TokkiTalk launches korean classes, events in Twin Cities

The founders of TokkiTalk were at Moona Moono’s Chuseok celebration on Sept. 26. Co-founder, Soo Kyung Hwang, was helping people make persimmon origami and Claire Kim talked with people about their new business. Hwang and Kim launched TokkiTalk in August (tokki means rabbit in Korean), which offers Korean language classes and brings Korean cultural events to third spaces like Moona Moono.

“I think it lined up with where we’re at and where the culture is at,” Hwang said about their vision for TokkiTalk. Kim said interest in Korean culture in the United States and Minnesota has “exploded.”

This was no surprise to Kim as she noted the South Korean government “officially exports” the culture. She saw it first hand when she recently lived in Korea.

In her TokkiTalk classes, Kim gives context “beyond k-pop” so people interested in the culture don’t appropriate it.

“People hear what it means to me personally, what it means to be Korean, and how to show up in our culture in a respectful way,” Kim said. “That’s a huge part of my process.”
Korean Americans also have a desire to learn their home language, which the TokkiTalk founders can relate to.

“Soo Kyung is a Korean adoptee, and I’m third-generation Korean American. So neither of us grew up speaking the language,” Kim said. “My grandparents spoke the language, and then my parents grew up in Korean-speaking households, but they were raised and educated in the U.S.”

Kim said the language barrier with her grandparents is why she started learning Korean in college.
Hwang also started exploring her Korean heritage in college, which she said was difficult in the Midwest dominated by Scandinavian culture.

“Some of that was learning Korean and trying to understand my roots more, and some of it was a broader exploration of sociology and history of both the U.S. and Korea,” Hwang said. “Just really trying to understand for myself who I wanted to be.”

TokkiTalk’s classes and events are detailed at tokkitalkmn.com and currently the organization is hosting Hwatu Night the third Thursday of every month at Moona Moono from 5-8 p.m.