that I could not effectively teach Korean just because I am Korean. So, in 2011, I completed a Korean language educator for foreigners course at Seoul National University’s College of Education, obtained a Level-3 Korean Language Teacher Qualification, and taught Korean language at companies such as Samsung. However, I felt that I still lacked skills to teach Korean properly, so I succeeded in obtaining a master’s degree in applied linguistics and language education (Korean language course) at SOAS University of London in 2016. After returning to Korea, I taught Korean at the Korean Learning Center, International Center of Daejin University, and then was dispatched as a Korean instructor for the National Institute for International Education"s instructor dispatch project to teach Korean at a middle school in Malaysia from January 2017 to December 2021. In 2022, I applied for the overseas dispatched teacher program of KSIF and currently I am teaching at KSI Budapest.

Congratulations on winning the Culture, Sports & Tourism Committee Award at the Outstanding Teacher Contest at the 2023 World Korean Educators Conference! Please tell us about how you received the award for “Introduction to the Korea-Hungary Folk Tale Book Club Activities.”

When I met the Hungarian students for the first time at KSI Budapest in February 2022, there were a lot of students who wanted to make Korean friends and have language exchanges. Then I heard that Korean students at the Medical School of Semmelweis University in Budapest, Hungary, also wanted to learn the Hungarian language. I thought it would be a good idea to do a language exchange with the Korean Student Association at the Semmelweis Medical School.
I’ve always thought that it would be nice to run a book club with students on Korean folk tales, short stories, and poems. So, I personally proposed setting up a Korea-Hungary folk tale book club to KSI — and the Korean Students Association at Semmelweiss Medical School participated in it actively. So I started the book club activities as a special class in the first half at KSI. Starting with the book club orientation in March, I carried out the activities for 10 weeks with 22 Hungarian students and 20 Korean students.

I see how the book club is made. I would like to know exactly how it worked?

As a first activity, I made them select a Korean folk tale with a partner, study the words, grammar, and expressions for five weeks, make a short script and practice reading it, and make a short video on the Korean folk tale that they studied together. Hungarian students were to required to make the video by reading the script in Korean, and Korean students in Hungarian. They were able to practice pronunciation and accents. For the second activity, we did the same thing by selecting a Hungarian folk tale.
After the two activities, we uploaded the Korean and Hungarian folk tale videos on a newly created YouTube channel (@hanhungbookclub), and made the works public on the KSI Budapest Facebook account and website so that anyone can view them and study. At the first half year completion ceremony of KSI Budapest in June, certificates and souvenirs were presented to the students who have worked hard in the book club, and four teams were given prizes as encouragement. The four teams of students who received prizes are to write a review of the book club in Korean and Hungarian to be uploaded to the KSI Budapest Facebook account.

How did you feel when you were announced as the winner of the Culture, Sports & Tourism Committee Award at the Outstanding Teacher Contest at the 2023 World Korean Educators Conference?

I applied to the contest at the World Korean Educators Conference because I wanted to let people know how students at the book club enjoyed learning each other’s languages and culture. On the day of the announcement of the winners, I was on a train to see the students who lived in other regions. I was looking out the window when the email saying “the Grand Prize Winner” arrived on my phone. When I read it, I got up from the seat and yelled out before I knew what I was doing!. It was actually rather overwhelming to do so many things alone, such as checking on the progress of over 40 students every week, giving them new assignments, and encouraging them. There were also teams who stopped working or had problems with their partners. However, upon finding out that I won the award, I forgot about all the hardships and only remembered the bright eyes of the students, fellow teachers who supported the activities, operating committee members, and intern students. I was very happy and grateful.

What is the most rewarding thing for you in working as a Korean educator at KSI?

Since KSI learners see Korean language and culture through me, I prepare classes with all my heart and sincerity. It is most rewarding to see the learners who participated in my classes understand the language and culture and become better at Korean. I think the students also know that I prepare my classes with all my heart. I felt happy because many students rated my classes as the best in the class evaluation. Among the learners I taught last year, many of them are preparing to study in Korea with scholarships, or received the opportunity to go to Korea by winning writing and speech contests at KSI. I was very happy to see these students excited and happy about going to Korea.

Did you have any difficulties in teaching Korean in Budapest?

I was dispatched in January 2022, and it took about one semester to learn about KSI Budapest and finding out what to do. I also studied the things I must know, about the Hungarian language, culture, and Hungarian students. I believe that I was able to make the Korea-Hungary Folk Tale Book Club in the first half of 2023 through those efforts. I feel very sad that I have to end my activities at KSI Budapest in the second half of 2023. I think two years of dispatch is a little too short a time to plan activities with a long-term perspective.

Please tell us if you have any goals or plans related to Korean education?

I want to become a Korean teacher who can continue to teach Korean language and culture to students I met new students that I will have in the future.