HYBE To Create BTS-Themed Korean Textbooks For Schools Worldwide
If you’re currently a school student, you could have BTS on your curriculum in the near future. Today, HYBE has announced that its HYBE EDU division will now be creating Korean language textbooks for schools across the world.
HYBE EDU is an education technology brand under HYBE Solutions, the company’s business unit. So far, HYBE EDU is best-known for it Learn! Korean series, which uses BTS and their TinyTAN characters to teach fans basic Korean. The new TinyTAN kit even includes a speaking pen that uses artificial intelligence to read Korean words in the BTS members’ voices. The company has now sold more than 300,000 language kits across 30 countries.
On top of this, several universities across the globe—from the University of Sheffield in the U.K. to Ain Shams University in Egypt—are now using BTS-themed HYBE EDU materials to teach college language classes in conjunction with the Korean Language Contents Institute (KOLCI). Now, HYBE EDU is taking things one step further by developing actual school textbooks.
According to South Korea’s Ministry of Education, approximately 1,700 elementary, middle, and high schools in almost 40 countries are now teaching Korean as a foreign language. In total, an estimated 140,000 school students are learning Korean as part of their curriculum. By next year, the ministry expects demand to reach 2,000 schools in 45 countries.
To support this, HYBE EDU has now signed a deal with the International Korean Language Education Foundation (IKLEF) in Korea. As part of the partnership, they’ll be producing a supplementary textbook themed on BTS for use in Korean language classes across the world. In a statement, HYBE EDU’s general manager, Choi Young Nam, revealed that the company aims to provide a high-quality curriculum with creative and innovative learning methods.
A distinctive edge of our content is its high-quality curriculum. We can also motivate students by making use of BTS’s intellectual property and diversifying the learning experience. In cooperation with the International Korean Education Foundation, we will come up with more creative and innovative ways to help students around the world immerse themselves in studying Korean.
— Choi Young Nam
HYBE EDU’s BTS-themed Korean language textbooks are expected to be distributed to schools globally starting in early 2022.
