University of Hawaii professor Sohn receives 3rd Korea Foundation award





As a scholar who has spent the past four decades studying his mother-tongue and language in general, professor Sohn Ho-min should know what he’s talking about when he says Korean is the world’s most superior language.



“When we say Korean is superior, we are basing this on scientific examination. The Korean language’s method of making sound through a combination of vowels and consonants is very scientific and economical, even,” professor Sohn of the University of Hawaii told a news conference in Seoul, Thursday.



Sohn, who studied linguistics at Seoul National University and earned his Ph.D. in linguistics at the University of Hawaii in 1969, received the third Korean Foundation Award Thursday, in recognition of his decades-long role as a promoter of the Korean language in the United States.



Among his various roles, Sohn worked on creating a 19-volume set of Korean language text books, which were first released in 2000 and are now used by some 800 universities throughout the United States.



“It took us six years to make the books. We tried to explain not just the language and grammar, but the Korean culture and the country in general as well, knowing it is much more difficult for Americans to learn Korean compared to European languages,” Sohn said.



Sohn said he has been feeling the influence of K-pop around the world with the number of Korean language students increasing rapidly in the last three to four years.



Professor Sohn Ho-min of the University of Hawaii talks to the press ahead of the Korea Foundation Award ceremony on Thursday. (Lee Sang-sub/The Korea Herald)