Schools in large American cities like Los Angeles and New York have been offering Korean as a second foreign language for some time.
But amid the Korean wave phenomenon, schools in smaller cities have also begun offering Korean language classes.
Park Se-young has more.
At Newman Smith High School in Texas, Korean songs can be heard from a classroom.
The students, while dancing to a children's song, burst into laughter.
Their Korean is not very good yet, but they can listen to the teacher and write down what they hear.

"I'm taking Korean class because I find the culture very interesting. It's so different from the western world and it's unique in its own way and I like it."

Since this fall, the school has been offering Korean as a second foreign language.
Carrollton is a small city with a population of about 130-thousand, …and 50 students chose to take Korean in its first term at the school.
The students also naturally get to learn Korean culture.
They try on Hanbok, traditional Korean attire, and customize their own traditional masks.
The request for Korean language classes was driven by the students' love of K-pop.

"From the start, the students really wanted to learn the Korean language and were very interested in Korean culture. In addition to K-pop, they were also interested in food, holidays, and the culture of Korean people, so the participation rate is really high and they're motivated to learn."

The city of Carrollton hopes to honor its Korean community and expand its Korean language program in the near future.
Park Se-young, Arirang News.