Resources

Placement Tests

If you would like to take a placement test, contact Professor Eun-Jo Lee. The test will be administered via Zoom or in person.

Study Abroad Experience

Written by Crystal Hariga (Class of 2020). Crystal studied in South Korea (Yonsei University) for 6 months after taking Korean classes at Brandeis

CrystalHi everyone! I’m Crystal, from Indonesia, and I majored in Psychology, Business, and East Asian Studies. Even before coming to Brandeis, I’ve always been interested in Korea through its popular culture, such as music, dramas, beauty youtubers, thus I ended up joining Korean Student Association. I have gotten the opportunity to visit Seoul a couple times, however I have always wanted to try living there for a longer period of time. So, I decided to study abroad during the Spring semester continuing to the Summer. Through studying abroad in South Korea, I wanted to improve my Korean language and learn more about its culture from an insider’s perspective than an outsider. 

For the Spring semester, I enrolled in the CIEE program at Yonsei University, which is considered one of the top 3 universities in South Korea. I took Strategic Management, Management Information Systems, Korean Language and Society, and Intensive Korean III.  Intensive Korean class was very intense because it was 2 hours from Monday to Friday and the teacher also only spoke in Korean, even when explaining definitions. At first it was quite intimidating, but it became a challenge I wanted to overcome and thus I was able to improve a lot of my Korean.

For the Summer, I enrolled in the internship program offered by Yonsei University and got the opportunity to do an internship in SK E&C. It was a valuable experience because I got the chance to learn more about company culture in South Korea and met more people from different backgrounds. My colleagues were very kind and I got to join their small conversations with one another that made me feel the warmth of Koreans. Of course, I made time to travel out of Seoul to Jeju Island, Busan, Gyeongju, Jeonju, but there are still more places I would like to visit. Coming back to Brandeis made me realize that what I learned about Korea outside of Korea is only a small part of what Korea actually is, and to know more about it one has to live in Korea.