Life
"Proud to help people who have trouble talking"
Have you ever faced difficulties due to a language barrier while visiting a foreign country? You don't need to worry about that anymore here in Busan. Real-time interpretation service is provided to anyone in need via the mobile app Life in Busan, which offers interpretation services in 13 languages: Korean, English, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Russian, Uzbek, Mongolian, Burmese, Khmer, Thai and Filipino.
The following interview was conducted in Korean and translated into English by B.i.G. Newspaper staff.
Umarova Mokhinur of Uzbekistan. Ms. Mokhinur volunteers as an interpreter and translator.
Q. Hi! Please introduce yourself.
A. Hi, I am Umarova Mokhinur, you just can call me Han Yeona. I am from Uzbekistan. I've been here in Korea for the last four years and I'm a student at Pukyong National University. In 2018, I came to Korea for the first time in my life to learn the Korean language at Silla University in Busan. I really enjoyed my time in Busan so I missed my time here after I got back to my home country. To come back to Korea, I got a scholarship from the Tashkent Korean Education Center where I studied Korean in my home country so that I could enter Pukyong National University. I was so happy to come back to Busan a year after I left.
Q. What makes Busan so fascinating to you?
A. Most of all, the beaches throughout the city. Secondly, I would say mountains. Busan is the city where you can enjoy beaches and mountains everywhere you go. Busan has many places to go and play throughout the year. In spring, you can enjoy cherry blossoms in the Oncheonjang area. Seven beaches across the city, including Gwangalli and Haeundae Beach, are the perfect place to enjoy water sports and bathing in summer. The field of pink muhly grass in the Daejeo Ecological Park in Gangseo-gu will be a wonderful back drop for your pictures in fall. Even in the cold winter weather, you still can find joyous cultural places such as the Busan Museum of Art and Museum 1.
I also have great memories in Busan. For example, I experienced the temple stay program for the first time in my life. It was the one of the activities I enjoyed as an "Expo Friend" to promote and support Busan's bid to host World Expo 2030. It really helped me find inner peace and take a break from my busy daily life.
Q. What do you do as an interpreter and translator supporter?
A. It's a volunteer group consisting of Busan citizens and foreign residents in Busan who can offer interpretation and translation services in Korean and foreign languages. Based on the application Life in Busan, anyone who needs help can get the interpretation service online. We also provide the service through phone calls or chatting functions. The Busan Foundation for International Cooperation offers various and practical educational online programs for the volunteer group such as the appropriate attitude as an interpreter, the status of the multicultural society in Korea, and statistics on foreign residents in Korea.
Q. Are there any goals you want to achieve as an interpreter and translator supporter?
A. I still remember my hard time when I first got here because of the language barrier. I really want to help first-comers in Korea with my ability to communicate between two languages, especially Uzbek and Korean.