Korea Images in Korean language textbook in Vietnam - Focus on

With the increasing demand for Korean learners, various sources of textbooks and reference books, as well as websites teaching Korean language, culture and business have been developed in Vietnam; <베트남인을 위한 종합 한국어> is among the most popular ones.

Sponsored by KB Kookmin Bank and Korea Foundation, the project started in 2008 and the first books were published in 2009. Ever since its publication, the series has become familiar to adult learners, who set their first steps in Korean language journey, university students, college students and learners at language academies. The purpose of their study can vary from practical uses, such as working at Korea company, making presentations, traveling, reading newspaper, marriage, searching for information, etc to academic purposes, such as reading book, writing essay, and teaching Korean as foreign language. Compared to other Korean textbooks that mainly serve for academic purposes, this book is friendlier to Vietnamese learners thanks to the practical topics and content. Therefore this paper would aim focus to investigate Korea images presented and its influence to Vietnamese people’s knowledge as well as some suggested improvements for these images in the future.

The book series comprises six books, two each equivalent to one level from elementary, intermediate to advanced. Each book is divided into 15 topics and the topics are repeated around five main areas: Korean language, culture, education, society and modernization.

Korea image is clearly presented throughout the content of these topics. The most apparent image of Korea throughout the textbook is the unique combination of dynamic lifestyle and traditional etiquette in the country. Similar to Vietnam, Korea was impacted by Confucianism in the past, and a lot of etiquette, manners in communication or daily life still maintain until now, this feature is prominently demonstrated throughout the book. It does not limit at introducing proper use of informal language and formal language, honorifics, pragmatics and gestures but also appropriate etiquette in different contexts, for example when having meal with Koreans, juniors have to wait for seniors to have meal first, and during the meal, they should refrain from making noisy sounds; or when taking public transport, it is compulsory to be quiet and neat so as not to disturb other people. After the ‘Miracle on the Han River’, Korea has become a dynamic and fast-growing country with significant development in economy, technology and infrastructure; and Korean people by that way become much busier and dedicated to work. After working hour, many Koreans seek for opportunities to develop themselves, the definition of “saladent” was introduced.

Talking about daily life, Korean people often try many different ways to stay healthy such as enjoying outdoor activities like jogging, hiking, biking on the weekend and maintaining healthy diet. Korean people also actively participate in social works to support the elderly in neighborhood and environmental projects. All of these make up a traditional yet dynamic Korean image.

About the culture, numerous traditional characteristics were outlined, especially the significance of King Sejong in creating Hangul; the use of herbal medicine and traditional medication for common sickness, and Korea’s effort to preserve and promote national heritages, such as 13 UNESCO’s World Documentary Heritages in Korea. However, with the rise of Korean Wave - Hallyu, Korea’s KPOP culture definitely could not be missed.

From the education aspect, two sides of Korea were reflected in the textbook. Although it was mentioned that education puts a lot of burden on high school students, they have to study really hard at private academy after school to get into prestigious university; and even at university, students must try harder to prepare for future job, Korean’s enthusiasm for education was highly appreciated. The definitions of “ 기 러 기 아 빠 ” and “ 초 기 유 학 ” were introduced as well. The book also mentions the recent merger of more than two majors into interdisciplinary major to meet more specialized job requirements.

Modernization and international cooperation are the two other prominent images in the textbook. For modernization, it shows that Korea has witnessed a great innovation in technology and transition in customers’ shopping behaviors recently, from cash to cashless payment, from market to online platforms and also in public transportation, with the development of public bus, KTX and high-speed train. Korea also supports developing countries like Vietnam in construction of public infrastructure with non-refundable aid.

However, to meet the demand for knowledge of learners, the book should continuously improve the content to keep pace with the fast-changing situation in Korea. First of all, it is necessary to have numbers, statistics, tables in the book updated every three or five years.

The reason is that learners and lecturers rely largely on the book during lesson. Therefore, the content appearing in the book has a great impact on students’ knowledge and understanding of Korea and it is also an essential resource for learners to apply to other subjects at school.

Out-of-date information turns out to be unusable and inapplicable for further study. For example Korea population, GDP, number of residences in big cities, popular career among university students, economic growth rate, transportation fee, these figures play a key role in understanding Korea and therefore need to be updated as soon as possible.

Secondly, more academic definitions should be introduced in the textbook. Currently, Korea is working actively towards environmental protection, as well as cooperating with other countries to achieve the development goals. The new terms like ESG, sustainable development goals (SDGs), colloquium or symposium are widely used in academic and social environment in Korea, yet barely appear in any textbook in Vietnam and still be strange terms to Vietnamese people. Introducing these new academic terms does not only give learners updated knowledge but also foster their curiosity and participation in such programs in the upcoming future. Since environment is one of the key long term development objective of Korea, Korean textbook should introduce more environment topics, such as how to categorize trash and waste, which has caused a lot of confusion for Vietnamese people living in Korea; the meaning behind the lack of rubbish bins in Korea or introducing the different environment projects that Korea is working on in collaboration with other countries.

Thirdly, the image of Korea as an influential country in technology development should be highlighted in the textbook. Moving from Society 4.0 to the upcoming Society 5.0, Korea has shown tremendous advancement in technology. The function of robot in Korea has been enhanced to the upper level, not only being seen serving or guiding at Incheon airport, restaurants or public places but also conducting an orchestra in Seoul; these images has drawn great attention in Vietnam social media recently and will definitely be interesting topic to appear in textbooks. Not only in daily life, technology evolution is also applied into education. Application of Metaverse into Korean teaching and learning at King Sejong Academy is a considerable example.

Korea as a safe and attractive destination for traveling should be introduced more. Korea has long been acknowledged to Vietnamese people as an expensive destination with luxury stays, transportation fees and shopping. However, recently with the ease of visa procedures and other policies to attract tourist, Korea will soon become an inviting spot for solo travelers.

Unlike Vietnam, there are a lot of public areas where tourists can spend their time enjoying themselves outdoors, renting and riding a bike along Cheonggyecheon stream, going picnic at Yeouido Park or visiting art museum are refreshing and affordable activities. Opposite to the preconception from K-dramas that Korea is dangerous at night with high sex crime probability, Korea is actually a safe place for women travelers with CCTV everywhere. And opposite to the images of nagging ajummas in the neighborhood or scrutinizing look to foreigners, Korean people are welcoming and friendly to visitors. These preconceptions should also be corrected through the textbook.

Vietnamese people also have interest in knowing Korea government’s role towards Korea’s development. Beside the ‘Miracle on the Han River’ and activities of KOICA as currently presented, the textbook should diversify the function of the Korea government over different areas. First, there is continuous effort to ensure citizen’s rights and demands. From the Minimum Wage Act 1 to ensure income of citizens to Gender Equal Employment Act 2 to enhance the opportunity of women to find a job are noteworthy policies of Korean government. Secondly, Korean government’s effort towards the development of education system cannot be missed, including investment into facilities and students’ benefits, offering scholarships for International students in prestigious research universities (GKS, KAIST, UNIST, AKS) every year which has given thousands of opportunities to foreign students, including Vietnam to pursue their higher education in Korea who later became prominent experts, professors who are contributing to the development of their countries.

In conclusion, the textbook <베트남인을 위한 종합 한국어> has been succeeded in bringing Korean culture and society closer to Vietnamese people. However, updating and introducing new concepts as mentioned above will be good methods to improve the quality of the book as well as widen and deepen knowledge of Vietnamese people in the upcoming time.

[Encouragement Prize]
Nguyen Thi Ngoc Phu
(Country of Activity : Vietnam)