When I came to Korea, I was convinced I would start studying Korean hard. I tend to be good at putting myself to study something I'm interested in. There are tons of resources available online, and going to class can be time-consuming. So I figured I could do it on my own.
Some of the paid online resources I tried were great. They work well for me when I'm using them during bursts of motivation. But these bursts tend to be very short-lived. Whenever I'm busy, Korean self-study is the first thing I drop. I can order food already anyway. So self-study is not going to get me to where I want to be.
A friend who does speak Korean well recommended the BGCF (Busan Global City Foundation), formerly known as BFIC (Busan Foundation of International Cooperation). He has taken classes here at the early stage of his Korean language learning journey and told me it helped him a lot.
The BGCF has two semesters a year. The first semester is from March to June and registration opens in February. The second semester is from August to November and registration opens in July. I was lucky enough to have the conversation in October, so I had to wait a little over 4 months before I could start.
The program is for foreign residents in Busan with a long-term stay visa (>90 days). It's free to take these classes. You do have to pay a 50.000 KRW deposit that will be refunded at the end of the semester if you have over 60% attendance. If you don't reach 60% attendance not only will you not be refunded the deposit, but you also might have a harder time registering for classes in the future.
The program does not provide the necessary books for the class. They use the Seoul National University's Korean language books (서울대 한국어). You will have to buy the Student's Book and the Workbook. You can probably find them in any major bookstore. I bought them on Aladin. The Student's Book was 22.000 KRW and the Workbook was 13.000 KRW. You might find them cheaper second hand.
The registration is done online and is on a first come first serve basis. The center said you're usually fine when registering on the first day. But I had waited for 3+ months before registration opened so I didn't want to miss out and registered at midnight. The registration includes a level test. You have a fixed time to answer a bunch of Korean questions, and at the end when you submit the test you'll get the result immediately.
The BGCF provides classes for 4 different levels. Basic 1 to 4 and additional classes for speaking. My test result placed me in Basic level 2. At the time of writing level 2 classes were held on Mondays and Wednesdays. Some levels are held on Tuesdays and Thursdays. During registration, you can choose if you want to join the morning or the evening class.
Each level and time of day can be held at different locations. My class was held in the Youth Do Dream Center in Seomyeon, next to the LOTTE department store. A couple minutes' walk from Seomyeon station exit 7. The venue is very modern and the classroom is nice. My class had about 20 students.
Halfway through the semester, we had to relocate due to a renovation. Not sure what had to be renovated. The place looked so new. We ended up in a meeting room of the National Pension Service. This was not as neat as the Youth Do Dream Center, and the meeting room lacked air conditioning. A downgrade for sure, but it was alright.
So far I have only taken the Basic level 2 class, which means I only have had 1 teacher. I don't know about the other teachers, but my teacher was awesome. She talks slowly and clearly for everyone to understand. She's patient with everyone at every level. She sneaks in a lot of extra knowledge that's not in the books. Extra vocabulary, cultural things, some slang here and there. And last but not least, she is really funny.
The classes have a good balance of grammar+vocabulary and practice. Usually, one day in the week the emphasis is more on grammar and vocabulary. And on the other day of the week a little more about practice. Practice is mostly done with your classmates. The teacher tries to make couples that differ somewhat each day. Listening to a variety of bad pronunciations really improves your listening skills.
When I saw the curriculum in the book at first I was afraid it would be a little bit too easy. There were quite a few things I already studied before. But that turned out not to be the case. The classes go a lot deeper than what I knew. It just made it easier to keep up and expand on what I already knew.
It has been a really good decision to join the BGCF classes. (I'm not being paid, unfortunately, nor are they keeping me hostage right now). The class has been a commitment device, whereas at home I wouldn't have followed through. There is no shortcut to learning Korean, so you might as well commit 2 times 2 hours a week (plus commute) to actually make progress.
My Korean definitely improved. My vocabulary expanded and I am better able to pick up things while listening. It's still nowhere near where it should be for the time I have been living in Korea, but I'm getting there. I will sign up for the next semester again. I would have to take another level test to see if I'm good enough for level 3. Wish me luck.
TLDR: Free Korean Class Details
Cost
- Tuition is free.
- 50.000 KRW deposit (Refundable on 60%+ attendance).
- Books are new 35.000 KRW (Student's Book 22.000 KRW, Workbook 13.000 KRW)
Registration
- First come first serve.
- Online level test.
- Registration for 1st semester (March to June) in February
- Registration for 2nd semester (August to November) in July
Time commitment
- 2 times 2 hours a week
- Monday/Wednesday or Tuesday/Thursday
Review
- Highly recommended.
