Multicultural Families

[Anchor Lead]

Children of multicultural families can naturally acquire two languages and an understanding of two different cultures from the comfort of their home. Here’s more on multicultural families in Korea.

[Pkg]

Five-year-old Subin fluently sings a Vietnamese children's song. She also dances to the lyrics. She is naturally learning two languages from her Vietnamese mother and Korean father.

[Soundbite] Lee Yeon-seo : "When my husband says "It's hot, hot,"I translate that into Vietnamese and our child learns this way."

Native language use, avoided in the past among migrant women to help them better acclimate to Korean life, is now actually encouraged for children's education in multicultural families, even leading to a bilingual speaking competition. The youngest contestant is just 8 years old, and still awkward with her mother's native tongue.A middle school student says she dreams of becoming a chef of Korean and Japanese fusion cuisine. It's clear that the contestants are working hard to understand the cultures of both their parents.

[Soundbite] Choi Ho-yeong(3rd grade, Maepo Elementary School) : "Hello. I'd like to make a lot of money Cambodian relatives and visit the country. Bilingual education is serving to unite multicultural families and linguistically equip their children in a competitive way as these households seek to overcome social prejudice."