Choonwon Kang
She was born and raised in Seoul, Korea. She received her B.A. in English Language and Literature from Ewha University, which is the most prominent school.
She came to the United States in 1979 and is a US citizen. She received her M.A. in English linguistics from George Mason University in 1982, and Ph.D. in linguistics from Georgetown University in 1990.
Her profession has always been teaching. While she was working on her graduate degrees in US, she taught ESL in Baltimore County Public School Systems. After she earned her PhD, she taught English in colleges in Korea. She has also been teaching Korean at Johns Hopkins University since 1986. She taught Korean for family and friends of American military personnel in Chinhae Navy Base in Korea and American exchange students for study abroad.
She published two books. Her first book, You Can Speak Korean, was published in 1994 by Hollym International Corporation. It is a beginner language course book for young adults and adults and has been used as a textbook for her course at Johns Hopkins University. This book was born from a collection of notes she made while teaching non-Korean heritage students for many years.
Her second book, The Curse of Kim's Daughters, was published in March 2004 by Homa & Sekey Books. It is the English translation of a novel by Park Kyong-ni, who is one of the most accomplished writers in Korea. She started the translation in 1996 as the leader of four co-translators while she was teaching at Kyungnam University with a grant from Korean Literature Translation Institute (LTI Korea). All four women were teaching English at universities and one of them is an American writer. She would like to provide fine Korean literature for those who might not have had an opportunity to experience them due to the lack of materials.
She and her husband live in McLean, Virginia. She feels there's always a lot to learn, so she goes to Fairfax County Public Library every week. Some day she hopes to volunteer her time for the public library.
Publications
You Can Speak Korean, Hollym International Corporation: Seoul, Korea, 1994.
(A language course book for young adults and adults)
The Curse of Kim's Daughters, Homa & Sekey Books: New Jersey, 2004.
(Translation of a novel from the Korean by Park Kyong-ni).
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