Pukyong National University

The ‘Making Foreign Friends’ program is becoming more popular.
- About 600 students have participated in the Pukyong Cultural Exchange Program over the last 6 years.

△ In this photo, the students participating in the Pukyong Cultural Exchange Program are learning how to wear Hanbok in the Korean traditional culture class. ⓒ Lee Sung Jae (member of the office of public relations)

PKNU has run a cultural exchange program for the last 6 years. Around 600 students have participated in this program and it is really helpful for PKNU students to learn English effectively.

The opening ceremony of the 2011 Pukyong Cultural Exchange Program was held in the Chungmu Building in Daeyeon campus in PKNU on July 4th. The Program ran for 3 weeks. Approximately 608 students, including PKNU students and foreign students who were students of 15 universities which have been affiliated with PKNU, have participated in this program since 2006.

Also, 66 students, including 35 PKNU students and 31 foreign students who came from 14 foreign universities including Northern State University in America and Griffith University in Australia, participated in this program which is run by the Office of International Relations of PKNU.

For three weeks, a Korean student and a foreign student can become partners (it’s called the Buddy system), and they share the same dormitory room in PKNU for the duration of the program. By participating in this program, students have an opportunity to exchange their different cultures, and to improve their English conversation abilities.

During this period, the foreign students take Korean language lessons and learn Taekwondo and Samulnori which is a kind of Korean traditional percussion quartet. In addition, they will go to Geongju to visit the historical sites.

After this program, they may wish to keep in touch with each other by using social network services such as facebook, or by inviting their partner to their own country.

Jeong Yeon Ho, who is the Head of the Office of International Relations at PKNU stated, “This program can provide an environment that is similar to English speaking countries for students who want to study abroad. I really hope that this program provides many opportunities to upgrade our students’ English conversation ability and to enable them to understand a variety of cultures.” <Pukyong Today>

In this photo, the students who are participating in this program are showing off their work after finishing the calligraphy lessons.

In this photo, the students are learning about the Korean tea ceremony.

<translator; Park Ha Won, dhzl0121@naver.com>



△ The students who are participating in this program are showing off their work after finishing the calligraphy lessons.

△ The students are taking lessons in the tea ceremony.