[KS] Re: Se habla Han'gul?

Charles Rd K Armstrong cra10 at columbia.edu
Thu Jan 27 21:10:22 EST 2000


Dear all,

It seems obvious to me that Korean-language schools for overseas Koreans
are colloquially (and often formally) called "Hangulhakkyo" because their
main function is understood to be the promotion of _literacy_. Presumably
(although this is not always the case), kyopo's can already speak the
language but need help in learning proper reading and writing. I suspect
that (following Mr. Clippinger's observation from the Chosono sajon) this
term came into use in the early part of the last century when such schools
were set up for the teaching of Korean literacy, especially in the
countryside.  Since the term is not used in North Korea, the Japanese show
does not avoid N-S neutrality. I've actually seen the term "Chosongul" in
DPRK publications. Finally, what are such schools for overseas Koreans
called in China, Japan and Russia?
							Charles Armstrong
 On Thu, 27 Jan 2000, Lionel Babicz wrote:

> Just to add an element to the discussion.
> Japan NHK Korean courses on radio and TV are called "Annyong
> Hashimnikka-Hangul Koza".  I heard the reason was the will to avoid the
> words "Kankokugo", which reminds ROK, and "Chosengo", which reminds DPRK. In
> the same way, you can find some Korean language study books which use the
> word "hangul"in their title (such as the 5 volumes "Sutandado Hangul Koza",
> Taishukan Shoten). But the majority of the books use either the words
> "kankokugo" or "chosengo".
> As a result of this confusion, I heard Korean people using the word "hangul"
> for the Korean language while speaking in Japanese.
> 
> --
> Dr. Lionel Babicz
> The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
> Dpt. of East Asian Studies
> Mount Scopus, Jerusalem 91905 Israel
> Tel: 972-2-588-3648
> Fax: 972-2-588-3687
> 



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