8 Korean Language Teachers with Disabilities
Complete the Korean Language Teacher Re-Education Program

“It took me 5 times longer than others to finish an assignment, but I was overjoyed about this education opportunity.” (Kim Hee-seok, former masseur)
“There are limited career choices for the disabled, and this is a chance to open new dreams and future.” (Congratulatory message from National Assemblywoman Kim Ye-ji)

Eight Korean language teachers with disabilities completed the 2-month Korean Language Teacher Re-Education Program and finished getting ready to teach Korean to King Sejong Institute (KSI) learners over the phone.

The Korean Language Teacher Re-Education Program Completion Ceremony and Workshop was hosted by the King Sejong Institute Foundation (KSIF, president: Kang Hyounhwa) at the education hall on the eleventh floor of the KSIF building in Seocho-dong, Seoul on September 17. The ceremony was held in a non-contact manner in compliance with the COVID-19 safety measures.

National Assemblywoman Kim Ye-ji from the People Power Party and Lee Jin-sik, the Cultural Policy Officer from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST), sent in videos to convey their congratulatory messages. Assemblywoman Kim said, “Around 2,517,000 people, which is 5% of the population, have disabilities in Korea, but there are limited career choices for them. The Korean Language Teacher Re-Education Program supervised by the KSIF was probably a valuable opportunity for the participants with disabilities to received professional training and gain a more specific vision in regard to the career path.”

Cultural Policy Officer Lee said, “More than 3,000 Korean enterprises have advanced into Vietnam. The impact that Korea has on the Vietnamese economy and people is very substantial. By having teachers with disabilities provide support for Korean language education, there will be more people in Vietnam learning Korean, through which they will gain opportunities to live a new life by finding a job at a Korean company or coming to Korea to study.”

During the first part of the program commenced with videos of congratulatory messages, eight trainees including Kim Hee-seok (58), a masseur turned Korean language teacher, received completion certificates.

Kim Hee-seok said, “At first, I thought this would be easy, thinking, ‘How hard could it be for a native Korean speaker to teach Korean?’ but the more I learned, the more ashamed I became. Assignments that would take others 30 minutes took me 3 hours. It was hard and grueling, but the more I thought about it, I realized how lucky and fortunate I was to gain this education opportunity, and I teared up at times.” He then added, “I want to learn the learners’ culture and study Korean very hard so that I can become a great teacher.”

The second part of the program following the completion ceremony was a workshop, where Korean language teachers sent by the KSIF to teach Korean at the KSIs in Vietnam and at companies shared their experiences with teachers with disabilities and gave feedback on the mock classes.

Ju Hyun-Hee, a staff at the KSI Support Department who is in charge of the program, said, “This is a very meaningful program in that it helps the visually impaired overcome the limitations in career development and provides education opportunities for people overseas learning Korean.” Lee San-deul, a staff at the Education Support Department who is also in charge of the program, said, “It’s been an overwhelmingly rewarding experience to help people with visual impairments take on a new challenge through the education program provided by the KSIF.”

The Korean Language Teacher Re-Education Program for Persons with Disabilities was conducted for two months from July, with 70 hours of online course work and 40 hours of offline course work. Eight Korean language teachers from Korean at Your Door (CEO Kim Hyeon-jin), a social enterprise that offers phone-based Korean language courses for foreigners, signed up, and all eight finished the program. The eight Korean language teachers will begin providing one-on-one conversational Korean lessons over the phone to 100 learners in Hai Phong, Vietnam this October.

The Korean Language Teacher Re-Education Program for Persons with Disabilities is carried out as part of the Social Contribution Project on Korean Language Education in Hai Phong, Vietnam, which is aimed at providing Korean language classes to the employees of Korean companies that have established an office or factory in Hai Phong. It is sponsored by the Korea Trade Insurance Corporation (K-SURE), LG Display, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, and Korea Employment Agency for Persons with Disabilities (KEAD).

The KSIF plans to help boost the professional competence of Korean language teachers based on the Korean Language Propagation Plan (2020-2022) and develop non-contact ways to teach Korean such as Korean-by-phone.