ChineseatHome.com

Konkuk University on Sunday said it will begin offering lessons in Chinese in the spring semester this year, starting with 32 lectures in 20 courses, including business administration, economics and financial management.

Except for foreign language universities, it will be the first time a local university offers lessons in Chinese for subjects other than Chinese or outside a Chinese department. The same courses will be given in Korean as well, allowing students the option to choose the language of the lessons according to their preference.

For the lectures, Konkuk University has invited 16 professors from eight Chinese sister universities, including Sichuan University and Wuhan University.

Because Chinese students on exchange programs stay in Korea for only a short period, they face difficulties in understanding lectures offered only in Korean, a university spokesperson said. The Chinese-language lectures will be mostly applied to business-management courses in which many Chinese students enroll.

More than 1,500 Chinese students were enrolled at Konkuk University as of the end of 2009, and the university expects an additional 260 Chinese students on exchange programs in the coming semester.