|
Serving
Students at
Santa Ana
College and
Santiago
Canyon College
SOUTH KOREA
Language
|
Languages:
Korean
is this country's official language. However English is taught in
many schools so business people (especially in urban areas) may be able
to speak English well enough to conduct business with foreigners.
The Korean language shares several grammatical features with Japanese,
and there are strong similarities with Mongolian, but the exact relationship
among these three languages is unclear. Although regional dialects
exist, the language spoken throughout the peninsula and in China is comprehensible
by all Koreans. Chinese characters were used to write Korean before
the Korean Hangul alphabet was invented in the 15th century. Chinese
characters are still in limited use in South Korea, but the North uses
Hangul exclusively. Many older people retain some knowledge of Japanese
from the colonial period.
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total
population: 98%
male:
99.3%
female:
96.7% (1995 est.)
Education:
Free
in the primary grades.
Education
has been strongly supported by the government and nearly all children go
to primary school, which is free. The adult literacy rate increased
from 20 percent in 1960 to 69 percent in 1990. After primary school
the educational system becomes highly competitive and few of those who
go on to secondary school gain admittance to the University of Nairobi
or any of the country's smaller colleges.
Years
compulsory--9. Enrollment--11.5 million.
Attendance--middle
school 99%, high school 95%.
Links
for More Information
Five
College Foreign Language Resource Center
Sources:
U.
S. Department of State
Central
Intelligence Agency |
