Breaking down the Barriers between Us and Them
by Park Ha yeon, Tribune Reporter
It has been a while since a great number of people started to come to Korea to find work. This number has been increasing at an enormous rate. Some problems have surfaced as these people have tried to adjust to life in Korean society, which has not always been open or hospitable to them. Issues such as the human rights of these foreign workers, for example, have received some media attention from time to time. This month The Chonnam Tribune decided to interview Professor Park Haeng-soon, (Pharmacy Department), who has been teaching Korean to some of these foreign workers.
Prof. Park greeted this reporter with a smile, so spontaneous and warm that it instantly broke the ice between us.
It was during a visit to a church which sponsored them that Prof. Park accidentally first came in contact with foreign workers. Soon she became aware of the many difficulties these workers were experiencing. The language problems especially caught her attention. She realized that improving their Korean could be a great help for them. So she enrolled at the Yonsei Language Institute and took a class on “How to teach Korean to Foreigners.” After one semester of learning teaching methods she began to teach Korean to some workers. Besides her regular schedule at the university she invested a considerable amount of time and energy in this language teaching. Her efforts saw vast improvements on the part of the worker-students. Sometimes their speed at learning Korean and the proficiency they achieved surprised her. She proudly showed some memos stored in her cell phone. ? One text sent by a Philippine worker was written in such impeccable Korean, that it was indistinguishable from that of a native writer.
Prof. Park’s service to the workers is not just limited to language teaching. She arranges for them to attend classes at Gwangshin College and to obtain college degrees. She noted that her motivation is reinforced by the sight of young workers managing to come to her language class despite the hard schedule of the workplace. She stresses that the workers deserve and are entitled to the same protection and respect that any other foreigners and native Koreans enjoy. In her opinion, that by treating them right Korean society will be a better place for us all to live in.
Prof. Park is also the first President of the Women Scientists Network, which was founded to give support to enhancing women’s capabilities in the science and engineering areas and contributing to the progress of science in the community by the equal utilization of the human resources of both genders. Her activities extend to programs which help the welfare of women who have fled North Korea, especially as regards finding work.
Prof. Park said that working with other people is fun in itself and concluded that as no one can exist in isolation by breaking down the barriers between ‘us’ and ‘them’ our society can be a better place.