Who are Buddies?

At Hanyang University each foreign student had a Buddy, a Korean friend, who suppose to help foreigners to adapt to Korea as soon as possible. Some buddies help to do homework or show around the country. Unfortunately, not all universities have a buddy program. I didn’t have a buddy when I was studying at Hanguk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS). And as I know, you can apply for buddy help at EWHA University.

Pros & Cons

Let’s compare language courses at HUFS and at Hanyang University.

Well, first of all, I would like to say that each university has pros and cons.

The Buddy program at Hanyang University can be a good advantage, but as soon as all people are different, and having a buddy doesn’t mean that your buddy will be helpful or just a good person. For example, one of my friend’s buddies focused only on studies. And while all the other students were having fun, he forced my friend to do some extra studies, checked his homework, forced to correct the mistakes, redo something, etc. Well, on the one side it is good, but on another side, besides books and studies, social life is also important.

I was walking around Seoul with my buddy, and it helped me to improve my speaking skills, and to learn more about Korean culture.

HUFS has a very good speaking practice. During the studies, we had presentations, different discussions, and debates during the class. Also, the speaking exam on the Advanced level was also conducted in debate form.

Cultural classes in Hanyang university were every Wednesday, but in HUFS it was just once per semester.