Development of Korean Studies in the Republic of Macedonia I hope that one day we will develop special relations with Korea From Macedonia to the ROK 1993 October Deputy Prime Minister Jovan Andonov 1997 December Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Affairs Dimitar Buzlevski 1999 June Deputy Prime Minister Radmila Kiprijanova 2006 December Minister of Foreign Investment Gligor Tashkovich 2008 August President of the 62nd session of the UN General Assembly Srgjan Kerim 2009 June President of the 62nd session of the UN General Assembly Srgjan Kerim There are about 20 Koreans living in the Republic of Macedonia: a family of two parents and four children in Skopje, a family of two parents and children in Ohrid and a single woman in Kochani. Macedonian businessmen and tourists visit the Republic of Korea. 2. Beginnings of Korean Studies The initiative for opening a Korean Studies-related course at the Ss Cyril and Methodius University ripened somewhere in the beginning of 2007 when intensive contacts and discussions between South Korean and Macedonian diplomats and academics crystallized in a plan to apply for financial support for starting a Korean-language course with one of the programmes offered by the Korea Foundation. Apparently the Consul Ms. Lim from the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Sofia and the Dean of the Ss Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje’s Blaze Koneski Faculty of Philology Professor Maksim Karanfilovski were among the most active participants in this project. After Ms. Lim left Sofia in February 2008 to assume a new post elsewhere, her work was continued by the new Consul Mr. Im. Meanwhile, in the summer of 2008, Professor Karanfilovski was reelected Dean of the Faculty for a new term, providing continuity for the development of the project. About the same time, a new Rector of the University was elected. The Korea Foundation programme chosen for the project was “Financial Support for Employment of Teaching Staff”. At that point, since a lecturer in Macedonia could not be found, a lecturer was sought in Bulgaria. My involvement with the project started in May 2007 when I confirmed in principle that I am interested in participating in this challenging and exciting new project. At a meeting at the Embassy in December 2007 with Consul Lim and Professor Karanfilovski some of the details of the new course were discussed. The Korean language course was decided to be 4 hours per week, i.e. around 60 hours per semester, for a period of four semesters. It was going to be offered as an elective course consisting of four elective subjects (Korean 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively). It was scheduled to start at the beginning of the 2008/2009 academic year, i.e. 1 October 2008. In the summer of 2008 early general elections were held in the Republic of Macedonia and that slowed down the process of accreditation of the course by the Accreditation Commission at the Ministry of Education. The course finally started in December 2008 and for the first several months it was more intensive than four hours per week in order to compensate for the late start. By the end of the academic year the full 120 hours were covered and the third semester for the continuing students started normally at the beginning of the 2009/2010 academic year, i.e. 15 September 2009 (the beginning of the academic year was shifted half a month for the entire university from the beginning of the 2009/2010). A new group started Korean Language 1 in September 2009 and this year there are two different levels taught. For the first course which started in 2008, 14 people signed up and the classes proceeded smoothly. Since then I have been preparing handouts with explanations, grammar charts and wordlists in Standard Literary Macedonian. The feedback I get from students is very positive and encouraging. They seem to appreciate my efforts and they are enthusiastic about learning Korean. They also help organize events like the presentations of Korean culture, etc. Their motivation is quite high despite the fact that for all of them it is the third language they study at the Faculty and it is not compulsory. The course has attracted not only students but a university librarian as well. 3. The Current Situation Currently, the Korean language course is offered for four semesters. It can be elected as a third language by students who already study one language and its literature as a first (compulsory) language and literature and may also study a second language and its literature as and elective group, or module, of subjects (not compulsory). At the Faculty of Philology students study a selection of compulsory and elective courses dedicated to their first (major) language and literature, also called “A Language/Literature”, in each of the eight semesters of their undergraduate programme. The practical language courses are intensive and some knowledge of the language is expected from the very beginning. Students can also choose a second language and literature (not compulsory), also called “B Language/Literature” or Second Studium but if they choose to do it they should study practical language courses as well as linguistic and literary subjects related to the respective language for six of the eight semesters, usually that happens from the beginning of their second year until the end of the undergraduate programme. The normal distribution of courses for the second language is a practical language course and two other subjects per semester. At graduation students could have as many as 18 subjects completed in the field of their second language and literature. The third language, also called “C Language”, Third Studium, or Free Choice, is not compulsory and is just a practical language course for beginners for four semesters. It can be taken by students who study only A language/literature or by students who study both A and B languages and literatures. Students usually start it in the beginning of their second or their undergraduate programme but they could also do it from the beginning of their first year. According to the Faculty’s policy for foreign language courses studied as third language, the Korean language course is divided into four subjects called Contemporary Korean Language 1, 2, 3 and 4. Each of them consists of 60 hours. i.e. 240 hours for the two-year period. The four hours per week are organized as two sessions of two hours each. The first subject does not presuppose any knowledge of Korean and each of the next courses presupposes that the previous course has been completed by the student. That is how all languages offered as a third language at the Faculty are taught. The four subjects can be chosen as elective subjects even by first-year students. The syllabus for the course that I developed is presented in and English version in Appendix 1. From the very beginning of the Korea-related course at the Ss Cyril and Methodius University it has been stressed by both the University representatives and the Korean diplomats interested in the development of the project that the Korea-related academic programme begun with the Korean-language course should expand and ultimately lead to a fully developed Korean Studies programme in the future. The academic cooperation between Macedonia and Korea is also progressing. One of the interesting developments has been the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ss Cyril and Methodius University and Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. Two of our students are already at Hankuk studying Korean intensively as exchange students with generous stipends secured by Hankuk University. Hankuk University students and professors also participate in programmes of the Ss Cyril and Methodius University. In December 2010 His Excellency Ambassador Chun Bee-ho delivered a lecture titled “Policy Review of the Republic of Korea – Economic Development” at the Rectorate of the Ss Cyril and Methodius University. He also donated thirty textbooks of Korean as a foreign language published by Sungkyunkwang University. This generous donation will be very helpful for the development of a library of Korean Studies at the Faculty of Philology. 4. Prospects for the Near Future In accordance with the commitments to the further development of the Korean Studies field at the Ss Cyril and Methodius University, it has been decided that from the beginning of the 2011/2012 academic year, Korean language and literature will be offered as a Second language to be studied for six semesters (three years) beginning from the third semester of the students who choose to study it. The curriculum that I developed and is already in the Faculty handbooks is presented in an English version in Appendix 2. There are also Subject syllabi developed for each subject. This will be a major step towards the development of a fully-fledged Korean Department at the Faculty in the long term.
Posted on: Tue, 13 Aug 2013 07:12:36 +0000
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