[Hello Hangeul] Americans seeking to visit Korea learn the language in LA

LOS ANGELES -- Stephanie Baldonado first came across Korean food in 2006 during her deployment at a US military hospital in Afghanistan, where she shared a camp with counterparts from the Korean military. She instantly fell in love with it.

Years later, her daughter Marlene “fully immersed” herself into the world of K-pop and Korean dramas. Marlene is the captain of a K-pop dance group at San Diego State University. The mother and daughter are both taking online Korean language lessons offered by the Korean Cultural Center Los Angeles.

“My first goal is to be able to watch Korean dramas without subtitles, and fully appreciate the lyrics in Korean music. My daughter is absolutely in love with everything Korean so I feel that in order for me to encourage and support her in all her endeavors, I too should be able to understand the language,” said Baldonado.

“We plan on traveling to Korea next year and I feel it would be wise of us to have some level of comprehension of the language.”

The KCCLA, run by South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, offers online classes once a week for US residents aged 18 or older in seven different levels -- from introductory to advanced -- while in-person classes are provided at the King Sejong Institute Center USA, located next to the KCCLA.

Students from over 24 states across the US are currently taking online classes, according to Jung Sang-won, director of the KCCLA.

“It’s a program that suits America, although in-person classes are better in terms of student satisfaction and concentration,” Jung told The Korea Herald at the KCCLA.

“Survey results showed that the students want to learn Korean to better understand its culture and dramas, and to use it when they travel to Korea. An increasing number of learners are saying they’re learning it to visit Korea," he said.