By Chessa Pae Faustino, STRATCOM Correspondent

The MMSU Language Center (LC) held an awarding ceremony on December 16 at the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) Multimedia Center to honor the first batch of completers from its inaugural Korean Language Beginner Course (LANG12).

This milestone program, offered in collaboration with Hancom Academy and supported by the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Samdo e-Learning Corporation, produced its first cohort of 19 completers. The group includes 10 students from the English Language program, one from the Human Resource Management program, and one from the Information Technology program. Four instructors from the Department of Languages and Literature and an alumna of the ABEL program also completed the course.

The Korean Language Beginner Course introduced participants to the 'Entrance' and 'Level 1' stages of the international Korean standard curriculum. Tailored for MMSU students, the course is part of the broader Butter FLI program, which integrates Video On Demand (VOD) resources, an AI tutor, and live lectures by a native Korean speaker via Zoom. The program spanned 11 weeks, with sessions conducted every Saturday.

LC Chief Ryan Roi Domingo shared that the graduates of the Korean Language Beginner Course will help build better connections between Filipino and Korean communities. He explained that their new language skills will make communication easier and open more opportunities in areas like tourism, education, and business. He added that the program not only supports the learners' growth but also strengthens the ties between the Philippines and Korea.

Applications are now open for the second Korean Language Beginner Course cohort, which will commence in the second semester of the Academic Year 2024-2025.

In May 2024, MMSU formalized this Korean language course offering through a memorandum of understanding with the Korean Chamber of Commerce Philippines, Inc., Samdo e-Learning Corporation, and Hancom Academy. The course was officially launched on August 24 at the CAS iHub.