This photo provided by the Korean Cultural Centre India shows students taking an online Korean language class.
SEOUL, Feb. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — In India, where popularity of “hallyu” or the Korean Wave is getting stronger, eagerness to study the Korean language is also growing.
The Korean Cultural Centre India said Tuesday that the first online beginner course for the Korean language this year was fully booked just two minutes after registration began.
The center received applications for a weekend course and weekday course on Jan. 25 and 29, respectively. With only 300 spots available in each course, both were fully booked shortly after registration opened.
After it became difficult to offer offline lectures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the center opened an online Korean language course with a maximum quota of 300 applicants in August 2020.
Amid expectations that the demand for learning Korean would increase further this year, the center plans to run the online course four times this year, aimed at expanding the number of applicants to 4,200.
Despite the hallyu fever spreading throughout the world, India has been called a barren land for hallyu since Korean content had difficulty in making inroads in the country.
The situation, however, started changing several years ago when K-pop group BTS gained sensational popularity worldwide.
Along with the increase in online access in the midst of the spread of the coronavirus, the Indian people today are showing an explosive interest not only in K-pop, but also in Korean dramas and language.
According to the language-learning app DuoLingo, the number of Indian learners of the Korean language marked a 256 percent growth during the period from March to October 2020, compared to 11 percent growth between October 2019 and February 2020.
Reflecting the rising popularity of the Korean language, the Indian government selected the Korean language as a secondary foreign language to be added to the official educational curriculum in July 2020.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
