Indians have become increasingly fascinated with Korea, the Land of the Morning Calm. Be it its popular music dubbed K-Pop or their nail bitting K-Dramas. While these seem like perfectly good enough reasons for an avid fan of their tv and music to learn Korean. There are unsurprisingly a lot more advantages to it than you think. 

There are numerous advantages to studying a foreign language, especially Korean. In a globalized and ever-expanding corporate environment, learning a new language is a handy life skill with lots of benefits. Ranging from foreign language employment prospects to improved brain functionality, from boosting your travel experience to acquiring the best-paid foreign language positions, from further education abroad to gaining socio-cultural aspects. The list is endless!

We are not so different after all

Thanks to the internet, the world is rapidly turning into a multicultural melting pot where various communities engage with each other. More so Korean. Despite being 6657 km apart, Korea and India have a similar culture in terms of duty, honour and the importance we associate with parental relationships. This is also reflected in their K-dramas and films which often have themes of family and relationships that we are used to and can relate to.

Our love for Bollywood superstars can be compared to their love for their Idols.

In terms of cuisine, Korean and Indian dishes have common spices and methods of preparation. Koreans L-O-V-E curry, almost as much as Indians do. To put it another way, if an Indian lived in Korea, they could prepare Indian food from scratch using the ingredients available at the supermarket. 

Now that we know so many similarities in both nations, let us have a look at five reasons to learn Korean in India:

1. Dear Indians, Korean is not that hard

In a frequently multipolar and multicultural world, the growing relevance of Korean in the twenty-first century, on the other hand, offers exciting job opportunities in a variety of fields.

Thanks to the internet, the world is rapidly turning into a multicultural melting pot where various communities engage with each other. More so Korean. Despite being 6657 km apart, Korea and India have a similar culture in terms of duty, honour and the importance we associate with parental relationships.  

The Korean Language is really easy to learn. It doesn’t have three different scripts like Japanese nor does it have 50,000 characters like Mandarin. Hangul (the Name of the Korean script) only has 24 letters, which is two letters less than the English alphabet with 26 letters.

2. The increasing Indian-Korea relations

Between South Korea and India, there is a strong bilateral economic tie. The ties were formed in 1962 and elevated to ambassadorial status in 1973.

The open market policies of the Republic of Korea are perfectly consistent with India’s economic liberalization. The management of “look east” and “act east” have produced a greater agreement between them.

Globalization has resulted in the integration of international economies as a result of substantial technological development and the introduction of the internet. That’s the reason India and South Korea’s economic collaboration is extensive and rising. Many South Korean companies are expanding into India’s equally significant market. As a result of the surge of Korean firms and services, knowing Korean as an Indian will improve your economic prospects if you opt to invest or do business with them.

3. Study in South Korea

Currently, over a thousand Indians are pursuing various post-graduate and Ph. D programs in Korea, usually in the sciences stream. Moreover, several Indian teachers and professors work in various Korean educational institutes and universities in South Korea. 

In addition, the South Korean government annually awards scholarships to Indian citizens to study Korean language and literature at masters and doctoral levels at selected Korean universities.

4. The Job and Business Opportunities

World-class Korean companies are standing on their own and challenging the rest of the world. Samsung, Korea’s largest company, is going head-to-head with Apple. Samsung even makes parts for apple phones due to their advantage of being the only ones to make certain parts. If you fervently believe that technology is the future, then you’ll want to take notice of South Korea. Korea was called the most innovative country in the world in a Bloomberg report. It has been considered to be one of the largest global booming economies for five years in a row. Easily beating Japan (6th) and the US (11th). At this rate learning Korean is akin to learning Mandarin for business and career opportunities. 

It’s also worth noting that the open market policies of the Republic of Korea mean that a lot of modern Indian and Korean companies have similar work cultures. 

5. Hallyu — Korean Wave

The Korean Wave (Hallyu) refers to the global popularity of South Korea’s cultural economy sharing its pop culture, entertainment, music, TV dramas and movies.

Korea has a diverse culture, and learning the Korean language will allow you to immerse yourself in some of it. It is undeniable that South Korea has a vibrant film, music, and television industry with millions of fans all over the world. Your ability to communicate in Korean will aid you in comprehending Korean movies, K-dramas, K-pop songs, and interviews. By mastering the language, you will no longer need those subtitles or have to look up lyrics on Google one day, and what a glorious day that would be!

Conclusion

Indians can’t get enough of Korea and Koreans sure do love a good slice of Bollywood on their streaming platforms. Learning Korean is an excellent second language option available today. In India, learning the Korean language can help to diversify cultural perspectives. Speaking Korean can be a valuable professional asset in India and other international markets. You will be able to communicate with nearly 80 million people all over the world if you learn Korean. Now that you know that learning Korean comes with so many benefits and that it is also really easy to learn, the only thing left for you to do is actually learn it. Sign up for a Korean Language class today!