[연세대학교] 외국인 대학원생을 위한 협업형 온라인 세종학당 참여후기

연세대학교 일반대학원 의과학과 박사과정 / DA COSTA NOGUEIRA, ROSANA MAX

1. 참여자께서 생각하시는 연세대학교 외국인 대학원생 전용 무료 한국어 교육프로그램인 <협업형 온라인 세종학당>의 필요성은 무엇인가요?

I believe the free Korean language course is an excellent start for anyone who wishes to improve their Korean skills, especially newcomers. In my own perspective, I had just arrived in Korea to start my PhD, so I did not have any sort of adaptation period before my classes started. Also, my classes would be fully in Korean, so I wanted to prepare myself as much as possible. The first few weeks (months actually) were very hard and stressful, so I was really struggling to adapt to a new culture, new food, new time zone, and new routines (all of it while attending classes, working in the lab, and dealing with loneliness/missing family). I could not find any time to study Korean on my own nor even to look for Korean classes nearby. The fact that Yonsei University provides this course, free of charge, and that the course itself allowed me to do the video classes at my own pace, while simultaneously having the support of a Korean professor, made everything a little less overwhelming.

2. <협업형 온라인 세종학당>에 참여하시게 된 계기는 무엇인가요?

I knew I needed to invest some time in improving my Korean language skills, since they are considered low-intermediate, whereas my classes would be conducted fully in Korean. So, as I was looking for classes to register for, I came across ‘The Collaborative Online King Sejong’ through an email that was diffusing information about the upcoming course. Naturally, I signed up for it because I thought it would be a good head start for my own journey (that had just started here in Korea).

3. 참여하신 <협업형 온라인 세종학당> 강좌 내용과 학습 시스템에 대해서 설명해 주세요.

The learning system of ‘The Collaborative Online King Sejong Institute’ is divided in two sections: video lectures and Professor-guided online classes. Regarding the former, I believe they are very well structured; the first part is focused on vocabulary and grammar points, while the second one is specifically made to makes us practice the 4 major skills – listening, reading, writing and speaking. When it comes to the latter, the Professor-guided online classes were organized in a small class of 4 to 5 students, and the Professor could tell right away what our weaknesses and insecurities were, making the learning process much more efficient.

4. <협업형 온라인 세종학당> 참여 경험이 어떤 효과가 있었나요?

Maybe it is because ‘speaking’ is my greatest weakness, so attending ‘The Collaborative Online King Sejong Institute’ helped me become more comfortable in speaking in Korean and be less worried about making mistakes while doing so. I cannot say I saw an enormous improvement but that is simply because my language ability skills are far from being enough to match the level demanded by my degree. Nevertheless, I am fully aware that these little steps will slowly propel me to my final goal.

5. 다음 학기에도 <협업형 온라인 세종학당>에 참여하실 의향이 있으신가요?

I would definitely wish to keep attending classes at The Online King Sejong Institute next semester to continue practicing my Korean. Not only I want to be able to better comprehend my classes/seminars/meetings, but I also wish to be able to keep conversations with friends and colleagues more naturally, so that I can gradually create more meaningful connections with others, and overall, adapt to this new environment.