MMSU offers Korean language course to faculty, students

LAOAG CITY: The Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) is offering basic Korean language to boost the global competitiveness of its faculty and students. In partnership with the Korean Chamber of Commerce Philippines, Inc. (KCCP), Samdo e-Learning Corporation, and the Hancom Academy, a total of nine faculty members of the College of Arts and Sciences and 16 students taking up English Language, Communication, Business Administration-Human Resource Management, and Information Technology courses are attending a Korean language beginner course every Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Classes are held at the 'iHub', a state-of-the-art virtual learning facility at the university equipped with fast-speed internet connectivity and learning facilities convenient for discussion spaces, and cubicles for individual work. "The Korean language beginner course is open for everybody,' MMSU language center chief Ryan Roi Domingo said in an interview with the Philippine News Agency on Sunday. He said the latest short-term course offering of the center was formalized through a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by MMSU President Shirley Agrupis, KCCP and Samdo e-Learning Corporation president Joseph Um, and Kwang Hun-Lee, chief executive officer of Hancom Academy, represented by Oharm Lee, director of Hancom Academy last May. 'Learning a foreign language [such as Korean] is an added advantage for our graduates to make them more globally competitive and to boost their employment opportunities,' said Domingo. The language class held via Zoom started on Aug. 24 and is expected to be completed in November this year or after completing 30 learning hours via the hybrid mode under the university's learning management system. With a participation fee of PHP2,000 to cover laboratory expenses, the short-term course is just the first level of the Korean language program of MMSU as students can advance to higher levels after the pilot program, according to Domingo. The curriculum was designed to cover essential aspects of the Kor ean language, including phonology, vocabulary, grammar, and dialogues. Aside from Korean and Mandarin languages, MMSU is also offering an English language course to its foreign students mostly composed of Taiwanese, Chinese, Japanese, and Indonesian students through innovations and international partnership programs for human capital improvement towards education for sustainable development. Source: Philippines News Agency