Media Advisory: Friday, Aug. 28, 2009;
noon–3 p.m., Cal State L.A.’s University Club
A summer immersed in Korean culture, language
Cal State L.A.’s third cohort furthers the CSU Strategic Language Initiative
Los Angeles, CA -- Seven students just spent six weeks immersed in Korean culture and language—learning how to sing the Korean anthem, to play the buk instrument (Korean drums) and to cook bulgogi barbecued beef—as part of Cal State L.A.’s Strategic Language Initiative (SLI) Korean Program.
According to Namhee Lee, the course instructor, “In addition to introducing the students to Korean culture and tradition, the class focused on the fundamental structure of the Korean language. We organized excursions for the students to practice speaking Korean and to deepen their knowledge of the Korean society.”
The intensive summer program will hold a graduation on Friday, Aug. 28, noon-3 p.m., at the University Club on the CSULA campus. (Reporters are welcome to attend the ceremony, which includes a lunch reception along with a slide and poster presentation.)
This year’s students are: Sharon Choi, hotel management major, Cal Poly Pomona, Arcadia resident; Richard Dellachiara, philosophy master’s student, Cal State L.A., Hacienda Heights resident; Daniel Kim, economics major, Cal State L.A., Los Angeles resident; Hyon Tae Kim, social work major, Cal State L.A., Los Angeles resident; Crystal Milo, international relations major, Mount St. Mary’s College, Los Angeles resident; Christie Paik, international business major, CSU Fullerton, West Covina resident; and Sara Yu, psychology major, Cal State L.A., San Gabriel resident.
Part of the federally-funded CSU Strategic Language Initiative (SLI), this highly-competitive, semi-immersion program at Cal State L.A. is designed to help fill the need for strategic and diplomatic expertise in the Korean language.
The CSU SLI program covers the expense of student fees, textbooks, lunches and excursions. The students will also be offered language courses related to their majors in the upcoming fall, as well as a four-week study-abroad project in summer 2010. Eleven students from the second cohort at Cal State L.A. have already completed their studies in South Korea this summer. (They also rendez voused with CSULA’s College of Arts and Letters Dean Terry Allison, who was in South Korea on a Fulbright grant.)
For more details on the SLI Korean program, call the CSULA Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at (323) 343-4230.
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