Mr Ham Sungwan was a member of a small team of Korean officials, including the principal of Parangse Open School in Seoul, who visited Malta last April to find possible locations for a holiday English camp for Korean children.
Eventually LAL Malta, one of the leading English language schools in Malta, was entrusted with organising a language holiday for a group of 22 young Korean students from Parangse Open School, aged between nine and 14, accompanied by four group leaders. The group was in Malta for four weeks and returned home yesterday.
When asked for his first impressions of the Maltese islands, Mr Ham said: “I had only heard about this country a couple of times before, but never really paid any attention. I never thought that it would be a place that I would one day visit. We made our way to our hotel in Sliema and upon seeing the view from our room and a quick stroll down the promenade, my mind was made up. Never had I seen a sea that colour or a pace of life so relaxed and comfortable. The food was wonderful, the view was fantastic and the people... such kindness and warmth, unlike any other I had ever encountered.”
The group attended the language programme at LAL Malta in Sliema in the morning and spent their afternoons exploring different places in Malta. Mr Ham remarked: “The bottomless patience of the teachers, in addition to their expertise, has no doubt created an environment where the students had no choice but to learn and improve their English. I have nothing but good things to say about my experience with the staff of LAL and I can confidently speak for the children in saying that their time with LAL was one that they will not easily forget.”
He continued: “Four weeks after the start of the programme, the children are now crying, not because they miss their parents and their home, but because they don’t want to leave Malta. Malta is a new frontier for Korean students, and Korea is an untapped well of potential English-hungry students for Malta. Our experience in Malta has allowed us to confidently plan future language camps in Malta, starting with this winter. I leave with higher hopes and expectations than when I first arrived. I cannot thank the Maltese people, and especially all the people at the LAL Malta school, enough for making the success of this camp possible.”
The afternoon programmes for the children were also a great success. Through exploring different places in Malta including Valletta, Mdina, Bugibba and many other historically and culturally rich areas, the children were able to not only experience a people and a culture completely different from that to which they were accustomed, but become comfortable with it.
Children who could not even say “Hello” to foreigners in Korea have now built up the confidence to be able to ask questions about the history of Mdina. The same nine-year-old children who could not find their way to their hotel from the bus stop can now take a bus from Sliema to Bugibba and back all on their own.
Mary Rose Fenech, of LAL Malta, bid farewell to the group of students and leaders at a special event organised for them at Playmobil Malta and expressed her satisfaction that the group’s visit had been a great success that augured well for more visits to Malta by other groups of young Korean students.