Korean unlocks language as key to Vietnam living

On Aug. 5, Kwon Jayoung, 27, graduated from the Faculty of International Studies at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Hanoi with an "Excellence" certificate. She scored a grade point average of 3.32 out of four.

"The result surprised me as I had struggled a lot and always thought that it would already be lucky if I could graduate," said Kwon.

 

 

Korean unlocks language as key to Vietnam living

Korean unlocks language as key to Vietnam living

After graduating a university in South Korea with a major in English Linguistics and Literature, Kwon was aware that there were already many international English speakers all around the world.

Therefore, she told herself that in order to access more job opportunities, she needed to master another language or another subject.

Seeing that Vietnam was growing fast and that South Korean companies have increasingly poured investment into the Southeast Asian nation, Kwon believed that studying Vietnamese in Vietnam could give her an advantage.

"So, I decided to go to Vietnam," she said.

When learning about her daughter’s intention, Park Haekyong said she was "quite surprised" as she chose a language that few South Koreans have pursued.

But after she and her husband spent some time researching Vietnam, they agreed that their daughter had chosen the right path as the country was "continuing to grow."

"I believe in my daughter," said Park. "She has always been a strong and independent girl."

Kwon Jayoung during her university graduation ceremony at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Hanoi on Aug. 5, 2023. Photo courtesy of Kwon Jayoung

As suggested by her parents, Kwon came to Vietnam to explore the nation first before making her final decision.

She visited Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi for a week in 2018 and decided to study in Hanoi.

The first thing she wanted was the B2 certificate of Vietnamese language proficiency.

She registered to learn Vietnamese at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities and after that, applied for the Faculty of International Studies at the school.

In 2019, she was the only foreign student in her class.

With her B2 certificate, Kwon thought she could comprehend around half of what her teachers said but in reality, she sometimes barely understood anything. "Especially when it was Marxism–Leninism, Philosophy, and Statistics and Probability."

Kwon came up with a solution: recording every lecture she attended. Then she replayed them, wrote them down and made effective use of Google Translate.

"I just wanted to cry every time I came across a Vietnamese word that was abbreviated."

She once got a "0" for a general subject because she did not understand the question.

"I called my mother and during our two-hour talk I cried nonstop, asking her to let me go home," Kwon recalled. "She told me to think it through and reminded me to be responsible with my own decision."

At that moment, Kwon remembered telling herself that if she returned to South Korea, she would have to start over again while the only thing she needed now in Vietnam was to overcome the obstacles to learning Vietnamese.

So she stayed and forced herself to study harder.

After school, Kwon spent a lot of time studying on her own and often stayed up until 3-4 a.m. the next morning to learn.

"She tried really hard. As we usually fell asleep or got lazy during class, Jayoung always stayed focused and wrote down everything she learned," said a classmate named Nguyen Thi Thao.

To Kwon, Thao was a good friend who helped her a lot to get through the first difficult steps.

Thao could not speak Koreans so she explained lessons that Kwon could not understand in English and sometimes in Vietnamese.

When Kwon finished her homework in Vietnamese, Thao usually checked the language and helped her friend fix it.

Apart from Thao, Kwon received support from other classmates. When they had to do group projects, other members of the team would give Kwon a task that she could do best in English, such as looking for information and references.

Every time Kwon needed to complete a procedure at the school’s office, her classmates would show up to help her every step of the way to avoid a situation in which she could not understand the Vietnamese requirements.

After six months, she started to get along with the pace of studying in Vietnamese.

Then Covid-19 appeared, and she had to study remotely.

However, Kwon took that as an opportunity to do even better.

When studying from home, she could easily record her lectures. And because they could not meet each other directly, teachers sent all documents and tests via texting apps, allowing her to have more time to translate and understand them compared to studying at school.

Kwon Jayoung, wearing an ao dai, poses for photos after her thesis presentation at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Hanoi. Photo courtesy of Kwon Jayoung

Her efforts eventually paid off.

She scored high enough to get a school scholarship for not just one but two semesters. This made her the first foreign student to ever do so at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities.

Nguyen Van Dap, one of Kwon’s teachers, said: "I’m impressed with her determination."

Kwon wrote her graduation thesis in English, in which she discussed the issue of Vietnamese migrant workers in South Korea.

The thesis was evaluated as topical, practical, and scientific.

Kwon currently works for a South Korean company in Vietnam and has a part-time job as an English tutor for South Koreans living in Vietnam.

She will return to South Korea early next year when her visa expires, but Kwon has made her decision to return.

"I love Vietnam, I want to return to this country to work and live," she said.