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Language Exchange Program

Catherine Xu (Korean Advanced Sem 1 2023) shares her exciting story about meeting up with her language exchange buddy in Korea.

"This December I had the opportunity to travel to Korea and I was very excited as I had newfound interest in the country's cultural and historical background after taking the Korean Advanced Class in Semester 1 2023. I had the chance to visit the War Memorial of Korea and the National Museum of Korea in Seoul and also caught up with my language exchange partner in Busan before spending time with family in Yongin."

Clara Setiawan (ATS1172/2172 Korean Introductory 2) talks about how learning Korean at Monash and through the Overseas Language Exchange made her experience in Korea not just great but unforgettable!

Each semester, Monash Korean Studies students are invited to participate in a virtual language exchange program via Zoom. Students are partnered with South Korean university students and meet for an hour a week over the program period.

This is one of the most popular extracurricular activities and has a waiting list. Therefore, preference was given to students who had either completed at least introductory/intermediate levels or other Korean studies content units, who had actively participated in other Korean studies activities (e.g. the research seminar and Korea Week) and/or who major in Korean.

Our Partner Universities

Changwon National University (CWNU; 창원대학교)
JeonBuk National University (JBNU; 전북대학교)
Seoul Women's University (SWU; 서울여자대학교)
Ajou University (아주대학)

Year	CWNU	Ajou	SWU	JBNU
2019				50 (SEM 2)
2020			22 (SEM 2)	31 (SEM 1)
2021	30 (SEM 1)		22 (SEM 2)
2022	30 (SEM 2)		14 (SEM 2)
2023	20 (SEM 2)	19 (SEM 2)	25 (SEM 2)
2024	20 (SEM 1) 13 (SEM 2)	21 (SEM 1) 20 (SEM 2)	28 (SEM 1)
2025	11 (SEM 2)	4 (SEM 2)
2026	20 (SEM 1)	19 (SEM 1)

Total: 380 students

2026 Report

In semester 1, 2026, the partnership with Changwon National University (CWNU) and Ajou University for the Online Language Exchange Program has been continued. The program with CWNU took place from the 30^th of March to the 8^th of May, with a total of 20 students. The program with Ajou University took place from the 23^rd of March to the 8^th of May for the first round, with a total of 10 students, and from the 30^th of March to the 15^th of May for the second round, with a total of 9 students, making up 19 participants from Ajou University. The total number of students who signed up was 89, a significantly increased number compared to the last semester: 61 of them are from the introductory level, 13 from the intermediate, 6 from the proficient, 3 from the advanced, 2 of them completed all Korean Studies units, and 4 of them have not taken any Korean Studies units. Out of 89 applicants, 39 students successfully joined the program, as the number of applicants exceeded the participant capacity available through the partner universities. In total, 153 sessions happened across all participants, with 42 sessions absent. The reasons for the absence are indicated as sickness or scheduling trouble with their partner. 5 sessions of 60 minutes each were required for students with CWNU, and 5 sessions of 30 minutes each were required for students with Ajou University.

The reason for an increased number of applicants may be because of the increased number of students taking Korean language units in Semester 1, and being able to acquire portfolio points through participation. Due to a high number of applicants, I contacted Ajou University to inquire whether additional students could be accommodated in the program, as their application period had closed earlier. They kindly agreed to extend the application process, which allowed the program to accommodate 10 additional students.

Out of 39 participants, 11 completed a feedback form. The results indicated that the program generally helped to improve their confidence in Korean. While the respondents enjoyed the social aspect of making new friends the most through the program, a few of them found they could not connect with their partner because of different gender, age, personality and interests. This feedback shows the limitation of the program, not able to perfectly cater to the participant’s needs due to a limited number of participants and information. The result also showed that a few participants found the resources prepared not very helpful to keep the conversation going. Although I revised the discussion topics material before the program commenced, based on the feedback from the previous semester, this feedback indicates that the usefulness of the material may vary, depending on participants’ communication style and interests. Furthermore, one of the respondents left feedback that the program did not help in improving their language skills, as they were both proficient in English. In this case, the participant’s Korean level was introductory, while the partner’s self-reported English level was intermediate, intentionally chosen to support their communication. This feedback suggests creating a communication guideline, encouraging balanced use of Korean and English, based on their language proficiency. Overall, despite these limitations, the program operated smoothly with an exceptionally high number of applications, demonstrating strong students’ interest and engagement.

2025 Report

In semester 2, 2025, the partnership with Changwon National University (CWNU) and Ajou University for the Online Language Exchange Program has been continued. The program with CWNU took place from the 25^th of August to the 26^th of September (5 weeks), with a total of 11 students. The program with Ajou University took place from the 1^st of September to the 10^th of October (6 weeks), with a total of 4 students. The total number of students who signed up was 17, a significantly dropped number compared to the last semester. 6 of them are from the introductory level, 3 from intermediate, 7 from proficient, and 1 from the advanced level. This indicates a decreased number of introductory-level applicants and an increased portion of proficient students. The reason for this may be due to not being able to acquire portfolio points through participation, and therefore, those who wish to make new Korean friends and improve their Korean skills mainly joined the program, which aligns with the fundamental reason for this program. Among 17 students, 15 participated in the program, 1 revoked the application, and 1 dropped out during the program. Unlike the last semester, there were more applications from the partner universities, and around half of the applicants from these universities could not participate in the program due to a limited number of students from Monash University.

In total, 73 sessions happened across all students, with 4 sessions absent, and 2 extra sessions. The reasons for the absence are indicated as sickness or scheduling trouble with their partner. 5 sessions of 60 minutes each were required for students with CWNU, and 5 sessions of 30 minutes each were required for students with Ajou University. The time length of the session with CWNU has been shifted from 30 minutes to 60 minutes upon a request of CWNU. Compared to the last semester, fewer students reached out to the staff for having trouble with scheduling, potentially due to the students being motivation-driven to make new friends and improve language skills, without any pressure. However, in the process of applying and accepting the offer, students who revoked their application or dropped out during the program caused an issue of not having a spare applicant who can replace the students and thereby impacting the students from partner universities. Furthermore, the current process of acquiring further confirmation by responding to the offer acceptance email causes a delay in the partner-matching process and the program start date, as the students would not respond to the offer and will finally accept the offer when they are asked again. To ensure smoother operation, it is recommended that students pledge at the time of application that they will not revoke their participation or withdraw once accepted.

Out of 15 participants, 6 completed a feedback form. The results indicated that the program helped to improve their confidence in Korean, and the resources prepared were helpful to keep the conversation going. While the respondents enjoyed the social aspect of making new friends the most through the program, they suggested having a structured discussion topic list in a timeline format that they can follow each week. Therefore, updating the current discussion topic list and adjusting it in a more structured way is recommended. Reflecting the feedback from the last semester, the main goal of participating in the program was collected from partner universities this time. However, the feedback responses still indicated that having a partner who shares the same goal for the program appeared the most as suggestions. Although this feedback was reflected this time, it might not be fully feasible due to the limited number of applicants. Overall, the operation process was smoother than the last semester, however, there are some improvements on the resources and the application process are required.

2024 Report

In semester 2, 2024, we continued our partnership with Changwon National University (CWNU) and Ajou University for the Online Language Exchange Program. The program with CWNU took place from 5^thof August to 18^thof October (10 weeks) with a total of 13 students participating. The program with Ajou took place from 9^thof September to 18^thof October (5 weeks) with 20 students participating. In total, 35 students signed up for the program, which was a significant decrease compared to past semesters. However, since there were only 2 partnering universities, the low number of applicants meant that almost all students who signed up had a chance to participate in the program.

Out of the 33 students who participated, only 5 students responded to the feedback form. In general, these students stated that their confidence in speaking Korean has increased after the program, and they felt that their Korean language skills have either remained the same or have increased by the end of the program. When asked what participants enjoyed most about the program, the students responded that they enjoyed learning about Korean culture and making new friends. When asked about difficulties regarding the program, most participants stated that they didn’t face any problems whilst some felt that the sessions were too long, it was difficult to make conversations, and that they couldn’t connect with their partner. When asked about suggestions for future improvements, students said that they prefer partners who strive for the same goals in this program, providing a list of questions/conversation starters to ask their partners, and prefer shorter sessions.

2023 Report

In the 2023 semester two Online Language Exchange program, we continued our partnership with Changwon National University (CWNU), Seoul Women’s University (SWU), and Ajou University. 20 Monash students were paired with CWNU, 25 students were paired with SWU, and 19 students were paired with Ajou. CWNU took part in a ten-week program, from 7^thof August to 16^th of October, while SWU and Ajou took part in a five-week program, from 11^th of September to 16^th of October.

Despite having a total of 64 students participate in the program, we only received ten responses on the feedback form. However, most students gave positive and detailed feedback. To the question, “Do you think your Korean language skills have improved?” and “Do you think your confidence in Korean speaking has improved?”, most students rated their improvement a four on a scale of one to five (where five means ‘very much so’ and one means ‘not at all’).

For the question, “What aspect of the language exchange did you enjoy the most?”, most students responded that they enjoyed making a new friend, while others responded that they enjoyed learning about Korean culture and having a chance to practice their Korean skills. For the question, “What was a major problem?”, while most students responded that they didn’t experience any, some students responded that there was a lack of discussion points, they couldn’t connect with their partner, and they experienced technical difficulties. Students also suggested that having more of a structure or a guide about what to discuss could improve the program. One student commented that they were very happy with the program, and they talked to their partner for two hours each week. Other students agreed that the program was helpful, and they were able to learn more about Korean culture.

2022 Report

In 2022 semester 2, Online Language Exchange with Seoul Women’s University (SWU) and Changwon National University (CWNU) took place September 14 - October 21 and August 08 - October 14, respectively. In total, we had 44 students participate in the program (14 for SWU and 30 for CWNU). Although we had a low feedback response most students noted a high satisfactory experience with the program and their partner. Students noted that they made a new friend, felt less pressure in making mistakes as it was an out-of-classroom and non-formal space, loved learning the culture and language, and learning to speak more naturally.

During the semester, we had a few students who unspokenly dropped out of the program, whilst this was resolved by replacing another student for CWNU, as we were short on the number of students for SWU, it was difficult to find a replacement. Feedback at the end of the program included requests to start earlier in the semester, and receive prompts about how to go about each week. Majority of the students appreciated the program and noted that the program was well structured.

Student Testimonials about the success of the language exchange:

It was really fun, and I made a good friend!
Was a very good program, my only suggestion is to provide a small list of topics for the first one or two sessions.
I really enjoyed getting to know my exchange buddy. It's really beneficial since I'm able to clarify my questions with her and vice versa through email outside of our scheduled zoom meetings.
I absolutely love my exchange partner and we've become good friends, but his English skills were not proportionate to my Korean skills. Because his English skills was so good, we mainly talked in English and had things explained in English, which was helpful, but perhaps wouldn't have been as effective as learning together.
I had a great time with my exchange partner, and we decided to keep in contact! There were sometimes we became mutually busy because of uni work and could not call as often. However, every time we did call, we had a lot to discuss from a range of topics mainly about differences or unique things about each other's countries as well as finding mutual interests/things to bond over. This is actually my second time doing this program and I would say it's better than the first, mainly due to the compatibility. I think it's an important factor for this program to work to match participants with similarities as it's difficult to keep/continue a conversation with someone you don't have much in common with. Comparing from my first experience to this one, the key differences were the gender and also age gap - we were both females and closer in age this time. Overall, I think it's a great program and opportunity for students to partake in, but I wouldn't recommend it if you're a busy person as communication is the main purpose. I'd also like to encourage people to give it a chance as personally I was a bit shy and nervous initially, but my partner and I got along really well so I'm grateful for that!
It was enjoyable and a great opportunity! I did not have any concerns with it. I'm not sure I used the Program to the best of my ability, but nevertheless, it was extremely insightful! Thank you for organising such an opportunity~
I really enjoyed the virtual exchange program this semester. I would say it was a little bit difficult at first to arrange a meeting/studying schedule with my partner because we were still shy but as time went on it became easier.
Thankfully, I met a great partner, so the past 10 weeks were really helpful for me to learn more Korean especially to improve my speaking skills.

2021 Report