Interview of Foreign Student at Kunsan University

Student who is interested in Korean culture.

한승희 선임기자

2019-05-07 - 2분 걸림 - 댓글 남기기

1. Please introduce yourself

Hello. My name is Zhang Mei(張美). I come from China (HE BEI SHENG). I have been in Korea for 2 months. I'm 23 years old in Korean age. My major is in the Department of Korean Language and Literature and I am in the first grade. And I am really interesting about Korea Culture( K-POP, K-FOOD, K-BEAUTY etc).

2 Why did you come to Korea and Kunsan University?

The reason is that I was interested in Korea broadcasting culture when I was a teenagers. I often watched Korean dramas through Chinese translation. It was very interesting to me, and I naturally learned Korea and Korean.

After I became a college student with an interest in Korea, I had a chance to go to Korea as an exchange student from the university. So I decided to come to Korea and I will go back to China after this semester.

3. What was the difficult part of learning Korean?

The most difficult part for me to learn is that Korean is honorific language. The honorific language is not found in China, and it is a difficult part for me because there are so many different kinds. Also, the foreign words used in Korea and the Korean pronunciation ‘오’, ‘우’, 'ᄅ', ‘ㄴ’, ‘ㅇ’ are difficult to speak. Recently it's hard to understand the newly coined words that Korean students often use these days.

4. What is the most interesting class in Kunsan University?

I was interested in the class that is “Understanding of modern China”. because I can learn how a Korean Professor teaches Korean students about China and how to look at China from the perspective of Koreans. And this class is very interesting to have a team with Korean students in class and sit down and have a discussion together.

5.What impressed you in Korean life?

I went to Myeong-dong, Seoul, and I was surprised because there were more Chinese than Koreans. And when people left the cafe for a while, it was amazing when they left valuables such as cell phones and wallets in their seats. Everyone in Korea acted the same way - someone else might take it, but no one took it.

6. What is your goal in Korea?

Actually my dream is to be a translator. So I want to study various languages.

While I am in Korea, I want to learn a lot about Korean culture and so on. But I only stay in Korea for this semester so I want to study hard in Korea and pass the sixth grade of the TOPIK exam in May and work in Korea if I have a chance later.