Courses
We offer the following courses:
- Korean 101 (3 credit hours)
- Korean 102 (3 credit hours)
Each course lasts approximately 15 weeks and follows the same academic calendar as the University of Alabama. Both levels are available during fall and spring terms (no summer courses).
To receive credit in the courses, you need to contact a local exam proctor (e.g., a testing center, or teacher or administrator at your school or college who agrees to follow our procedures). The proctor does NOT need to know any Korean, and all that is required is that he or she has an email account that can receive, open, and print PDF files. The proctor will mail, scan, or fax tests back to us for grading.
Prerequisites
High school students seeking college credit must enroll in the University of Alabama Early College program and complete the courses within the term enrolled, just like regular college students. Before taking any online courses at UA, high school students must first complete UAEC 200, a preliminary online readiness course.
The prerequisite for KOR 102 is completing KOR 101 with a C- or better, or the completion of a placement test. If you score lower than a C- in KOR 101, you may repeat the course (but you will have to pay tuition again).
Placement
If you feel you can skip into KOR 102 but have not received a formal grade (or a transcript) from another educational institution, you must take a placement exam first. You must be able to expertly read/write hangul as listed in the curriculum and know the basic grammar forms such as particles, conjugations, and verb forms, before skipping into KOR 102. Once you pass the placement exam, you will receive a permit to enroll in KOR 102 from Laurie Arizumi, the head instructor.
If you have received a grade from another educational institution and want to enroll in KOR 102, you will need to provide a transcript with your grade to Laurie Arizumi. Students must receive a C- or higher grade to go into the 102 level.
Technical Requirements
Students enrolled in the Online Korean Program must have regular access to a computer (at school or home) with an Internet connection and multimedia (audio and video) player. Students must also have access to a web camera for weekly private tutoring and oral quizzes.
Students must have access to their individual crimson email accounts (assigned by UA) in order to interact with the instructor and tutors. Types of files used in the course include those associated with running Blackboard Learn, PDF files, MP3 audio files, YouTube videos, and PowerPoint. Some assignments will involve typing in Korean font, which can be done using a regular keyboard. We can help you learn to do that.
Learning Materials
Textbook/Workbook
The curriculum is based on the third edition of the Integrated Korean textbook and workbook series by Young-Mee Cho, Hyo Sang Lee, Carol Schulz, Ho-min Sohn, and Sung-Ock Sohn. We will cover the same material that The University of Alabama covers in the classroom courses, so if you decide to come to UA, you will be on track with our classroom Korean courses. If you don’t intend to come to UA, many other universities use the Integrated Korean textbook as well.
Here’s what we will cover in the textbooks:
- KOR 101 uses the Integrated Korean textbook and workbook third edition Beginning I. KOR 101 covers Lessons 1-6.
- KOR 102 uses the Integrated Korean textbook and workbook third edition Beginning I (to complete Lesson 7), and then the Beginning II set of textbook and workbook to complete Lessons 8-12.
Other Learning Materials Available Online
Students also have access to other materials through Blackboard Learn, such as:
- Text supported web site
- Audio files and videos
- Discussion forum to chat with your classmates
Once you enroll and have access to the Blackboard Learn site, you will find your syllabus which contains all the important information you need to get started learning, a detailed Course Schedule, an online grade book to check your scores, and of course all the study materials you need.
Graded Assignments and Tests
Using the Learning Materials in your textbook and online, you will complete assignments and tests such as: completing workbook pages (scan and upload into Blackboard), discussion (in English and some Korean) forum posts in Blackboard, Oral (speaking/listening) Tests with your tutor, Vocabulary Quizzes, a Final Project, and a Final Oral and Written Exam.
Tutoring
Tutoring hours are both scheduled for the semester and open (first come, first served). You will have scheduled private tutoring sessions at least once a week, and more will be offered during the semester as needed. We are currently using Zoom, and some tutors prefer Skype for the live sessions. If students want group sessions, we will try to arrange those too.
Since we give private tutoring sessions, our students find that our online Korean course is very convenient. We do it this way to accommodate students all over the world in various time zones. By offering tutoring slots both morning and evening, students can almost always find a time that works for their busy work or school schedule. You will usually have the same assigned tutor for the semester, but you also may talk with others during the open time slots, or if you need to change your tutoring time, or a tutor needs a substitute due to illness etc. We try not to reschedule too often since the tutoring schedule is tight. You should be able to find at least one time and day a week you can consistently attend.
How We Practice and Evaluate Your Speaking and Listening Skills
The same tutor you practice with during the semester will also evaluate your speaking and listening ability through chapter Oral Tests. These are an important part of the course and are figured into your final grade. You do not need to have a proctor present during these quizzes as long as we can see you through your web camera. Here are some of the topics you will be able to discuss in Korean once you successfully finish each semester:
- Korean 101 students will be able to: greet and introduce themself and others, discuss daily routine and leisure activities, ask and give directions, and express location, distance, and duration.
- Korean 102 students will be able to: discuss weekend plans, talk about their cities and ask/give directions to various locations, talk about important days, dates, and schedules, express apologies, reservations, and requests with your professor, extend, accept or decline invitations to social events, and describe your own and others’ family members.
At the end of the semester, you will take an Oral Proficiency Test with a professional Oral Proficiency External Examiner. This test will only be a portion of your final grade. If you speak with your tutor every week, the Final Oral Exam shouldn’t be too difficult or scary!