English Language and Literature Students Visit Osan Air Base for Language Exchange With American Soldiers
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- Writer 커뮤니케이션팀
- 보도일자 2024-08-21
On Friday, August 2, students from Sookmyung Women's University Department of English Language and Literature visited Osan Air Base in Gyeonggi-do after receiving an invitation from the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC) and held an event for language exchange.
This event was held in response to previous visits from DLIFLC students, who visited Sookmyung twice last year and are currently studying Korean. At DLIFLC, five professors from the Defense Language Institute (DFI) teach the Korean language to U.S. Army soldiers stationed in Korea.
Students arrived on base early in the day and underwent the “immigration” procedures, and participated in the exchange program between DLIFIC professors and American students.
During team lecture sessions, active discussions were held using a mix of English and Korean, and covered topics that can be easily found in daily life, such as part-time jobs, hobbies and lifestyles, and concerns of college students. One major point of concern that received a lot of attention was the Korean education system, where concerns were raised that Korea does not provide enough critical thinking opportunities to students, which leads to confusion and difficulties when they enter university.
During breaks, Sookmyung students were able to experience American food culture by eating American snacks the American students prepared. A few items on the menu were pasta, French fries, ribs, and marshmallows.
Professor Park So-jin (Dept. of English Language and Literature) who visited the military base with her students, said, “The visit to Osan Air Base, also called ‘American in Korea,’ was a great opportunity to experience cultural and language exchange, as well as explore the long history between our two countries.”
Students expressed their happiness with the visit to Osan Air Base, which is typically very difficult to enter. Kang Shin-hyung (Dept. of English Language and Literature; Class of 2020) said, “I loved being able to experience American culture, especially in the special area of the U.S, military base. The time was invaluable to me, as I was able to easily interact with people from different cultures.” Moon Chae-won (Dept. of English Language and Literature, Class of 2024) expressed, “It was great to meet American soldiers who could speak Korean,” adding, “Since there was interest in each other's cultures and languages, it was fun and interesting to communicate.”
Using this satisfactory experience, the Department of English Language and Literature plans to sign an MOU with the Osan Air Base to promote an official language exchange program.