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- Unique & Best
Africa awaiting new challenges |
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HUFS has
many minority language departments. Among them, the Department of
Africa can be found only in HUFS. People conjure up images of malaria,
AIDS, starvation, the poor, and so forth when they first hear the
word Africa, and usually wonder who would want to study there. Heo
Namun (Af-98), however, studied African language by living with
an African a few months ago.
He wanted to experience their culture and the politics directly
as well as the African language. He headed for Africa with about
one million won, excluding the air fair, and lived there for one
year and eight months. He first arrived at Tanzania and stayed at
a hotel-level traveler¡¯s inn. However, the hotel bill which was
equivalent to living expenses for a month for the natives, was a
heavy burden to him. Therefore, he made a friend at a market and
stayed at his house. Some time later, he taught students computer
and Korean in a newly open high school.
He had the confidence to read and understand the African language
because he studied hard at HUFS. Yet, there were some limitations
on behalf of the speaker when he was in Africa because Africans
spoke about five times quicker than he did. It took him about one
month to comprehend what the people were saying, and after three
months, he was able to speak African well. He learned higher level
of African through newspapers and rodio broadcasts. The level of
the language taught at HUFS is relatively lower than the actual.
Unlike the image people have about Africa, penguins live on some
islands of the Republic of South Africa. It is hard to imagine such
a scenario because we usually think of Africa as a vast, scorching
territory. With the increasing spread of cellphones, about 2 million
out of 30 million people have them in Kenya, and the figures are
growing.
The number of wire telephones is less than that of cellphones. Moreover,
the cost of cellphones is lower than that of telephones. Another
fascinating information about Africa is the coexistence of tradition
and modernism. Masai tribe is still found wearing traditional clothes
with lances. Expensive ultra-modern cars are found, cruising down
the streets.
Culture is well developed, and there are remains of ancient civilization.
For example, an old structure is transformed into a very huge store
that is almost the same size as the HUFS Student Hall. Clear water
and beautiful scenery contribute to the rich and majestic geography
of Africa. Many developed and rich nations find Africa a perfect
place to invest.
These nations turned to Africa as a place to start new businesses
and expand their market because the world economy has come to a
standstill. Both Europe and America have carefully studied Africa
over the years, and are very much aware of the potential Africa
has. Japan currently controls about 90% of the automobile market
in the region, and Europe and America sell high-priced merchandise.
Meanwhile, China sells low-priced items.
Despite these attractions of Africa, it is very difficult to study
in the area recently. There is little information on Africa even
in Korea International Trade Association (KITA), which connects
most trades of Korea and Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
When Heo tried to gather information on the region, he had to look
through foreign publications. It costs around 1300 dollars to study
for two weeks at universities or colleges, which is extremely costly.
There are little systematic courses for studying abroad. There are
schools that established partnership with HUFS, but the system is
very formal. Therefore, it does not help the students who want to
study abroad, and there are no intermediate personnel between two
schools.
The way in which students study abroad through government expenses
exists, but it is usually offered to the students who have earned
a doctorate or a master¡¯s degree. Meanwhile, the undergraduate students
have few chances. If a student wants to study a university in Africa,
he or she would have to prepare the entire course from the beginning.
Heo, who became an Africa fanatic, runs a homepage related to Africa
with his sister. He is going to study Africa after graduating from
school. He said that he is more than ready to be willing to help
people who want to go Africa.
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By Kim Kyu-young
Associate Editor of Campus Section |
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