TRANSCRIPT
At Campsie Public School in Sydney's South-west, students are crafting a vibrant blue dragon as part of their Lunar New Year preparations.
Jungsu Jung is the school's Korean Bilingual teacher.
"In 2024, Korea celebrates the Year of the Blue Dragon, and I thought it would be nice for our students to celebrate the year of the dragon."
The Korean community is one of those that celebrate Lunar New Year, along with people from other countries in the region - like China and Vietnam.
Each has their own tradition.
So too do the children at Campsie Public School.
VOXXIE 1: "I usually go for a big traditional dinner with my whole family."
VOXXIE 2: "My mum puts out fruits and treats for ancestors."
VOXXIE 3: "Sometimes we do firecrackers, like overseas."
A class that began with 30 students has now grown to 300.
Campsie Public school principal Berlinda Cook says half the school now dedicates an hour each day to learning various subjects in Korean.
"Campsie is a language school and our key language is Korean, and the students love it, and parents come here from far and wide, so their children have the opportunity to learn Korean even if they're not from the Korean background themselves."
The majority of students at the school are complete beginners when it comes to the Korean language.
But soon enough, the classroom is filled with the sounds of Korean greetings.
Students are also learning how to make the Korean rice roll called 'gimbap'.
At this school, it's not just about language – students find joy in the whole bilingual learning experience.
HENRY: "When you're born you usually only know one language whereas at school, if you learn different, you can speak languages wherever you go."
ANON: "I like learning new words."
JOSHUA: "I am Korean and I like to talk with my friends in Korean."
ALEXIS: "Because then you can speak, and learn more languages and have more knowledge."
And for the teachers, like Jungsu Jung, it's also rewarding.
"Children in Australia should be exposed to a lot of languages because it helps them to understand different cultures and different ways to communicate with each other and build stronger relationships."
While Campsie Public School is the only school in Australia offering Korean bilingual education,more than 9,500 students are currently learning Korean in 68 schools nationwide, marking an increase of nearly 1,000 student over the past decade.
The trend extends beyond school students to the adult population.
430 students registered for Korean language classes at the Korean Culture Centre in Sydney in 2024, which marks over a five-fold increase since 2011.
Joanne Tae, the Korean language program manager at the Korean Culture Centre, says the popularity of the Korean language classes has been astonishing.
"Korean classes are very popular at the moment. So for our beginner classes, despite the registration opening at midnight, they're usually fully booked about within 10 minutes. And also our higher level, intermediate classes also tend to fill up well before the registration period even ends."
Kyung Min Na, a Korean teacher at the Korean Cultural Centre, notes a significant increase in learners driven by their interest in various aspects of Korean popular culture.
"In particular, there are a lot of learners who say, ‘I love Korean dramas so much, that I want to study Korean because I want to watch dramas without subtitles."
60-year-old Northern beaches resident, Diane Godley, is one of them.
"I just got to a point in my life where suddenly the kids had grown up, they were just finishing school, they had their driver's licence, and suddenly I had some time to myself, so then I started watching K-dramas, and I just thought what a cute little Hangeul (Korean) alphabet was, and I thought I'll learn that."
Ms Godley says the K-dramas opened up a whole new world to her.
“I'm not interested in watching anything about America because I feel like I know so much about it. And it was really great watching things about Korea because in American drama you never see them sit down to eat and talk, in Korean dramas it’s all about eating, like seeing all the dishes. It was sort of the revelation that these are two totally different worlds, a different world to what we live in."
Experts attribute the rise in Korean language learners to the influence of Hallyu, the global popularity of Korean popular culture.
Dr. Nicola Fraschini, a Senior Lecturer in Korean studies at the University of Melbourne, acknowledges Hallyu's significance but emphasises that it is not the sole driver.
"Korean economic development has been amazing during the past decade and this together with Korean culture, and the positive perception that Korea has now overseas, I think all these factors have contributed."
This learning of language and culture extends beyond the classroom, fostering understanding and connection.
