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Korean Language

Jeyseon Lee Jeyseon Lee

Korean Language Coordinator

Welcome to the Korean Language Program. As a language with a unique script, Hangul, Korean offers learners both a challenge and a rewarding experience. Studying Korean not only opens doors to understanding Korea’s rich history and traditions but also enhances career opportunities across various fields. UCSD offers structured programs to help learners develop both language proficiency and cultural insight.

Korean Courses

Beginning:  LTKO 1A  →  LTKO 1B  →  LTKO 1C

Intermediate:  LTKO 2A  →  LTKO 2B  →  LTKO 2C

Advanced:  LTKO 130F, LTKO 130W, LTKO 130P, and LTKO 135

Students must be placed into the appropriate course level in order to enroll. See the "Placement Exam" details below.

Placement Exam

If you would like to take LTKO 1A-B-C, LTKO 2A-B-C, LTKO 130F-W-P, or LTKO 135, you are required to take a placement test.

  • If you are a student with no or a little Korean language background, you can enroll in LTKO 1A with no placement test result. A placement test will be given in class on the first day of instruction to check if you are a real beginner.
  • If you are a student with home Korean language background or a student with a previous Korean language learning experience, you are not allowed to enroll in LTKO 1A. In this case, you should enroll in higher level LTKO classes, and you need to take a placement test before you enroll. 
  • If you attended an elementary school higher grade (4th - 6th) in Korea and if you want to enroll in LTKO 130FWP, please send any documents verifying that you graduated a middle school and a high school in America (or somewhere else besides Korea) to the Korean Language Coordinator (above). With the verification, you may be allowed to enroll in LTKO 130FWP with no placement test.

You can take a placement test anytime during the instructor's office hours. (It will take 50 minutes.) If you have time conflict, you can request a PDF file placement test instead. To request this file, please contact the Korean Language Coordinator (above).

If you are an incoming student, scheduled to enroll during the summer vacation, you can receive a PDF file placement test. To request this file, please contact the Korean Language Coordinator (above).

A placement test will be given in class on the first day of instruction too, but the WebReg won't allow you to enroll until you receive the test results. Therefore, taking a placement test before or during the enrollment period is strongly recommended. If you want to take a placement test on the first day of instruction, please directly go to the class section you want to enroll in. 

If you miss the first day of instruction, a placement test will be given in class or during the instructor's office hours for the first two weeks of each quarter.

If you are taking this examination to request a waiver of a language requirement (for GEs or major/minor requirements), it must be completed in person. Test results from a PDF version taken without proctoring will not be accepted for the purpose of a language requirement waiver. Please refer to your applicable college or major/minor advisors to confirm if a waiver request is possible for their language requirement.

Proficiency Exam

For the detail information on the Proficiency Exam, please visit http://linguistics.ucsd.edu/language/proficiency-exam.html.

Additional Resources

For more information, please refer to https://ucsdkoreanlanguage.blogspot.com/.