When students decide to choose a language course in high school, there are several common paths that come to mind: Spanish, Japanese, Mandarin, French, German, Italian, and Latin, which are all AP courses provided by CollegeBoard. However, despite its immense global impact, the Korean language often is overlooked. Korean deserves a spot on the list and recognition as an AP Course due to its easy alphabet, increasing popularity among students and colleges, and its critical relevance to the modern world.
Korean should be offered as a course in more schools because of the relatively short time it takes to learn the alphabet. Hangul, the name of the alphabet, only has 24 basic characters (10 vowels and 14 consonants) while other Asian language counterparts such as Mandarin or Japanese consist of much more and up to thousands of different characters! On top of having few letters, Hangul is a very systematic writing system. Words that are spelled in Hangul reflect its pronunciation, making the process of sounding out words easier than other languages like English, which has many exceptions to pronouncing words. Hangul is logical too: consonant shapes mimic positions that the mouth makes while reading them out loud, making them easier to use and apply. For those who want to learn how to read in another language, Hangul is not only an effective, but also quick way.
Some may think that such introduction of a new language course in more schools would be less popular among students compared to its other language counterparts. Statistics say otherwise: the number of U.S colleges offering Korean has risen considerably. According to the Modern Language Association, the number of such colleges had totaled down to 0 in 1972 (which actually dropped from 1965, which had 9). In 1980, the number had risen to 16, and by 1990, 50 colleges were now offering Korean. By 2002, there were now 102 colleges, which is nearly double the amount in the previous decade, and the number hasn’t stopped growing: 2016 showed a 68% in the number of U.S. colleges offering the course, and the number of enrolled students increased from 13,936 of that year to 19,270 in 2021, demonstrating a significant gain in student enrollment in short periods of time. It should also be noted that between 2009 and 2016 while Korean was increasing in popularity, enrollment in other traditional languages such as Spanish, French, and German decreased. Such a correlation between the increase of enrolled students and offered courses shows that many students are willing to take Korean if it is offered as a class. People not only show their passion to study Korean in the U.S. but around the world too! According to Duolingo charts, which is the most popular language learning app, Korean has ranked in the top 7 languages since 2020, beating other common languages like Italian, Chinese, Portuguese, and Hindi.
The reason why the Korean language is increasing in popularity is due to the significant global effects Korean culture has had on the world. In late 2012, PSY’s “Gangnam Style” became the first video to reach 1 billion views on Youtube, which started a heavy surplus in Korean music popularity. Most known today is the music genre of Kpop, which has created a global database over the past decade. Groups in the 10s like BIGBANG, BTS, and Blackpink have shattered records on the Billboard Charts, Youtube, Spotify, and other social media platforms. Listening to popular music without hearing at least one song from these popular Kpop groups is near impossible. More recently in this decade, other new groups such as Stray Kids, Enhypen, Seventeen, Twice, New Jeans, and IVE, which have all reached global audiences and increased kpop popularity. With a want to understand their famous singers, it is no surprise that non-korean fans of the kpop groups would want to learn the languages themselves.
Considering the few months, the world faced another huge increase in Korean culture popularity through the conclusion to the internationally ranked show “Squid Game” and the rise of the animated film “Kpop Demon Hunters,” though despite the kpop groups (HUNTR/X and the Saja Boys) being fictional, became the most watched animated film ever on Netflix, and having multiple of its songs on the Top 10 of the Hot 100. Being the longest-leading hit from an animated film, HUNTR/X’s “Golden” reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Because of these strides, people around the world, especially younger audiences, have embraced Korean culture, making it natural for courses in Korean language to increase.
The easy understanding of Hangul, student satisfaction, and significant global impact through Korean culture suggest that many students around the world would enjoy having Korean language as a possible course. Perhaps it is time for Korean to take its place with the other commonly taught languages, and even become its own AP course.
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