Friday 10 January 2014

EWHA Womens University Korean Language Program Review

EWHA Womens University (http://elc.ewha.ac.kr/)

Ewha university library is design on the story of Moses parting the red sea.

Ehwa is the largest and most prestigious women's university in Seoul but don't worry if you are a male because men are able to attend the universities Korean language program!

What foreigners say: Not much; Is literally located next door to Yonsei and generally the two sets of students mingle a lot after class. If anything because it is known as a female university it's classes are likely to have a higher ratio of women. But with that said so is any Korean language class that you attend. Ewha students are also known to be good looking (as determined by the whole of Seoul)


Cost:  Over a 100,000KRW Cheaper than next door at Yonsei. 

2014 regular program is priced at 1,540,000KRW per term (200 hrs/10 weeks).

Living: located in the Sinchon / Hongdae area in Eastern Seoul. famous for it's lively night life and array of interesting coffee shops, bars, restaurants and shopping. The epicenter of youth life in the city and a great place for those who want to party as much as they study and expose themselves to the infamous night life of Korea. That said while it may be fun to visit these areas occasionally, living in them isn't for everybody. That means walking home and passing bar after bar and the occasional drunk. Also means there will be occasional couples fighting or general drunk loudness nearby your officetel / hasukjip or dormitory. It also means that you will be sharing your experience with a large proportion of other foreign students (something I know some people would rather avoid). Living in this area is also on the more expensive side especially for a one room studio. Expect to get a lot less for more with average one room prices around 500,000KRW/Month with a 5,000,000KRW Key Money or More. Hauskjips and Dormitories will cost less but provide fairly small rooms with communal services (Not great if you plan on entertaining!!)


Plus* Ehwa is a known shopping district although that title is fading a little it still has a large collection of small stalls selling Korean fashion (predominately Womans)

Student Body: Slightly different to other universities in that because it is a woman's university they do seem to get a larger proportion of Islamic students especially from South East Asia who are unaware that classes will also contain males. (Same thing happens at Sookmyung another famous Womans university). Also if you are a male and think that by going to a girls university then you are increasing your chances for fun then Ewha would be a good choice but in all honesty you are going to have the same amount of opportunity to meet women at any university in Seoul.

Atmosphere: Ewha has a great campus with some truly beautiful buildings. It is also a Christian school and as such has a beautiful church on campus. Despite it being a female university usually you will find guys around campus using the study facilities or going to meet their girlfriends. Class atmosphere is not as good as say Yonsei just because the numbers at Ewha are significantly less and the lack of balance between male and female. Watch out for the chinese tourists on campus scouting the latest in Korean campus fashion!

Culture / Job Opportunities: Generally overlooked by professionals in Korea which means little to no networking opportunities. Also the language program is not a focus at Ewha so there isn't much in the way of job postings or other opportunities.

My Verdict: 

2/5 Sojus

There really is no distinct reason why you should choose Ewha over Yonsei or Sogang which are also in the area unless you want to save a few dollars on tuition and you feel more comfortable with the idea of attending a Women's university.

User Reviews:
Please add your own reviews in the comment section addressing the following criteria

Living
Student Body
Curriculum
Atmosphere
Opportunities
Soju Rating.

Thanks!

26 comments:

  1. I'm applying for schools right now, and am dying to know what you have to say about Korea and kyunghee!

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    1. thanks for your comment Julie; Yes Kyunghee and Korea U. are the last two of the series but the problem is I have so little experience of Korea U. I only visited the campus and surrounding areas a few times so I have been looking for someone to do the review on my behalf. Hopefully I will finish it soon!

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    2. Hi! I am a KU student who studied till level 4 at the KLCC, and now doing my undergrad here, and would be happy to help with the review. You can email me here: vhwin@boun.cr

      Cheers!

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    3. Thank you for your great info. I would also like to know about Korea U. & Kyunghee also. So really looking forward to it.

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  2. Wow I've been looking for something like this to help me make up my mind! I hope you continue it soon!

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    1. Thanks Martine; Hope it helps you decide where to study!

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  3. How are the language programs in each school? Are they based more on grammar or conversation...?

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    1. Hey Alex - think you might of missed the point of the article. It doesn't matter whether the course is more grammar based or conversation - the classroom is probably the least important aspect of your language learning!

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  4. Great to be able to stumble upon your blog here. I just got accepted into the 5-week summer program in SNU, at the same time I have also applied for the 10-week fall regular program. I am now thinking if I should just wait to get into the 10-week one as I have applied to a couple of graduate schools in Seoul for the Fall intake. Do you know if you can take a grad program in one university and take the Korean language at another?

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    1. I'm interested to know this as well since I'm planning to apply for Fall 2015 at grad school.

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    2. Shouldn't be an issue. The language programs are very much independent of the university so you don't officially become a student of the university. This means you are not tied down or have to do any sort of transferring process to move schools

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  5. Hi there thanks for the great reviews. Just wanted to ask whether you know anything about the scholarships for each university you have mentioned? I searched around their websites but found very little detailed information on that. Would be great if you could do a review on that thanks!

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  6. Hey,

    I was wondering if you have any information on a school which provides a more intense course? I've studied Korean to an intermediate level, and I would really prefer to focus on the language during my stay in Korea.

    I learned Japanese in a very intense and academic environment (a language school called Yamasa). I would like to find something similar to Yamasa in Korea. Would you have any recommendations?

    I know that you say that one does most of their language learning outside of the lesson, but I would prefer a more intense and academic atmosphere. Having studied Chinese to a near fluent level (HSK6), and Japanese to an advanced level (JLPT1), I find that is more useful for me.

    Thank you very much!

    Pauline

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    1. The intense courses with higher level learning are only provided by universities at this stage. Of the ones available Yonsei has a well known advanced level program beyond Level 6. But if it' test scores you are after than look into Kyunghee University, a few years back they realized what a gold mine Korean language programs were so they went about poaching the best teachers around Korea with big pay packets and placed a focus on TOPIK. They are also the testing center for TOPIK tests and as such have a massive Chinese student base. Many of these students are planning to go on to study at Korean Universities at graduate and post-graduate levels so they require a more intense; test based approach that suits the amount of high level vocab, writing and reading skills they require to enter university without wasting too much time (often very poor in spoken and listening however).

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  7. would like to see part 3 Korea uni. would be a Uni I'd like to know about

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  8. Thanks for this! It's useful to read about things from your own experience and perspective.

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  9. Argh! I can't decide between Ewha or Sogang. Am planning to do 2x 10 week intensive Korean program (probably start at L1 or L2). Have already been to Seoul twice now (did home stay for a month at a private Korean teaching program in 2010), wish I had visited the two. The fact that I'm a guy weighs also. I have read enough reviews now to distinguish how they teach. Though I'm more interested in the campus. I love sports/fitness, and I can't get good info on this. Sogang has clubs (soccer field etc) and Ewha seems to have a brand new Gym/squash hall and swimming pool....yes I'm picky! ^^ any insight is welcome on this topic :)

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    1. I think you should probably go to Sogang. Going to Ewha could condemn you to being called a creep for a long time.

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    2. I don't care what others call me honestly, thanks for sharing your opinion though. However I was wondering if I could get more info experiences on the campus regarding such facilities

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  10. I did the Korean language program while I was an exchange student at Ewha. Something that I loved about it was the professors' constant feedback of my homework and the fact that they do divide time equally for each skill. Also, they also put grammar into context and explain the differences between similar grammar points. They also discuss current culture.
    That's something you should take into account when looking for a Korean language program. I also believe that it all depends on your priorities. If you want to focus mainly on speaking, go to Sogang, if you just want writing go to Yonsei and so on.

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  11. I will travel to Seoul from november until february and would like to attend the language course at Ewha cause it's the only one that finishes before I leave, but I have already booked a trip to Japan during the first three days of course- do you believe it would be crazy to miss them, considering I already know some hangul and basic stuff?

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    1. No big deal. A lot of students miss the first week with similar timing issues. Also usually the first two days involve class swapping and level swapping regardless. Just let them know beforehand.

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  12. Hey there,

    I'm also considering studying Korean at EWHA (Intensive Program). In one semester, do they typically cover one level or how is this working? And, can I apply for 2 semesters in order to learn more Korean?

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  13. Hi. I would like to ask is that possible for someone who can only read Korean but don't really speak and don't really understand Korean to study Korean language program in this university? I happened to know that we need to undergo proficiency test for class placement. So if a person can't speak Korean how he or she go through the proficiency test?

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    ReplyDelete