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Twisty-turny story-5/22

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Post  jihyun Sun May 25 2008, 15:27

(Park Mi-Hyun, Bae Sung-Han, Kim Young-ah, Jang Eun-Kil, Lee Pi-Su, and Park Bo-Yun)


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 schools is very different now compared to 10 years ago.....

First of all, our evaluation system has been changed. In the past, the evaluation focused mainly on reading ability. Now, however, we get tested for four abilities-Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing.
Accordingly, our classes have been changed as well. We do lots of practices in all sections.




Secondly, schools are only-English-speaking-zones now. That's why students easily speak in English instantly. Almost all the students used to use Korean only because they were not accustomed to using English in the school. After Evolutionary education began 5 years ago, they were a bit confused using English with other students. But some time later, students started to use it because they had known so much about the English language.




Third, in writing, most students are practicing writing essays by keeping a diary, writing a letter, invitation or resume etc.. Also, with some cartoons(about 6 to 10), students could make up new successive stories. They try to assemble the cartoon pictures in this way or that way. After several tries, as they wished, they completed the successive picture story. Then, students inserted some short sentences or conversation in those pictures. Finally, the students could make up their new stories. Through the discussion, they presented their own stories in front of the other students in English. This way, we could improve our writing abilities.




In addition, the goverment invested about 1% of GDP in English education, which is astronomical for implementing the English education polilcy alone. So nowadays if students want or need, a native English teacher can be assigned to one Korean student for a minimum of three weeks to help them better adapt themselves to the newly applied English calss environment. So, there are very few students joining a Hakwon for remedial classes. They have only to make friends with their native English speakers. For reference, all the native teachers of English need to work for a public school.




Furthermore, students are good at speaking English because there are more English speaking foreigners in Korea. They can strike up a conversation on the street and become friends with each other. Students don't feel uncomfortable when they encounter foreigners as they used to 10 years ago. The more frequent they meet foreigners, the more confident they feel about their English. Ten years ago, there were only a few foreigners who speak English in Korea, but now it is not uncommon for Koreans to speak with English speaking people.




Moreover, students have "English play" presented at the end of the semester. This helped us improve English very much and also gave whole school students a fantastic 'play' show time. Here is how it works. At the beginning of the semester, we are divided into groups usually by 10 to 15 students. During the semesters, we get to write the play and prepare everything on our own. It sounds hard but very entertaining and great time to gather with your friends. Everyone has one's responsibility and take a part in a play. We also get to see diverse English plays at the end of the semester.
jihyun
jihyun
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