Korean students traveled over thousands of miles to participate in English as a Second Language and internship programs at ULM. The 45 Koreans come from Geumgang University, Hanbat University and Chungbook University.

A welcome reception was held at the University Alumni Center on Jan. 15. The event gave students an opportunity to greet and mingle with each other.  The program was led by Kioh Kim, assistant professor of curriculum, instruction and leadership. The Korean students have three different groups that divide them.

“One group is taking only ESL classes and then to learn American and Louisiana culture. Another group is to take ESL class plus their internship that they will conducting over here with companies such as CenturyLink for the rest of their three weeks,” said Kioh.  “Last group, with nine students, what we will do is bring them to be regular students for one semester like a visa student…taking two ESL classes and taking classes for their majors.”

Unlike the students that stay here for one or two semesters, Kioh says the first two groups will only stay here for about 7 weeks. Olivia Kim is one of the Korean students who got the opportunity to come from overseas.

“I applied for this because we are learning English…but we never use it, so I thought ‘If I go to a country that [speaks] English then I can use from what I learned from my school so that I improve on my English skills,’” Olivia said.

Olivia said she was very excited to see kids playing racquetball, because facilities such as a gym at her university in Korea are lacking. Tony Hwang, a senior at his university, hopes to be able to improve his English and communication skills for his major of international trade.

“Compared to your university, ours is just as clean and neat, but really compact,” Hwang said.
Hwang said he is very happy about being in a friendly atmosphere that is a lot more open than his university in Korea.