Pasifika students learn Korean due to love of K-Pop
Pacific Islanders make up close to half a Korean language class at a west Auckland school.
Students at St Dominic’s Catholic College are going gaga over everything South Korean, thanks to K-Pop and K-Drama.
K-Pop is South Korean pop music, and K-Drama is Korean TV dramas.
Popular K-Pop song Gangnam Style was a global hit with nearly 3 billion views on Youtube.
It was also the most played film clip on the site for five years in a row.
The senior Korean class at St Dominics has more than 20 students and is growing, teacher Helen Kim said.
Students sacrifice their own time after school on Fridays to attend.
Classmates Epenisa Vakalani and Aleigha Bryce are two of the 40 per cent of the students in the class that are Pasifika.
‘‘I don’t mind giving up my Fridays for it, I actually look forward to it all week,’’ year-11 student Vakalani said.
Vakalani was Tongan and said she started teaching herself Korean in 2016 when she became interested in the South Korean music genre.
‘‘I wanted to learn the language to understand it,’’ she said.
‘‘It’s different to any other entertainment I know – it’s not like Samoan, Tongan or Kiwi.
‘‘The drama is kind of like the Japanese anime and the music is fun and different.’’
Bryce was of Samoan origin and had been in love with Korean pop music for a long time.
She listed music sensations BTS and NCT127 as her favourite bands.
‘‘I listen to K-Pop all the time, my sister was into it first and I guess it just rubbed off on me.’’
Despite not being able to put together full Korean sentences, the pair were happy they can now
‘‘I don't mind giving up my Fridays for it, I actually look forward to it all week.’’
Epenisa Vakalani
understand some words.
Kim said students could gain some NCEA credits in the extracurricular class.
They are one of three schools in Auckland that now offer afterschool Korean classes.
‘‘They have been asking for a Korean language class for a while and it’s great to finally include it into the curriculum,’’ Kim said.
‘‘I’m happy that the students want to learn more about my culture and I’m happy to teach it.’’