North Shore Times (New Zealand)
Preserving Korean ways
A Korean-speaking school is celebrating 20 years of keeping the culture alive among Auckland youngsters.
The school is run out of St Mary’s School in Northcote Point, with 13 classes every Saturday, which are in addition to the regular schooling week.
‘‘Young children are key members in New Zealand’s future, and we are raising them to be bilingual,’’ principal Eun Young Chung said.
‘‘It is easy to forget our own language. At the school, we can maintain our culture in our second generations to keep the Korean language and culture alive,’’ Chung said.
The New Zealand School of Korea was founded in 1997, by Chung Sun Lim. Under the motto: ‘‘Think positively and be bicultural’’, the school specialises in educating students in the Korean language, culture, tradition and history.
Currently, the school has 150 students and 15 teachers. The Principal has been at the helm for only one year, but was a teacher for 14 years prior to that.
Teacher Jin Chung said it is easy for Korean children, especially teenagers, to struggle with identity.
‘‘The school helps to establish identity as Koreans within New Zealand, as well as teach students to contribute to a multicultural society,’’ Chung said.
Visit nzsok.korean.net.