KOREA FOUNDATION

Greetings!

Allow me to briefly introduce myself. My name is Shaghayegh Vezvaei and I am a 30-year-old Korean language instructor and translator from Iran. I took an interest in the Korean language when I started watching Korean dramas in middle school. Later, I enrolled in the Language Center at the University of Tehran and began to learn the language.

In Iran, the Korean language is rarely taught above the intermediate level, so I began to teach it after completing an intermediate course. Because the students I taught often asked questions that I could not answer, I studied advanced Korean on my own as well.

Studying on one’s own is easier said than done, and I dreamed of meeting a Korean teacher and receiving a high-quality Korean language education so that I could be as fluent as a native speaker.

One day, I happened to click on the KF’s website and learn about its Korean language fellowship. As a Korean language instructor, I applied for the KF Fellowship for Korean Language Training, though with low expectations. To my happy surprise, however, I received the fellowship, and my passion for the Korean language allowed me to make the decision to accept it and live apart from my husband during the fellowship period. I went to Seoul and started studying at Sogang University. This time last year, I was in Korea, studying hard and attending Korean language classes every day.

Upon returning to Iran, I was deeply interested in Korean poetry and set out to translate poet Do Jong-hwan’s poetry collection No Flower Blooms Without Wavering. While in the Level 7 Korean language class at Sogang, I also took a Korean literature course, which greatly helped me comprehend Korean poems. With the support of the Literature Translation Institute of Korea, I was able to finish my translation of the poems into Persian and publish it as a book.

In addition, I learned a lot and was able to improve as an instructor while taking classes on teaching methods in Korea. I closely observed the way my teachers at Sogang conducted online classes, and I now utilize what I learned during that time in my own teaching of online Korean language classes for Iranian students.

The KF’s Fellowship for Korean Language Training offered me an important opportunity that I will always cherish. I am forever grateful to the KF for trusting me and granting me the opportunity to study the Korean language in Korea. I would also like to express my appreciation to my teachers at Sogang, who spared no effort while teaching me and my classmates.

Thank you very much.

2020 KF Fellowship for Korean Language Training recipientShaghayegh Vezvaei, Korean-Persian official (sworn) translator & Korean language instructor

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