Just a few years ago, most Mongolians wanting to study the Korean language were those who wanted to get a job in Korea as an industrial trainee.

But now the picture has changed. These days, many Mongolians learn Korean in their own country to get a chance to study in Korea in the future.

Due to the increasing number of students expressing their desire to study in Korea, the Korean language has recently become the most popular second language among elementary, middle and high school students in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar.

School Number 23 (most national schools in Mongolia are numbered in order of their establishment date) in Ulaanbaatar was the first to start teaching Korean and since 1992 it has offered it as one of five second languages that students can take.

At this school, about 300 students out of 2,200 take the Korean class for five to seven hours a week.

When asked about the reason for studying Korean, a female student in the 11th grade named Sunderia said, "most of the 30 students in my class dream of studying at a university in Korea. They believe that they will get a better job when they come back to Mongolia if they are educated in Korea. I myself hope to get into a Korean university and become an interpreter."

So far, many students like Sunderia have realized their dreams and some 1,700 Mongolian students are currently studying at universities in Korea.

The number alone may not seem that significant, but considering the total population in Mongolia is just 2.7 million, the number is worthy of note.

This number is expected to grow in the near future as the number of Mongolians taking the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK) is on a rapid increase as part of preparation for their admission to a Korean university.

The test is offered twice a year in April and September for non-Koreans or Koreans whose native language is not Korean and it is administered by the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation.

In 1999, 200 Mongolians took the language test, but the number jumped to 925 in 2007.

A total of 582 Mongolians took the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK) on Apr. 20 alone and all of them chose to take the general test, which is a requirement to apply to a Korean university.

None of them chose to take the practical test, a requirement to apply for industrial trainee status in Korea.

So why the sudden surge?

Experts say it is due to an increased familiarity toward Korea among Mongolians.

Besides the fact that the two countries share historic, cultural and ethnic similarities, Mongolians feel Korea every day since more than half of the vehicles found on the streets in the capital city are from Korea, most schools are equipped with Korean-made computers (Korea has donated some 5,000 used computers to Mongolia) and so on.

In addition, thanks to the signed memorandum of understanding between the two countries for boosted exchange in the education field, about 20 percent of Mongolian elementary, middle and high school teachers have visited Korea and have been trained in the use of information technology in teaching.

This article first appeared on www.korea.net

May 6, 2008