A Study on the Current State of Chinese Characters' Education in Korea and How to Improve It: Focusing on Effective Methods in Teaching Chinese Characters for Korean and Foreign Students

국내 한자교육(漢字敎育)의 문제점 및 개선방향 - 내·외국인을 위한 효율적인 한자교수법(漢字敎授法) 중심으로

Sino-Korean words make almost 70% of Korean words. Chinese Characters are very different from Hangul (Korean alphabet system) in form and they are semantic symbols. Therefore Korean and foreign students are very likely to have difficulty in mastering the Sino-Korean characters. This paper aims at reviewing the problems of teaching Chinese characters to Koreans and foreigners in Korea, and proposing how to teach them effectively. For this purpose, we first look into the realities of the national system of Chinese characters' education, and then suggest more effective instructions in teaching Chinese characters.