The basic approach of our program is to emphasize the use of practical spoken Korean. For this reason, from the first day, speaking and listening are practiced at natural speeds. Artificially slowing the speed actually makes understanding more difficult in the long run. Students are therefore able to communicate easily with native speakers at the level of vocabulary and grammar attained. The program prepares the student with the skills needed to function in Korea. By focusing on practical language use, students are able to actively participate in situations which they can expect to encounter in their travels. Throughout the course, listening and speaking are stressed and the student has ample opportunity to take part in meaningful classroom dialogue. The small class size also promotes this opportunity and allows the instructor to give individual attention to each student.
Schedule
Registration for Winter Quarter 2024 ends December 31, 2023. Confirmation of class (or cancellation depending on enrollment) will be sent out on January 2, 2024.
If you would like a notification when a new schedule becomes available, please enter your email here.
If you see “In person” in Scheduling Notes, the class meets in person; otherwise it’s an online class via Zoom.
Class |
Instructor |
Days |
Time |
Start date |
End date |
Scheduling Notes |
| Korean 1 | Jessica Eunkyung Fernandez | Wed | 6:30 – 8:20PM | 1/10/24 | 3/13/24 | |
| Korean 2 | Judy Yoon Woo Jun | Thur | 6:30 – 8:20PM | 1/11/24 | 3/14/24 | |
| Korean 3 | Hyejin Joo | Mon | 7:00 – 9:05PM | 1/11/24 | 3/14/24 | 9 125-min classes; No class 1/15, 2/19 |
| Korean 6 | Booyoun Kim | Tue | 6:30 – 8:20PM | 1/9/24 | 3/12/24 | |
| Korean 6 | Meehwa Lee | Sat | 1:00 – 2:50PM | 1/13/24 | 3/16/24 | |
| Korean 8 | Meehwa Lee | Thur | 6:30 – 8:20PM | 1/11/24 | 3/14/24 | |
| Korean 9 | Meehwa Lee | Tue | 6:30 – 8:20PM | 1/11/24 | 3/14/24 | |
| Korean 10 | Meehwa Lee | Mon | 6:30 – 8:35PM | 1/8/24 | 3/18/24 | 9 125-min classes; No class 1/15, 2/19 |
| Korean 11 | Meehwa Lee | Wed | 6:30 – 8:20PM | 1/10/24 | 3/13/24 | |
| Korean 20 | Judy Yoon Woo Jun | Wed | 7:00 – 8:50PM | 1/10/24 | 3/13/24 | |
| KRN HRT SPK | Judy Yoon Woo Jun | Tue | 6:30 – 8:20PM | 1/9/24 | 3/12/24 |
To sign up for classes other than LVL 1, please first complete our online placement test and let the office know upon completion. Placement tests are reviewed during registration period. If you don’t see a test for the language you are interested in studying, please reach out to wal at cityu.edu We will try to arrange a phone placement with our faculty.
All classes are 18.5 hours. Tuition is $400. Without payment of tuition, your registration is received but remains incomplete. Level 1 classes must have 4 complete registrations to run; level 2+ will run on a minimum of 3 complete registrations.
If you would like a notification when a new schedule becomes available, please enter your email here.
Click here for textbook information.
If you have any questions, please contact wal at cityu.edu
Levels
Korean 1
The Korean – Novice Low 1 course (a.k.a. Korean 1) is a 10-week introductory course on the language and culture of Korean-speaking countries. It is intended for learners with little or no experience learning Korean. There is an emphasis on speaking and listening, supported by reading and writing and getting comfortable with the language. Topics include introductions, greetings, numbers, days and months, identification of classroom objects, location and ownership of items, and airport security check. Motivated, diligent students can expect to finish with proficiency levels in the Novice Low (ACTFL) or A1 (CEFR) ranges.
Communicative competence: By the end of the course, students will be able to exchange greetings, address someone formally and introduce themselves. They will be able to identify an item or a person and interact with others in describing ownership, existence or lacking of an item or a person at a certain location.
Grammatical competence: Students will be introduced to basic Korean grammar and syntax, such as the verb coming at the end of a sentence. Students will be able to use BE verb, existence verb, subject markers and topic markers to ask questions and make statements. Students will also incorporate new vocabulary in order to identify, locate, and establish ownership of items.
Required Materials (Korean 1-2):
Language Education Institute, Seoul National University (2013), Seoul National University Korean Language 1A Student’s Book (Seoul: TWOPONDS Co., Ltd) ISBN: 978-89-539-3428-3
Korean 2
The Korean – Novice Low 2 course (a.k.a. Korean 2) is a 10-week continuation course on the language and culture of Korean-speaking countries. It is intended for learners who have completed “Korean – Novice Low 1” or who demonstrate equivalent proficiency. There is an emphasis on speaking and listening, supported by reading and writing and getting comfortable with the language. Topics include locations of teachers’ office items, destination, daily activities and frequency of daily activities. Motivated, diligent students can expect to finish with proficiency levels in the Novice Low (ACTFL) or A1 (CEFR) ranges.
Communicative competence: By the end of the course students will be able to exchange information about locations and ownership of items, time and frequency of daily activities.
Grammatical competence: Students will be introduced to language structures and vocabulary expressing location, negation and frequency of activities. They will acquire the grammatical rules related to verb conjugation for the polite present tense, WH-words in question sentences, usage of not to mark the statement negative, and time adverbs.
Required Materials (Korean 1-2):
Language Education Institute, Seoul National University (2013), Seoul National University Korean Language 1A Student’s Book (Seoul: TWOPONDS Co., Ltd) ISBN: 978-89-539-3428-3
Korean 3
The Korean – Novice Mid 1 course (a.k.a. Korean 3) is a 10-week continuation course on the language and culture of Korean-speaking countries. It is intended for learners who have completed “Korean – Novice Low 2” or who demonstrate equivalent proficiency. This course introduces common verbs and the conjugation rules to use them in sentences. The course has an increased focus on speaking, reading and writing exercises. Topics include daily schedules, preferences and opinions. Motivated, diligent students can expect to finish with proficiency levels in the Novice Mid (ACTFL) or A1 (CEFR) ranges.
Communicative competence: By the end of the course, students will be able to discuss preferences, describe their job, talk about daily schedules and make appointments.
Grammatical competence: Students will be introduced to daily activity verbs, adjectival verbs and conjugating the verb stem using past tense and various politeness levels and will apply the conjugation rules in written and spoken Korean.
Required Materials (Korean 3-4):
Language Education Institute, Seoul National University (2013), Seoul National University Korean Language 1B Student’s Book (Seoul: TWOPONDS Co., Ltd) ISBN: 978-89-539-3429-0
Korean 4
The Korean – Novice Mid 2 course (a.k.a. Korean 4) is a 10-week continuation course on the language and culture of Korean-speaking countries. It is intended for learners who have completed “Korean – Novice Mid 1” or who demonstrate equivalent proficiency. This course will approach a more detail-oriented use of the Korean language through the use of sentence endings that express various moods or feelings. Topics include planning a party, buying groceries and making food. Motivated, diligent students can expect to finish with proficiency levels in the Novice Mid (ACTFL) or A1 (CEFR) ranges.
Communicative competence: By the end of the course, students will be able to express opinions, discuss favorite food recipes and make plans with friends.
Grammatical competence: In this course, students will get familiar with more complex sentence structures, including the use of adjectives, verb conjugations and various sentence endings. They will learn to recognize present and past tense while listening to spoken Korean and will continue the conversation using the same tense. Students will also be introduced to the use of simple future tense in spoken Korean.
Required Materials (Korean 3-4):
Language Education Institute, Seoul National University (2013), Seoul National University Korean Language 1B Student’s Book (Seoul: TWOPONDS Co., Ltd) ISBN: 978-89-539-3429-0
Korean 5
The Korean – Novice Mid 3 course (a.k.a Korean 5) is a 10-week continuation course on the language and culture of Korean-speaking countries. It is intended for learners who have completed “Korean – Novice Mid 2” or who demonstrate equivalent proficiency. This course emphasizes the development of the following linguistic skills: listening, understanding, speaking, reading and writing concurrently with the incorporation of Korean culture. The topics in this course include: people’s physical appearance, clothing and accessories, personality and mood, and sharing of personal opinions. Motivated, diligent students can expect to finish with proficiency levels in the Novice Mid (ACTFL) or A1 (CEFR) ranges.
Communicative competence: By the end of the course, learners will be able to conduct themselves in structured conversations about the topics above. Students will be able to describe physical appearance and personalities, talk about clothing and accessories, describe one’s or someone else’s feelings and mood, describe ongoing actions and activities, request or grant permission, make comparisons, express personal opinions and preferences, and describe one’s capabilities. In addition to these communicative functions, students will be able to use an array of idiomatic expressions relating to appearance, personality, and clothing.
Grammatical competence: Along with the vocabulary of appearance, personality, and mood, students will be able to understand and use new grammatical structures using a sentence connector indicating the background of the second clause, the promissory future tense, the past tense use for clothing and appearance predicates, suggestions in the deferential polite ending form, absolute negatives, the concession connector, tag questions, the present progressive tense, adjectives in self-talk, and comparatives and superlatives. In addition, students will be exposed to more complex irregular conjugations of predicates.
Required Material:
- Language Education Institute, Seoul National University (2013), Seoul National University Korean Language 2A Student’s Book (Seoul: TWOPONDS Co., Ltd) ISBN: 9788953934306
Korean 6
The Korean – Novice Mid 4 course (a.k.a. Korean 6) is a 10-week continuation course on the language and culture of Korean-speaking countries. It is intended for learners who have completed “Korean – Novice Mid 3” or who demonstrate equivalent proficiency. The course emphasizes the development of the following linguistic skills: listening, understanding, speaking, reading and writing concurrently with the incorporation of Korean culture. The topics in this level include: the weather and the seasons, one’s or others’ feelings, sickness and medicine, travel planning, and Asian zodiac signs. Motivated, diligent students can expect to finish with proficiency levels in the Novice Mid (ACTFL) or A1 (CEFR) ranges.
Communicative competence: By the end of the course, learners will be able to participate in structured conversations pertaining to weather and season, moods and feelings, sickness, and travel. Students will be able to make one’s conjecture about ongoing, future, or past events, answer questions politely, make a polite request, talk about feelings and changes of state in feelings, explain reasons for feelings, talk about sickness and symptoms, express strong necessity or recommendations, talk about events in sequential order, set up plans to meet or travel, making suggestions on future plans, and talk about Asian zodiac signs.
Grammatical competence: Along with the vocabulary of weather, moods, sickness, and travel, students will be able to understand and use new grammatical structures relating to ㄷ irregular verbs, various uses of grammatical markers, a structure indicating resultant states, a nominalizer of verbs and adjectives, ㅅ irregular verbs, verbs in the noun-modifying ending indicating a future clause, and sentence negation. In addition, students will be exposed to an array of idiomatic expressions that use auxiliary verbs as well as nuanced uses of various future endings.
Required Material:
- Language Education Institute, Seoul National University (2013), Seoul National University Korean Language 2A Student’s Book (Seoul: TWOPONDS Co., Ltd) ISBN: 9788953934306
Korean 7
Completion of Korean 6 or placement
The Korean – Novice High 1 course (a.k.a. Korean 7) is a 10-week continuation course on the language and culture of Korean-speaking countries. It is intended for learners who have completed “Korean – Novice Mid 4” or who demonstrate equivalent proficiency. The course emphasizes the development of the following linguistic skills: listening, understanding, speaking, reading and writing concurrently with the incorporation of Korean culture. Motivated, diligent students can expect to finish with proficiency levels in the Novice High (ACTFL) or A2 (CEFR) ranges.
Required Material:
- Language Education Institute, Seoul National University (2013), Seoul National University Korean Language 2A Student’s Book (Seoul: TWOPONDS Co., Ltd) ISBN: 9788953934306
Korean 8
Completion of Korean 7 or placement
The Korean – Novice High 2 course (a.k.a. Korean 8) is a 10-week continuation course on the language and culture of Korean-speaking countries. It is intended for learners who have completed “Korean – Novice High 1” or who demonstrate equivalent proficiency. The course emphasizes the development of the following linguistic skills: listening, understanding, speaking, reading and writing concurrently with the incorporation of Korean culture. Motivated, diligent students can expect to finish with proficiency levels in the Novice High (ACTFL) or A2 (CEFR) ranges.
Required Material:
- Language Education Institute, Seoul National University (2013), Seoul National University Korean Language 2B Student’s Book (Seoul: TWOPONDS Co., Ltd) ISBN: 9788953934313
Korean 9
Completion of Korean 8 or placement
The Korean – Novice High 3 course (a.k.a. Korean 9) is a 10-week continuation course on the language and culture of Korean-speaking countries. It is intended for learners who have completed “Korean – Novice High 2” or who demonstrate equivalent proficiency. The course emphasizes the development of the following linguistic skills: listening, understanding, speaking, reading and writing concurrently with the incorporation of Korean culture. Motivated, diligent students can expect to finish with proficiency levels in the Novice High (ACTFL) or A2 (CEFR) ranges.
Required Material
- Language Education Institute, Seoul National University (2013), Seoul National University Korean Language 2B Student’s Book (Seoul: TWOPONDS Co., Ltd) ISBN: 9788953934313
Korean Intermediate Conversation
Completion of Korean 8 or placement
The Korean – Intermediate Conversation course is focused on increasing comprehension and fluency in the language, expanding active vocabulary, and applying foundational grammar. It is intended for learners who have completed Korean 8 or who demonstrate an Intermediate level of proficiency. Discussion on topics of interest will help students to express their ideas clearly, effectively, and accurately. The course is customized to fit the needs of class members. Motivated, diligent students can expect to finish with higher oral proficiency than they started, typically within the Intermediate (ACTFL) or B1-B2 (CEFR) ranges.
Communicative competence: By the end of the course, students will be able to maintain conversations and deliver speeches on a variety of topics. Students will speak with improved accuracy, speed, rhythm, and cultural appropriateness (formality, idiomatic usage, phrasing, etc.), and they will listen with improved ability to comprehend explicit and implicit meaning. During the course, students will also develop the strategies and the confidence needed to speak and listen effectively in real contexts outside the classroom.
Grammatical competence: Students will improve the application of previously introduced grammar structures, and develop new grammar knowledge as needed to advance the communicative goals of the course. Grammar instruction and application are customized to fit the particular needs of the students in each class.
Required Materials:
Sook, J.H. (2015). Korean Speaking – Intermediate: Theme-Based 1. Seoul: Hangul Park. (ISBN: 978-89-5518-254-5 – use this to find it on Amazon or Hangeul Park)
Other materials and resources to be determined by the instructor
Korean for Heritage Speakers
Korean for Heritage Speakers is a course designed primarily for students who have early exposure to the Korean language and culture in an authentic environment. The main objectives of the class: Systematic introduction to the Korean language; improvement of grammatical accuracy in spoken and written communications; attention to levels of speech.
Required Material:
Young-mee Yu Cho, Ji-Young Jung, and Jeeyoung Ahn Ha. Integrated Korean: Accelerated 1. Hoonlulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2020. ISBN: 9780824882778
Custom Program
WAL can design a special language program for you or your group. Custom classes are planned with your needs and objectives in mind. WAL has the materials and instructional staff to provide you with an outstanding experience! Choose the number of hours you want to study and the dates of your study and we will design a program just for you.
Custom Programs may be contracted in 10-hour blocks that must be used within 5 weeks. Request a Custom Program here.
Corporate Programs
Communication is always key, especially in the world of business. Our experienced instructors are ready to come to your office with a tailored, industry-specific approach to language instruction. Program content is customized to meet the needs of individual companies.
Instruction requires a minimum of 10 hours total and a minimum of 1.5 hours per lesson. Programs are generally scheduled on weekdays. Meeting dates and times are flexible. Instruction can be delivered at corporate sites or at our downtown office.
Please contact us at 206-239-4789 or wal@cityu.edu for more information or to receive quote.
Tuition
| Class Type | Cost per Term |
| Evening & Day Classes | $400 (effective 7/1/2019) |
| Custom Programs | $700/10 hours |
| Shared Custom Programs | $450/10 hours per person (2-3 students) |
| Specialized Programs | $750/10 hours |