From a fangirl to teacher real quick!
Photo via TikTok (@nuraezzatie)
A Malaysian k-pop fan, who also has a following of over 182,400 followers on TikTok is now a Korean language teacher at a secondary school.
Nura Ezzatie, who was introduced to the world of Korean pop music or K-pop through the South Korean boy band Super Junior, or also known as SuJu, decided to learn Korean after watching a Korean television variety show which starred the idol group almost every day.
The reason? She wanted to understand what her idols were saying without having to rely on the subtitles.
According to The Korea Herald, Ezzatie said that she had just graduated high school and did not have the money to attend a private Korean language institute at that time, so she started to teach herself Korean using free online materials as well as learning the language through YouTube.
“I also tried to improve my pronunciation by hanging out with my Korean friends.”
In 2016, after five years of teaching herself Korean, she passed Level 4 on the Test of Proficiency in Korean, an exam for non-native Korean speakers, which is divided into 6 levels, with 6 being the highest.
As of recently, she has already progressed to Level 5.
In 2021, Ezzatie started to use her social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram to share her knowledge and study tips.
Her posts are mostly about Korean expressions for daily conversations and learning tips for beginners and intermediate learners in Korea, “Malaysians are also affected by the rising popularity of the Korean wave.
Since November, Ezzatie has been teaching the language at a public secondary school in Negeri Sembilan.
She also said that she got exciting offers to work with Korean people and companies since she is able to read and write Hangul, which is the Korean alphabet.
“I think one of my unforgettable moments would be when one of my students wrote a letter to me saying how much her Korean has improved. Seeing my students make progress in learning is one of the most rewarding things while teaching Korean,” she said.
This is amazing!
