Contributed by Rebecca Walker:.

Sixteen CQU Bachelor of Learning Management (BLM) students and staff have arrived back from a three-and-a-half-week language exchange program at Uslan, South Korea.

The CQU program, now in its fourth year, gives students the opportunity to teach English to Korean students from eight to 24 years of age and learn about the culture through homestay accommodation.

Third-year BLM students Daniel Windress, Debbie Wright, Andrea Watson and James Wren said the experience was fantastic and challenging.

Mr Wren said the Korean people were very warm and his host family treated him “like a king”.

CQU Director of Studies Paulo Vieira said the program was successful because it gave young Korean people the opportunity to interact with English speakers in a culture where English is traditionally learnt by writing.

Miss Wright said simply giving the students the confidence to speak English aloud helped them a lot.

Mr Vieira said CQU was one of the few universities that offer such exchange programs, but he expected that the increasing ESL (English as a Second Language) market would see more universities introduce similar programs.

“The new trend is for in-country learning,” he said.

The students said the practical classroom experience and the opportunity to experiment with teaching methods taught them many things that they would be able to apply in the classroom.

Photo: (left) Debbie Wright, Ulsan College exchange organiser Professor Lee (far right) and Debbie’s homestay family at the farewell dinner.

Photo: (above) James Wren (back), Andrea Watson (pink shirt) and Debbie Wright take time out with some Korean students.