In August, this year, I was fortunate to become a member of the Ewha Womans University's «2018 Ewha Summer Special Program», organized with the support of the Korea Foundation. Most of the students who arrived in Korea within the program were from Japan and China; however, there were also students from Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan, Spain, Germany, Norway, etc. The program was very intensive – in addition to the Korean classes, there were also special lectures conducted in English, and devoted to the Korean culture, economy, and some sociological topics. As an extracurricular activity, there were various trips and workshops organized for students, during which we studied, in particular, the traditional Korean dance, as well as the choreography of several K-Pop groups. Within the special trips, we visited the Buddhist temple and tried to prepare dishes from the local diet, and visited the Korean theater and cinema. The most memorable moment was a trip to the national village Hanok, where we spent one night in a real traditional Korean house, and rafted along the river. In hot weather conditions, it was such a salvation! During this trip, we also visited the soju museum in Andon city, where we were shown step-by-step process of making the famous Korean drink. This trip not only contributed to the improvement of language skills, but also became a great experience, left unforgettable impressions and helped to make new friends. I am very glad I received this unique opportunity to become a member of this program.

Arbakova Juli, 2018

Hello! My name’s Kate and I study linguistics in Irkutsk State University, Russia. In July 2018 I’ve completed my five-month internship in Chosun University (Gwangju, South Korea). The course was amazing with our teachers giving us interesting and up-to-date material about peculiarities of Korean culture, history and language. All of our wonderful group mates were citizens of different countries. Lessons were conducted mostly in Korean, each lesson had lots of new illustrative information and was linked with South Korea somehow. Internship is always a good experience of living in language environment. I met a plenty of friendly outgoing native speakers. All of them helped me to improve my Korean and English skills, some of them became my good friends. And, of course, one of the main language internship’s advantages is a great opportunity to travel. We travelled a lot. Almost all of our free time was spent on traveling the country. There’re lots of splendid places and landscapes in Korea, especially near the sea. My favorite is Busan. I absolutely fell in love with this city as soon as I spent my first day there. So, as I’ve already said, traveling to Korea is an awesome opportunity to learn and practice language, find some new friends, see small but so beautiful peace of the world and just enjoy the moments!

Kate, 2018

Hello! My name is Gerelma and I’m student at Department of Korean language at the Irkutsk State University. In the spring of this year I was lucky to get an opportunity of being an exchange student at Daejeon University, Korea. It’s an exchange program between Irkutsk State University and Daejeon University in Korea. We came to Korea at the end of February, the visa was issued for 6 months and during one semester we began study at a Korean university. On arrival, we passed an examination to determine the level of proficiency in Korean. I was determined to a group with high-level of korean language. Lessons held from Monday to Friday every day. We studied Korean, Korean culture and traditions. The course included: reading, writing, grammar and vocabulary. We explored city a lot by walking, eating tasty food, meeting amazing people. Studying abroad definitely seems exciting, scary and overwhelming thing. Study and live in another country and far away from all my friends and family back home seemed hard. But this experience expanded my horizons and made me more independent.

Gerelma, 2018

I went to internship as an exchange student in South Korea, Gwangju, Chosun University, where I studied from March to June 2018. The training was completely in Korean, with the exception of English classes, which were taught by an American professor mr. Mac. Before the beginning of the semester, we were given the opportunity to independently create a schedule that included the required subjects: sections of the Korean language (listening, reading, grammar, writing). In addition to Korean, I decided to choose English and Taekwondo, and I did not regret, because in English classes I was able to improve my speaking skills and meet wonderful good-natured, open-minded Korean students, and in Taekwondo classes I could have a lot of fun, run, jump and learn certain tricks. All classes were easy and interesting, which excluded any stressful situations. The university provides excellent conditions for learning and useful, productive leisure activities, which include our dormitory Global House, which has a cafe, a fitness room, a computer class, a reading room and even a table tennis court. Near the university there was a swimming pool, where I first took steps to learn the way of swimming. The internship gave amazing and wonderful impressions. I can happily say it was the happiest and the best stage in my life. During the semester, I was able to visit the inimitable Jeju Island, the traditional Hanok village in Jeonju and nearby Puan and Gunsan, the wonderful Norado, the populous capital of Korea Seoul, warm and rainy Busan, and of course, forever remaining in memory Gwangju. I met self-confident, wise and purposeful people whom I still continue to admire. Therefore, I am grateful to our teacher and our ISU for providing such opportunities that can change a person and give him unforgettable emotions and impressions.

Lubsanova Ayana, 2018

Studying abroad is always difficult but interesting. I had an opportunity to experience it myself. I did an internship in South Korea. It was amazing! I was able to get to know better the culture of the country and the language I study. I met a lot of good people who helped me learn a lot. I acquired a lot of useful knowledge that will be needed in my profession in the future. I think I am very lucky to have had a chance to study in Korea. I managed to participate in many events related to Russia and the Russian language. I fell in love with the Korean language even more. I am very grateful for this opportunity!

Mari, 2018

My name is Valentina. Last semester I had an opportunity came to Korea as exchange student. I studied in Chosun University in Gwanju city. I was improving my Korean skills for 6 months. I had 3 main subject, such as Korean grammar, Korean speaking and Korean writing. Moreover I had opportunity to choose some offer subjects. So I choose Chinese speaking and English speaking. All my subjects taught by native speakers. Teachers made me to do different interesting projects, helped us to find foreign friend and sometimes even gave me some small presents. Chosun University is situated in picturesque place in Gwanju and surrounded by mountains. All Chosun University Faculty’s buildings had own unique design, for example Art Faculty looks like Lego house and Faculty of Foreign Language buildings remind Hogwarts school from Harry Potter books. Moreover Chosun University had Rose Garden and Sakura Alley. So when cherry blossom started I saw the most beautiful picture in my life. I improved my Korean and Chinese skills, met good Korean friends, travel across the country and got unforgettable experience. I would wish that I have opportunity come back and study in Chosun University again.

Valentina, 2018