By Korea.net Honorary Reporter Aya Medhat from Egypt
Photos = Aya Medhat

The Korean Embassy in Egypt, the Korea Foundation and the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) joined forces in 2005 to set up the first Korean-language department in Egypt, the Arab world and Africa at Ain Shams University in Cairo.

Chung Young-in, a visiting professor from the foundation, is the supervisor of master's and Ph.D. students at the university's Korean Department.

The following are excerpts from an interview with the professor.

- What is the role and objective of your department?
The objective and role of the Korean Department have several aspects. Our aim is to focus more on interpretation and translation of Korean. Korean studies, however, is more complex and extensive than just language because it also includes Korean culture. I consider interpretation and translation a small part of Korean studies.

- What subjects does your department teach?
Teaching Korean as a second language is our basic job, in addition to covering Korean history and literature.

- Who comprises the main teaching staff, Koreans or Egyptians?
Most of our teaching staff are composed of Korean professors and official envoys from the Korean government. At this time, I and professor Oh Sejong are the main professors but we have Egyptian assistant instructors.

- Your department hosts many events and activities. Can you tell us about these?
Yes, we hold many events like Korean speech contests as well as science conferences and seminars on the Korean language and studies with the participation of many Korean professors.

- Do your students have opportunities to get scholarships to study in Korea?
Yes, the Korean Embassy in Cairo and Korean universities offer scholarships for those who want to learn Korean at the master's and Ph.D. levels.

- Is there a difference in pedagogy between your department and Korean departments in Korea?
Yes, there is a difference. In Korea, there is more specialization in a Korean department from the first year to the last. In Egypt, however, the range of study at our department is somewhat limited in being more focused on the language, plus the duration of study is insufficient. So I'm trying to include more Korean studies in our curriculum.

- What are your plans to develop the curricula at your department?
To develop our Korean-language department, we need to focus more on Korean studies and not so much on interpretation and translation. Part of why I'm here is to present more about Korea such as politics and economics as well as offer more majors for master's and doctoral students. Over the next five years, I think we can achieve our goals because this department is both important and unique.


wisdom117@korea.kr

* This article is written by a Korea.net Honorary Reporter. Our group of Honorary Reporters are from all around the world, and they share with Korea.net their love and passion for all things Korean.