Citing a report by Duolingo, a foreign language learning application, it reported that Korean surpassed Chinese and took the seventh place in the global language learning market. He also added that Korean is gaining huge popularity in Western and Southeast Asia as it occupies the most learned foreign language position in the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Brunei. Experts believe that the secret to the popularity of Korean language lies in the “Korean Wave,” which is spreading internationally. CNN reported that Korean dramas, music, fashion, beauty, and food have swept the world over the past 20 years. In 2021, the Oxford English Dictionary added 20 Korean-originating words, saying, “We are all at the peak of the Korean Wave.”BTS (BTS) takes a commemorative photo with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House in Washington, U.S., on June 31 (local time) last year. Finger hearts originated in Korea and are also called “K-hearts.” BTS was invited to the White House to discuss how to deal with Asian hate crimes. Singer Psy’s “Gangnam Style” (2012), the movie “Parasite” (2019), the Netflix drama “Squid Game” (2021), and the appearance of BTS, which has become world-famous, have continued to attract interest in Korean. In particular, the Korean government’s efforts to spread the “Korean Wave” through music and media have paid off since the 1990s.It is said that Korean is difficult to learn for English-speaking language users, but its popularity is rather increasing.
In the “Foreign Language Job Performance Assessment” released by the U.S. State Department in 2006, Korean was classified as an ultra-difficult language. It takes about 88 weeks to learn Korean, the U.S. State Department analyzed.Sherrer Grace Anne speaks under the theme of “From Home-Soon to Insider” at the 29th Foreign Korean Speech Contest held at the Ewha and Samsung Education Culture Center in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul on the morning of October 7 last year. The Modern Language Association said that only 5,211 students enrolled in Korean language classes in high schools in the United States in 2002, but it increased to 14,000 in 2016. The British Council of Modern Language Universities said the number of high school students completing Korean language courses has tripled over the six-year period since 2012. Chinese language increased by 5% over the same period, the survey showed. Seo Joo-won, director of the Department of Korean Studies at Columbia University, said, “Compared to the early days of Korean, foreigners’ perceptions of Korean culture, society, and Korean have undergone quite a positive change.”
Despite the fact that Korean is more meticulous and demanding than other languages with various adjectives and expressions, this growth seems to be absolutely influenced by k-content.
H.S HA
ASIA JOURNAL
