¡°Thanks to the Korean Wave, a term describing the success of the Korean pop culture across Asia, the demand for Korean language instruction has increased dramatically among Asian American populations in the U.S. However, there aren¡¯t enough places for Asian Americans to learn the Korean language and there aren¡¯t enough teachers to teach the language, either.¡±

Professor Koo Eun-hee, former director of the Korean language program at a college for international culture in southern California, founded ¡°Adroit College¡± in San Jose, a school where the public can take Korean language lessons.¡±

According to Professor Koo, a desire and interest to learn Korean language has been on a drastic rise especially among Vietnamese, Chinese, and Japanese Americans. They want to be able to watch Korean dramas in Korean and write fan letters to Korean movie stars.

¡°It is amazing how dedicated and zealous those students are about learning Korean,¡± Professor Koo said.

Since Adroit College was founded in Silicon Valley last January, the student enrollment doubled just in two months. Students come from various backgrounds such as Master and Ph.D. students, professionals, housewives and CEOs.

Professor Koo noted, ¡°Keeping up the public¡¯s interest and enthusiasm to learn Korean language is crucial.¡± To date, she produced a ¡®Song Collection for Learning Korean Language¡¯ for which she composed and sang Korean songs to help second generation Korean Americans to learn Korean in an interesting and easy way.

In addition, Professor Koo developed ¡°Hangul Phonics¡±, a learning material that allows students to listen to 157 Korean stories. She is also managing an online Korean Language Education Center, ¡°Jiphyunjun¡± (www.freechal.com/jiphyunjun) since 2000.
Professor Koo received her Doctorate in Education (Ed.D.) in 1998 from University of Houston, Texas, and her Master of Arts degree from Adelphi University.
Koo was former Vice President of the Foundation for SAT II Korean, and an assistant professor and director of a student teaching program for Hope International University which offered a credential program with an emphasis on teaching Korean. She worked as an Adjunct Professor in the Modern Language Department at La Sierra University.

By Suni Kim