In order to help both native and international students John Karlagon, president of the Korean Popular music (K-Pop) club, seeks to add Koran language classes to the college.

“By having a Korean class, it would give some of our Korean exchange students a class to take where they can converse with other students and practice their English,” said Karlagon.

Korean would be another addition to the multiple languages available for study at Cerritos, which already allows students to learn Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Japanese, and American Sign Language.

While students do not get to decide what classes can be added, they are allowed to express their interest and show support of what classes they wish were added.

“Since Koreans are the top majority of international students that come to our school, it is an obvious class to add.”

The class would also help international students reach the 12 units they need to have in order to continue studying at the college according to the rules set by International Student Services (http://bit.ly/15sJv6h).

Justine Santos, linguistics major, taught herself Korean beginning in her sophomore year of high school.

“There are differences between [North and South], dialectal differences,” Santos said.

“Kind of like how there are differences between Spanish from Mexico, and Spanish from Spain. North Korean is more traditional, from the dynasty ages. South Korean is more standardized,” she added.

The different dialects would not pose a problem, however, when seeking a professor for the class.

“Even if they spoke with a different dialect, they know the standards, so we would still be learning the correct way,” stated Santos

Karlagon believes that added the classes would be “…a great step for Cerritos College to take to enter this higher field of education.”

For more information on foreign language classes, students can visit the Foreign Language Department in the Liberal Arts building, or by visiting their website at http://bit.ly/1AJ9OO0