By Kim Eun-young and Kim Hayeon 

The National Institute of Korean Language by the first half of the year will send 3,800 Korean-language textbooks to 75 organizations in 21 countries including Vietnam, Germany and Russia. 

The institute on April 26 announced plans to ship eight titles spanning 73 textbooks that it developed for both the domestic and foreign learners to King Sejong Institutes, Korean Cultural Centers, Korean-language departments of universities and related schools abroad. Such aid is part of a project launched in 2008 to send such textbooks overseas and promote use of Korean.    

The four textbooks geared for foreign learners are "Fun Korean for Preschool Children Around the World," "Korean for Beginners," "Korean for Intermediate Learners" and "Sejong Korean (Revised Edition)."

Targeted for learners in Korea (all unofficial translations of the titles) are "Learning the Korean Language and Culture for Multicultural Toddlers," "Standard Korean for Elementary, Middle and High School Students," "Fun and Accurate Korean with Multicultural Families" and "Ministry of Justice's Korea Immigration and Integration Program." 

The textbooks will be used by each institution in classes, teacher reference, storage and rental. The content is also available online for download on the Center for Teaching and Learning Korean's website (kcenter.korean.go.kr).

An institute source said, "We will continue promoting the development of and support for Korean-language textbooks that reflect the culture and language of a country," adding, "We will also consistently incorporate various mediums such as e-books and QR codes."