Campsie Public School in south-western Sydney is the only public school in NSW where students can opt to learn their usual subjects such as math and science in the Korean language.
The school has been running the Korean Bilingual Program for the past nine years and there are currently more than 250 students from Kindergarten to Year 6 taking part, despite only 50 of them having Korean heritage.
The students spend up to one hour a day learning their usual subjects in Korean, and all subjects except English were included in the program.
Program facilitator Eun Yeong Yoo said the skills learnt would benefit the students in the future.
Korean bilingual teacher Eun Young Yoo at Campsie Public School teachers Year 6 students. Source: SBS Korean
“It was new to students at the beginning, but there have been no negative responses from the children as they are taught in Korean as soon as they started the Kindergarten," she said.
"If you learn Korean from Kindergarten to Year 6, you will build a language skill that would allow you to be able to learn about some things like primitive industry, secondary industry, production and consumption in the Korean language.”
Parents residing outside of the school's intake boundary often approach the school seeking more information about the program, Ms Eun said.
Christine Emily , Year 6 student at Campsie Public School says she can play a Korean drum Source: SBS Korean
Principal Berlinda Cook said there's no doubt that language skills would provide students with a competitive edge.
“If I was a parent, I would take up that opportunity because every time I ask students, this was at my previous school as well, what do you want to learn more often? They want to learn more languages," she said.
"Kids love language learning. It excites them interests them and they are so clever at it."
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