Keira Chung, an online program manager at the Seventh-day Adventist-run Samyook Language Institute in Seoul, Republic of South Korea, says while recent outbreaks of the H1N1 flu have slowed down the school, her online video language course remains unaffected.

In fact, "we're experiencing a greater [level] of interest," she says, smiling. The distance education program currently has 10,000 students enrolled. Ms. Chung, a twenty-something Korean, is one of the school's more than 800 teachers.

The school, formerly known as the SDA Language Institute, celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. Established in 1969 with just 700 students, today the school is considered Korea's top language school with over four million alumni.

Samyook Language Institute's President Si Young Kim calls the school's "quality" instructors its "biggest asset."

Sixty percent of it's teachers hail from the United States and Canada, followed by South Africans and representatives of other English-speaking countries, with twice as many Koreans teaching and serving as support staff.

"Our students prefer some English accents more than others," Kim says.

Whether from South Africa or Australia, Samyook employees say their experience is second to none as they file out of the Japanese language class offered to teachers.

Many smile when asked to comment about their experience. Out of the current 246 foreign teachers, several plan to continue beyond their initial one-year contracts. "We are enjoying the experience. We also have plenty to learn about Korea and the Koreans," a teacher from Australia says.

Paul Eun, a 28-year-old Canadian, spent 14 months as a missionary-teacher at the Institute. Now, he works for a non-affiliated language school and compares his experience now with his months spent at Samyook.

"Being in a more secular world, without having Christians around you, it's a little bit of a different environment," he says. "Being at [Samyook] you feel very safe and comfortable because you know the people around you have the same beliefs and that they respect what you believe as well."

Being a teacher at the institute is not without its challenges, teachers say. "This is no romanticized foreign service," one says. A brief conversation reveals a need for a more intercultural training and an easier teaching load.

Eun says he found the long hours and split shifts difficult. It was "a bit tough because sometimes we would teach [from 6 a.m.] up until 9 p.m., and we would be committed to the institute all day," he says, adding that while "Korea is a nice place to work," you "have to make some sacrifices."

Prior to their arrival in Korea, not all students realize that entering the teaching program might require them to teach classes as early as 6 a.m. The Institute is "addressing those issues," Kim says of the concerns teachers have shared.

Often the teacher's availability outside of the class hours makes the biggest difference in students' lives, however. Many say they appreciate being invited to a teacher's home for conversation and friendship.

Paul Song recalls the early days of his study in 1995. He learned English from a couple from California who were "kind and invited [me] to spend time outside the classroom. They opened their home," he remembers.

Song later joined the Adventist church and today works as a media producer in the church's Northern Asia-Pacific regional headquarters in Illsan, a suburb of Seoul.

Enrollment at Samyook this year stands at 50,000, down 10,000 from last year. School officials say they expect enrollment to pick up again after the H1N1 flu epidemic passes.

With growing enrollment comes the need for progress -- new technology, testing techniques and teaching methods, including distance learning, Kim says.

Standing at a door to a new language lab, Kim explains that students take the Oral Proficiency Interview inside, a new computerized test that is evaluated in the United States.

"Samsung offered to run this technological experiment with us. They see our language program as one worth working with," he says.

Kim is quick to emphasize, however, the school is above all a mission venture of the Adventist Church. "Our focus is to provide not only the best teaching but also to bring people to Jesus," he says.

Matthew Bediako, a world church vice president, tested the school's reputation when he visited last month. When he told locals where he was headed, they recognized not only the school's name, but also it's Adventist Church affiliation. "They probably studied there," Bediako says.