Jeffrey Holliday began his "uncommon" class with an attendance check, matching the names of his students with their faces. A few latecomers entered the classroom, apparently trying to be unobtrusive.

At first glance, it may look like just one of those routine college classes offered in English that have become popular in South Korea.

But Holliday, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, was lecturing on an unexpected subject: the linguistics of Korean, more specifically "sociolinguistics," a study of dialectal and gender variation in speech.

He is the first-ever full-time foreign professor to teach a Korean linguistics course at Korea University, a major school in Seoul.

Less than a month into his work here, Holliday is not only burdened with adjusting to his new life but also media attention.

He would not describe his job as special, given that many Koreans teach English in Korean.

"I understand that it's uncommon, but as there already exist many other professors who teach the linguistics of languages that they are not native speakers of, I don't see why my case is particularly interesting," he said in a recent interview.

Even so, it's arguably unusual for a foreigner to have mastered the Korean language both orally and linguistically as well as teach it.

The university picked him in recognition of his specialty.

"Professor Holliday has researched the acquisition and change of the Korean language from the phonetic viewpoint," said Seo Min-kyoung, a communication official at the school. "While there have been a lot of studies on the phonetics of English, his linguistic study on Korean stands out."

His class, in particular, is expected to benefit foreigners learning Korean, she added.

His twice-a-week lecture, with around 35 students registered, was actually a melting pot of different nationalities, with about half the students being Koreans and the remainder from various other countries, including the U.S., China, Vietnam, Ukraine, and New Zealand.

"For all of my students, I hope they gain a better understanding of how Korean language is used differently by different people," he said. "For Koreans, this may involve breaking down some stereotypes or preconceived notions about language. For non-Koreans, it will probably involve just learning more about Korean."

Interacting with students is a priority of his. He told his students to participate actively in the class or drop it. He has also encouraged them to interact with one another.

The students' response was largely "so far, so good."

Emerging from the 75-minute lecture, a female exchange student from Texas said it was quite useful and interesting. The theme of the class that day was "Accent, dialect and language."

A Korean student expressed satisfaction with an opportunity to meet foreign students.

Holliday, who is fond of language, came across Korean in 2000 through Korean friends while majoring in accounting at Ohio State University.

He first came to South Korea in 2002 to study the language at Korea University's language education center.

"I started studying Korean simply for amusement," he said.

He has a Korean name, "Ha Jin-pyo." He's fluent in Korean, of course, but giving the lecture in English at the request of the university.

Asked half-jokingly about whether he has any desire to appear on a popular TV talk show "Non-summit," which features a panel of non-Korean men discussing various topics in Korean, he gave a firm no.

He would not talk about his long-term career plans, saying he is concentrating on what he is doing now.

He said he hopes to be remembered simply as a professor who was good at teaching.

Some day, if successful, a Korean language class taught by a non-Korean professor may no longer be "uncommon." (Yonhap)