Vietnamese language included in Korean school’s career counseling for students

The Vietnamese language has since 2019 been taught at the Myeonmok High School in the Republic of Korea (RoK)’s Seoul capital, making this the first non-specialised school in the RoK to teach the language to high school students.

Students in a Vietnamese language lesson at the Myeonmok High School (Photo: VNA)
Students in a Vietnamese language lesson at the Myeonmok High School (Photo: VNA)

Principal Song Hyun-seop said Vietnamese has been included in the school’s curriculum as a second foreign language since April 2019.

Explaining this decision, he said Vietnam and the RoK enjoy many historical and cultural similarities, noting that the Ly clan from the Southeast Asian nation came to his country very early, forming the first foundation for bilateral connectivity.

Over the last 30 years, Korean enterprises have poured huge investment into Vietnam, which has created a large Korean community in Vietnam. In return, there are also many Vietnamese people in the RoK.

Therefore, the Vietnamese language skills have become highly useful, and including it in career counselling for high school students is of great necessity for them to gain momentum for learning and future development, Song noted.

With the employment of two Vietnamese-language teachers who have high capacity and deep understanding of the Korean culture, Myeonmok has held weekly meetings with all of its teachers to improve their knowledge of Vietnam and help students shape their vision.

Through these events, teachers have become more familiar with the language while more students have chosen to learn Vietnamese and paid attention to the country, according to the principal.