Busan Office of Education Concludes "Second Foreign Language Mentoring Program"

70 Students Participate
Program to Expand Next Year to Include Arabic and Vietnamese

The Busan Metropolitan Office of Education (Superintendent Kim Seokjun) held the final mentoring day of the "Second Foreign Language Mentoring Program" on October 18 at the office’s annex conference room, with a total of 70 participants, including 61 elementary, middle, and high school students and 9 support group teachers.

Busan Metropolitan Office of Education is operating a global talent development program through second foreign language mentoring. Photo by Busan Metropolitan Office of Education

This program, which began in May, concluded after ten sessions. It featured mentoring in a variety of languages and cultures, including German, French, Spanish, Japanese, and Chinese, and was notable for combining career mentoring alongside language learning.

For the mentoring sessions, elementary and middle school students were paired with students from Busan International High School and Busan Foreign Language High School, while high school students were matched with university students from Pusan National University and Busan University of Foreign Studies. The sessions were conducted both in person and online. Through this program, students gained opportunities to learn second foreign languages that are not easily accessible through the regular school curriculum, enhancing their understanding of world cultures and their international communication skills.

In accordance with the "Busan Metropolitan Office of Education Special Foreign Language Education Promotion Ordinance" enacted this year, the office plans to gradually expand the program from next year to include special foreign languages such as Arabic and Vietnamese. To this end, on August 14, it signed a "Cooperation Agreement for the Promotion of International Education" with Busan University of Foreign Studies, laying the foundation for further collaboration.

Superintendent Kim Seokjun stated, "Second foreign language mentoring is a meaningful experience that allows students to understand diverse languages and cultures and to develop an international perspective," adding, "We will continue to expand education aimed at fostering global talent."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.