A campaign promoting the instruction of Korean to Korean-American children has been launched in New York. (Image : Yonhap)
SEOUL, March 9 (Korea Bizwire) – A campaign promoting the instruction of Korean to Korean-American children has been launched in New York.
New York City launched its ‘Talk to Your Baby’ program at the Flushing Library in cooperation with the Korean Consulate General in New York. The program is targeting Korean communities in the area.
The initiative is being conducted to promote language education. The book ‘Love is’, written by New York City mayor Bill de Blasio’s wife, Chirlane McCray, has been translated into the languages spoken by minority groups to help children of cultural minorities learn their mother tongue.
New York City selected Korean as the first language for the program. Korean counsel general Kim Ki-hwan offered his take on why Korean was selected. “The Korean version of the book was published after the English and Spanish versions, as Korean communities are very active in American society. The enthusiasm for education Koreans are well known for pushed us to publish the Korean version first,” he said. Kim added that maintaining and developing the characteristics of each cultural group will be helpful to American society.
At the first gathering, Kim read the Korean version of the book and McCray read the English version out loud to the children.
McCray suggested that immigrant families from Korea should teach their children to speak Korean as well as English. “New York is a city of immigrants. Teaching the language of each country at home is very important. By making these efforts, New York will be a happier and healthier city,” she said.
New York City plans to distribute the Korean version of the book ‘Love is’ at libraries popular among Koreans.
By M.H.Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
