Hangeul education for multicultural children emerges as urgent priority

““Now I can study on my own,” 10-year-old Han Seo-yeon said, beaming proudly. A student at South-North Love School, an alternative school in Seoul’s Guro District, Han then opened a Korean language textbook and read aloud in a clear voice without hesitation. Her textbook page was filled with "red circles" marking right answers to many questions requiring comphrension of long passages correctly. She still finds grammar bit tricky, but when it comes to writing simple sentences, she can do it with ease. As she explained how much her Hangeul had improved, a proud smile spread across her face. Han is a child from an immigrant background who lived in China with her Chinese-Korean parents until she came to Korea last July. Back then, she could not read Hangeul, but thanks to Hangeul lessons at school and reading comprehension classes provided by the NGO Friends of Hope, she has now fully mastered the letters of the Korean alphabet. Her growing confidence among friends at school has been a bonus. “I was sad and frustrated at first because I couldn’t read signs, textbooks or exam papers,

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