[Insight & Opinion] Why Only Korean Language Enrollment Is Surging in the U.S.

Recently, the Modern Language Association (MLA) in the United States released a survey on foreign language enrollment in colleges as of the fall semester of 2021. This survey, which began in 1958 and has been conducted every 3 to 4 years, is considered the most important indicator of the state of foreign language education in the U.S. This latest survey was conducted after a five-year gap.

The most interesting result is the rising trend of Korean language learners. Not only did Korean enter the top 10 for the first time, but it also attracted attention as the language with the largest increase. Among the languages ranked in the top 10, American Sign Language, which ranked third, showed only a small increase, while Korean surged by a remarkable 38%. Spanish and French showed a decline, and German decreased by 34%. Among East Asian languages, Japanese, ranked fourth, decreased by 5%, and Chinese, ranked sixth, decreased by 14%.

The total number of foreign language learners in U.S. colleges has been declining since peaking in 2009. From 2016 to 2021, there was a 16% decrease, accelerating compared to the 9% decrease in the previous survey. In this context, the sharp increase in Korean language learners is almost miraculous, prompting curiosity about the cause. To find answers, all survey results since 1958 were reviewed.

In the 1958 survey, only 26 students were studying Korean at U.S. colleges. By 1963, this number had increased to 182. Subsequently, many U.S. universities removed foreign language courses from their required curriculum, which significantly reduced the number of foreign language learners. Korean also dropped to 87 students in the 1974 survey.

The increase in Korean language learners began in the 1980s. Between 1980 and 1990, the number rose sharply from 365 to 2,375. This was when Korea frequently appeared in the news as a protagonist of democratization and economic growth and successfully hosted the 1988 Seoul Olympics. At the same time, as Korean immigrants increased, awareness and the image of Korea in the U.S. improved. In the 1990s, the number of learners more than doubled, and in 2002, it surpassed 5,000 for the first time.

In the 2000s, while the overall number of foreign language learners declined, Korean language learners continued to increase, with a rapid surge starting in the late 2000s. The numbers grew to 8,449 in 2009, 13,912 in 2016, and nearly 20,000 in 2021. Korean has become a ‘major language’.

The recent surge in Korean language learners over the past 15 years is due to the influence of ‘K-pop.’ Although the Korean Wave (Hallyu) gained popularity mainly in Asia, K-pop swept across the world, including the U.S., leading to a sharp increase in students wanting to learn Korean. But that is not all. In the 21st century, Korea became known as an ‘internet powerhouse,’ and from the 2010s, it gained fame for advanced technologies such as smartphones and gaming. The positive image of ‘Cool Korea’ has translated into increased interest in the Korean language.

What about the future? The development of artificial intelligence (AI) is changing perceptions about the very necessity of foreign languages.

Just as the number of humanities majors is expected to decline, foreign language learners are also projected to continue decreasing. Korean will likely be no exception. Nevertheless, there will still be students who want to learn foreign languages, and if the positive image of Korea is maintained, interest in learning Korean will continue.

Conversely, what if the image worsens? Naturally, the popularity of Korean would sharply decline. The foundation of Korea’s positive image is an open democratic society oriented toward the future, which made the birth of K-pop possible. Therefore, how well this open democratic society is preserved and developed will directly influence the popularity of the Korean language.

Robert Fauzer, Former Professor at Seoul National University