사실은...

When I first started my Korean class at NUS Extension back in 2005, my textbook was a binded stack of photostatted notes. I did not have any proper textbook until I reached Basic level 3. That was when I started using textbook published by Sogang University.

One day in 2006, during one of our Basic level 3 lessons, our teacher announced that "Basic Conversational Korean", a book authored by her and published by Ridge Books (an imprint of NUS Publishing) is finally ready to take order. It costs S$10 after subsidy. Actually, the textbook is meant for Basic 1 and 2 level which I have already completed by then. But I still bought it to make up for those days when I went without a proper textbook. It was also to support our teacher's effort in bringing to birth, probably the first Korean language textbook published in Singapore.

Recently, I heard that NEX has decided to drop the use of "Basic Conversational Korean" after two years in favour of the Sogang 1A Textbook and Workbook for Basic level 1 and 2. Frankly, I was quite puzzled why NEX didn't even choose to use the Sogang textbook in the first place. Afterall, Sogang textbooks are used from Basic level 3 to 6. In my opinion, Sogang textbooks are well suited for NEX's students whom many are busy working adults. The good thing about Sogang textbooks is that they are easy to read and understand and hence, the learning curve for foreigners is more gentle. It would have thus made more sense for NEX to continue with Sogang textbooks for its intermediate level courses but for some reasons, it didn't. Instead, it opted to go with the Kyunghee textbooks. Not all Korean language textbooks are made the same. Level-to-level comparison, it is known that Kyunghee textbook is more difficult than Sogang textbook.

The truth is that there is a big gap in between the NEX's basic and intermediate level Korean courses. Besides the fact that Kyunghee textbook is more difficult than Sogang textbook, NEX also skips Sogang textbook 2B and jumps straight to Kyunghee Intermediate 1 textbook. Sogang University publishes two textbooks for each language level (There are 6 standard Korean language levels). Altogether, they have four textbooks to cater to elementary Korean language study. NEX's Basic level 1-6 covers only 3 of the 4 textbooks. What this means is that NEX students have not technically completed the Sogang's elementary curriculum before they move on to Kyunghee' Intermediate curriculum. The big leap in standard felt by NEX students, who cross from basic to intermediate level, is thus not surprising.

The "woes" of NEX students do not end at the point of cross-over. The intermediate level courses are conducted at a more hectic pace compared to the basic level courses. While it takes 100 hours, spread over 40 weeks, to complete Elementary 1 level, it only takes 72 hours, spread over 24 weeks, to complete Intermediate 1 level. Not to mention that Kyunghee textbook is difficult and that Intermediate 1 is also more difficult than Elementary 1. I shall not speculate on the outcome but I know it is not going to be an easy task for NEX students, who are used to Sogang textbook and the slow-pace of learning, to cope with the intermediate level lessons.

Despite all that was said, the gap is not all that insurmountable. It just takes more efforts to overcome. On the hindsight, the gap would not have existed if NEX has just stayed with Sogang's textbook and curriculum. If that had been the case, attending intermediate level Korean lesson would be less of a stress for the students who are mostly busy working adults. What these people definitely prefer is - "Don't stress me!".

I have prepared three tables to serve as comparison of the Korean language courses offered at NEX, SKS and KHU. If you can understand the tables below, you should see that NEX students spend a lot more time doing basic Korean compared to SKS students. But when it comes to intermediate Korean, NEX students "suddenly" spend less time than SKS students. Another point to note is that NEX students take 150 hrs to cover elementary Korean compared to SKS students' 160 hrs. While the there is only a 10-hrs difference in lesson time, NEX students have actually missed out a quarter of the elementary Korean curriculum. However, when you compare both NUS and SKS to KHU courses, they all look grossly inadequate. My intention of giving comparison is not too discourage people from studying Korean in Singapore. Rather, it is to inform anyone who is interested in Korean, that a lot more extra effort is required in order to do well in the language.