곡성지부(지부장:후지야마 게이꼬)는 지난 1년 반 동안 해왔던 ‘어린이 종이접기 급수교실’에서 1기생 5명이 교육과정을 수료하였다. 3급에서 1급까지의 과정을 모두 마친 이 학생들은 20세 되면 일반강사로서 인정을 받는 자격증을 취득 한 것이다. 수료한 학생들은 앞으로 어린동생들을 지도할 예정이다.

목포지부(지부장:박지원) 회원들은 기현옥 강사로부터 6개월 동안 한국어 능력시험 고급과정을 거쳐서 지난 1월 9일 목포대학교에서 시험에 참가했다. 회원들이 6급 2명, 5급 6명 합격을 했다.

영암지부(지부장:스가따 마사미, 시미즈 요오꼬)는 봄방학을 맞이하여 2월 20일 다문화가정(초·중·고등학생 및 학부모)이 참석하는 가운데 대한민국의 중심 국회의사당을 견학하였다. 국회의사당에서는 전남 지역 출신 국회의원을 만나 인터뷰 하는 시간을 가졌다.

나주지부(지부장:하은재)는 3월 24일 서내동 꿈나무 어린이집에서 만5세 유아 18명을 대상으로 일본문화 체험수업을 가졌다. 일본지도, 국기, 국화, 음식, 전통의상, 일본 애니메이션 ‘도라에몽’의 노래를 일본어로 불러보면서 일본의 전통놀이(켄다마, 망게경, 팽이, 와나게)를 체험하는 시간을 가졌다. 처음으로 접하는 다른 나라의 문화에 아이들은 신기해 하면서도 즐겁게 참여를 했다.

The South Jeolla Branch

The Gokseong Branch (Branch Leader: Keiko Fujiyama) has given an ‘Origami Certification Class for Children’ for the last year and a half, and five participants have completed the course as the first graduates of the class. These students, who have completed the certification courses from the third level to the first level, have acquired a license which will certify them as origami teachers when they turn twenty years of age. The students who have completed the course plan to teach younger students in the future.

Members of the Mokpo Branch (Branch Leader: Ji Won Park) have attended the advanced class for the Test of Proficiency in Korean taught by Lecturer Hyeon Ok Gi for six months, and they took the test on January 9 at Mokpo University. Two members passed level six and six members passed level five.

The Yeongahm Branch (Co-Branch Leaders: Masami Sugata, Yooko Shimizu) took advantage of it being spring break to visit the National Assembly Building, which is the legislative center of the Republic of Korea, on February 20. Multicultural families and members (elementary, middle and high school students and parents) took part in the field trip, and they also had a chance to meet with a member of the National Assembly from South Jeolla Province at the National Assembly Building and interview him.

The Naju Branch (Branch Leader: Eun Jae Ha) hosted the ‘Japanese Cultural Experience Class’ on March 24 at the Dream Tree Nursery in Seonae-dong for eighteen five-year-old children. The children looked at the map, national flag, national flower, food, and traditional costume of Japan, and they also had a session to sing the title song from the Japanese animated cartoon ‘Doraemon’ in Japanese and experience Japanese traditional games (Kendama, kaleidoscope, top, Wanage). The children were in wonder at the culture of another country with which they had come into contact for the first time, and they took part in the event with joy.