Korean

IMPORTANT: All students must complete a Language Background Questionnaire prior to enrolling in a language course at Carleton and a placement test may be required for students with previous knowledge of the language.  Click here to learn more.

About the Language

The Korean language and culture has been experiencing a surge in popularity in recent years, a surge so remarkable it even has its own name: the “Hallyu” (Korean Wave).  Fueled by the meteoric rise of K-Pop music, Korean dominance in e-sport gaming, and the adaptation of more and more Korean television series to Western television, the trend seems likely to continue.  Interest in Carleton’s Korean classes too has surged in recent years.

Learning the Korean language opens opportunities to share in a wonderful and inclusive culture and become part of the vibrant Korean community.  For instance, visit the Korean Cultural Centre Ottawa website to see what’s happening at their downtown Ottawa location.

The Korean writing system was created by the Great King Sejong in the 15th century.  It is an innovative language with its own alphabetic system that is easy to learn and read.

Korean is spoken by more than 72 million people living on the Korean peninsula and the Korean diaspora in many countries. There are about two million people in China who speak Korean as their 1^st language, another two million in the United States and Canada, 700,000 in Japan, and 500,000 in the Russian regions of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

Korean in the News

Tuesday, November 12, 2024

Students Learn Traditional Korean Drum Music

With bands like BTS, Blackpink, and Stray Kids, Korean pop music has been on the rise for years now, since the Hallyu (Korean Wave) began in the early 2000’s.  But what about more traditional forms of Korean music like... More

Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Feeding the People (Speaker Series)

“In the 1950's, noodles were the product of science" in North Korea, said Dr. Sunho Ko in his invited presentation last Friday night, and the ways in which food was produced and consumed in the country in the years during and after... More

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Registration Information

Space in language courses is limited.  Register as early as possible.  If the course is full when you attempt to register, please submit a Course Registration Override Request or, if applicable, add your name to a waitlist on Carleton Central.  Click here to learn more about how waitlisting works.