Program Overview
The Korean Language Program serves undergraduates and graduates at Harvard University, as well as students from other universities. In order to respond to the diverse needs of its students and to equip them with the practical language skills necessary to function in an increasingly internationalized and competitive marketplace, the Korean Language Program continues to be committed at all levels to achieving a balance in emphasis among the four language modalities of speaking, reading, writing, and listening. In addition to coursework, most courses offer students cultural activities such as viewing authentic Korean video materials, creating and presenting their own skits, conversing with native speakers, and taking field trips. Students are encouraged to participate in summer internships and overseas study programs.
About the Korean Language
Korean is a language spoken natively by approximately 77 million Korean people living on the Korean peninsula (26 million in North Korea and 51 million South Koreans), and also spoken as a heritage language by approximately 1.8 million people in the United States, 2.3 million in China, 0.7 million in Japan and 0.5 million in Russia and Central Asia. Furthermore, there has been a rise of learners of Korean as a foreign language worldwide due to its rapid economic success since the 1970s as well as an increase in global popularity of K-drama and K-pop, otherwise known as the Korean wave. In terms of number of speakers, Korean is rated as the twelfth among over 3,000 languages existing around the globe.
