“I’m going to offer diligent support to public elementary, middle and high schools in the U.S. to create Korean language classes for students.”
Monica Ryu was elected unanimously as the new chief director of the Foundati
on For Korean Language and Culture in U.S.A. (KLAUSA) at the organization’s board of directors meeting on Sept. 21. Ryu explained that she feels a “heavy burden on the shoulders to take the role of leading an organization that’s designed for the future generations” and that she “will support in ways to promote the Korean language and culture to non-Korean students in the U.S.”
“The L.A. Unified School District has chosen to expand its foreign language programs,” said Ryu, who is a radiation oncologist and a former director at Marlborough School. “The demand and need to learn Korean is increasing more than ever. With the support of the South Korean government, I’m going to work aggressively towards distributing Korean language classes at as many school as possible.”
The KLACUSA was founded 22 years ago with the mission of enabling second and third generation Korean-Americans to learn their native language in school. It played a leading role in installing Korean classes at public schools across the country and achieved the feat of making Korean an SAT subject.
Not only that, the KLACUSA has been running a program to invite Korean language instructors in the U.S. to South Korea to train them on teaching the country’s language and culture, as well as providing scholarships and study abroad programs for students to increase the interest in the Korean language.
Thanks in large to those efforts, Korean classes at schools in Southern California have been increasing dramatically in number.
Ryu’s priority this year is to convince all public schools in San Diego to start offering Korean classes.
“It’s a new task, but I’m going to lead the organization with my thoughts on the students and their parents,” Ryu said.
Former KLACUSA chief director Ok-bin Gil said: “The absolute cooperation and assistance by the board of directors have helped us to create so many Korean classes at various schools. Korean courses have already been established with the LAUSD, but San Diego and other areas still need more promotion of our language.”
“The KLACUSA is an organization that have run programs to raise funds to launch a volunteer nonprofit organization to provide education for our future generation,” Gil said. “From now on, we’re going to operate developmental programs to foster a community of Korean instructors with excellent skills and talents.”
By Nicole Chang
