[Hello Hangeul] Inside the Korean language classroom in Madrid

Madrid -- On a Friday evening in October, at the King Sejong Institute of the Korean Cultural Center in Madrid, Spain, two Korean language courses -- the N1 beginner class and the N5 advanced class -- were held, in a quite distinct atmosphere.

The Spain branch of the King Sejong Institute provides a preparatory course and four regular intensive courses (N1-4), along with two nine-month-long courses (N5,6). The N5 and N6 advanced classes run from March to December, while the rest of the N-courses take place from September to December.

At the N5 class on that day, the six students were maintaining a notably serious tone.

They were learning different vocabularies on the theme of “moving” and grammatical expressions of hypothetical situations, such as: “We're going to visit Eugene's house this weekend for a housewarming party.” “Yes, I will attend if I am not busy. But I'm worried because I have a lot of work to do these days.”

After learning the phrases of the day, the students quietly worked on their worksheets while the instructor went around the class and checked on students one by one.