Hampton Park Library Outreach Program 2026

Hampton Park Library 2026 Report

Monash Korean Studies was pleased to return to Hampton Park Library this semester to deliver weekly Korean language and cultural classes for the local community. The program ran from 2nd April to 28th May and consisted of 8 lessons. The program was coordinated by our hub coordinator Sandy Nguyen and in-class support students Sandra Binoy and Sharee Zhang, who developed and delivered the lesson materials.

The program received positive feedback from both the library and participants, with many noting that the lessons were well structured, easy to follow, and effectively built upon content from previous weeks. Attendance averaged between 9-14 participants per week, with attendees ranging in age from their early 30s to late 50s. The cohort reflected a diverse mix of ethnicities and professional backgrounds, including stay-at-home parents, retirees, undergraduates and PhD students, as well as library staff members connected to the program.

The weekly lessons covered a range of Korean language and cultural topics, including:

  • Introduction of Korean language (Basic greetings)
  • Hangul (Korean alphabet)
  • Reading basic Korean (Soundshift rules)
  • Essential phrases and vocabulary for travelling & asking directions
  • Essential phrases and vocabulary for ordering food
  • Introducing adjectives
  • Introducing Korean culture
  • Course review

Below, Sandra and Sharee reflect on their teaching experiences at Hampton Park Library this semester:

“I had a really good experience teaching Korean at Hampton Park library this semester. It was a great opportunity to be able to teach adults and working professionals who all had various reasons for learning Korean, including wanting to travel to Korea or wanting to understand the lyrics to their favourite K-Pop songs. It was especially interesting discussing various parts of Korean culture, including historical and traditional elements, food, pop culture and language elements. I think these lessons at Hampton Park were a great initiative to ensure that the Korean language proficiency of Australians is increased through teaching in an informal and more comfortable environment.” - Sandra Binoy

“I really enjoyed my time teaching at Hampton Park every fortnight. I think it was sometimes difficult to think of good resources and material to use in the classes but when it would all come together after I finished preparing, it would work well and the students would engage in it. I do think that my sense of uncertainty within myself faded as the weeks went by as there was a heavy feeling of imposter syndrome weighing on me in the beginning since part of me thought that I was not good enough to be teaching Korean. I think that this program not only made the students more confident in their language skills, but having to explain, answer questions and deconstruct confusing ideas within the Korean language made me more sure of myself. I think next semester I will try to implement more interactive activities in my lessons since students seem to respond to them well and I will also try to remember to make the font bigger on my PPTs.” - Sharee Zhang

We are pleased to continue the program in Term 3, which will run from 30th July to 17 September.

This work was supported by the Core University Program for Korean Studies through the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and Korean Studies Promotion Service of the Academy of Korean Studies (AKS-2023-OLU-2250001).