Twisty-turny stories ^^*

Oksun Wed May 28 2008, 10:35

Written by Lee Kyeongim, Ryu JeongA, Jang Deukju, Park Bongkyung, Bae Haesol, Kang Eunmi

Hi! It's the year 2015. I am a Korean student and I have just graduated from high school. I really have to say that I feel very proud of and confident in my English proficiency. I am not a special student. I'm average. But almost all "average" students in Korea these days like English and can use it well. That's because English education in Korean public school is very different now compared to 10 years ago...

One of differences is that there are many students whose parents are not Korean. As time goes by, it is common to meet foreigners as spouse. For them English is not the second language. It's natural to be the bilingual. Half of them (students) are not pure Korean students. As I communicate and play with them, "English" subject is not difficult or boring.

Another difference is coming out of the effects of mass media,which allow students to listen to English more naturally than ever before. On TV, there are many entertainers who came from a diversity of nationalities. They usually speak English to make themselves understood and so many Korean students who are often exposed to those kinds of programs are much better in understanding the meaning of conversation. Therefore, it is common to hear them mix their mother tongue and English in their every conversation.

In retrospect to last 10 year, there has been English divide syndrome, which shows the more your parents have, the more chance your kids to do well at schools. That really goes same with learning English. Kids from high-income family could pick up joker card in the wild education system. Government couldn't take that joker from the high-income families but instead, government started to distribute to those who do not have. More fund earmarked for low-income kids and special service was provided.

We have the lesser number of students compared to those 10 years ago. My mom told me that she had 50 students in her high school days, which was 20 years ago. The number of students has gradually reduced to 20 per class. Therefore, students in the same class got to know each other better and the homeroom teacher cares with sincerity; In English class, we get corrections from the teacher more often than before, resulting in improvement of students' proficiency level. The frequent feedback deserves to get the credit for it.

Every English class, teacher shows one short sitcom to the class. Students watch the sitcom and have a discussion about it. Teacher tells us some new expressions and vocabularies. At first, watching an English sitcome was very difficult for us. But it's getting so much better! And it is very fun as well. Whenever I talk about sitcom with my friends. We sometimes use English to describe some situations.

A decade ago, speaking English is a big issue in Korea. However, speaking English well or not can't be a problem anymore. Everything has been changed, especially English education in our society. Millions of foreign visitors feel at home when they use English to any Koreans on the street. We make an effort to accept new English education system.