So, what does Korea gain from being a “Republic of English?” [Chosun Ilbo, English]
Republic of English
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{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200705/200705020009.html
As the article astutely concluded, one of the biggest barriers preventing further advancement in English – especially spoken English – is how little of it is spoken outside the classroom.
This likely has to do with the relatively small number of people (foreigners) living in Korea who speak English as their 1st, 2nd (or 3rd, etc.,.) language, but are not fluent in Korean, thereby preferring to communicate in English. If practice makers perfect, lack of practice makes it very difficult to become perfect.
There’s no finger-pointing to be done – it’s just how it is.
In business, the sciences and gov’t services, knowing English would be a boon to Korea. The Chosun mentions Denmark and Sweden, where English is spoken not because there are so many foreigners there, but for the advantages it gives those countries in the EU and beyond.
Not everyone in Korea need learn English but some certainly should.
MigukNamja,
Yes, English education in Korea is EFL, not ESL. Try telling that to the government, though.
Well, Someguy,
while I fully understand what you mean, the distinction is very subtle, indeed…
Take the case of Switzerland. As you certainly know in this small but beautiful country there are 4 (four) national languages :
German, French, Italian, Romansh
So, these languages should not be “foreign” to the average Swiss citizen. But what is the reality ?
Knowledge of French among German-speakers is poor, knowledge of German among French-speakers is even poorer, knowledge of Italian and Romansh is virtually non-existent, except among the in-gropups of the native speakers…
Knowledge of English, however, is widespread among all linguistic groups, and the quality of the spoken and written English in Switzerland is generally excellent.
So much for the distinction between “second” and “foreign” languages…
It’s obvious that English learning is a miserable enterprise in Korea
The hagwon industry is miserable and rotten to the core.
I hope that 12 year old kids would throw rotten tomatos at their mothers for forcing them into hagwon hell. I wish that roaming gangs of disturbed youth would burn the hagwons to the ground.
once in a while a real gem claims he or she never went to hakwon, but for the vast majority of people with IQ’s in the 100 to 110′s, they need hakwon. They need hakwon to learn stuff, they need hakwon to pass national exams, they need hakwon to get that spot in society. South Koreans may sacrifice meat, imported goods, even home ownership, but they will not deny hakwon education for their children. Whoever said life in South Korea as a low end working class is very good…never experienced it.
wjk,
Why don’t the Korean teachers in Korean schools do the teaching? If the school teachers did their job, there would not be a need for hagwons. The fact that elementary school kids have to go to hagwons to pass their school tests is absurd. Isn’t that what their school teachers are getting paid for?
I don’t think anyone’s arguing that the public schools are doing a poor job of educating (although they may be, I don’t know). But their mission is not to prepare kids to pass standardized tests. Because that goal is important, however, the kids are getting that training elsewhere.
I would also think it’s a matter of keeping up with the Kims. If a kid is getting four or five extra hours of directed learning _after_ the school day, he’s going to be better prepared for whatever exam than the kid who isn’t.
Gerno, dogbertt answers your question.
Fantasy,
(Learning English is a worldwide trend. If I remember correctly, more than 70% of the speakers of English around the world (1.5 billion people) are non-native speakers.)
In any case, you’re oversimplifying it far more than I was. You seem to forget that the linguistic communities in Switzerland were traditionally geographically and culturally isolated from one another, and therefore language is probably highly politicized there –as it is the case in Canada with French and English (and even English and Spanish in the US). Yes, bilingualism –and in Switzerland’s case, multilingualism– often enforces linguistic pride (more precisely, ‘unilingual pride’), which creates a certain level of ‘competitiveness’ between speakers of the official languages, and therefore enforces one’s resistance to learn the other official language(s). English is obviously seen as a language for internationalization by the Swiss. Given English is not one of the official languages, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s its perceived neutrality (on top of its popularity around the world) that makes English a very attractive choice to those who wish to learn a second language.
Just a question: Given that the Swiss tourism industry is probably far better off than the Korean, don’t you think that the average Swiss can expect to communicate in English far more frequently than the average Korean? Wouldn’t the Swiss use English to communicate with one another when they encounter someone who speaks one of the other official languages? (I have yet to hear someone people from Seoul and Pusan switch to English because they didn’t understand one another.) Aren’t these enough to make English education in Switzerland ESL? If it isn’t, it’s close.
We all make the mistake of discussing English education in Korea as though the goal were to improve the English speaking skill of Koreans.
It is not so. The goal and function of English in Korea is to disqualify people for jobs.
English is a hoop, an updated version of the previous Chosen dynasty hoop of endlessly studying minutiae about how many Confucians could dance on the head of a pin. It gives the illusion of fairness (why, it’s based on merit! Anyone bright enough can study and pass!) which Koreans accept, while also being fundamentally unfair in that money counts (sending your kid to camp or even to school abroad, the best tutors, etc) which exasperates Koreans.
The above two opposed feelings result in a sort of mental deadlock, the current situation where the population is dissatisfied and knows English learning emphasis has reached lunatic levels, but nothing changes and changes are NOT EVEN PROPOSED.
There are not enough of the ‘right’ kinds of jobs in Korea for the legions of those applying. Therefore, English, as measured in tests like TOEIC and TOEFL, has been arbitrarily assigned to eliminate applicants.
When I used to teach in Kwangju, years ago, I remember one of my students was about to graduate from nursing and was very stressed about an upcoming English conversation and vocabulary test she needed just to apply to hospitals. I asked her if she thought she would ever use it on the job and she said that she already knew all the medical terms, but didn’t understand why she had to learn how to ask directions or talk about her favorite animal. “But the best hospital chooses the top 10 test-takers” she said. Here’s the hoop, miss.
If it were not English, it would be math, or Chinese, or memorizing what Confucius said after he burped that one time.
At the root, the English craze is really an employment craze.
(is what I forgot to add)
Hugh, I think your post (12) is somewhat out of date. Sorry I can’t elaborate – busy – but that’s my initial, gut reaction. Your post is good food for thought, though.
“In any case, you’re oversimplifying it far more than I was. You seem to forget that the linguistic communities in Switzerland were traditionally geographically and culturally isolated from one another, and therefore language is probably highly politicized there –as it is the case in Canada with French and English (and even English and Spanish in the US).”
Very true. Belgium, with Flemish and French, would be another example.
“As the article astutely concluded, one of the biggest barriers preventing further advancement in English – especially spoken English – is how little of it is spoken outside the classroom.”
This, and the emphasis on test scores in TOEIC or TOEFL – neither of which emphasis communicative ability (the former in particular) – are obstacles to Koreans being able to speak English.
However, as I point out to my university students on a daily basis, if they are genuinely interested in improving their communicative skills, they should make the most of the opportunities available to them (however limited they may or may not be).
Many don’t, and not so mysteriously, continue to – after years of English study – be unable to introduce themselves or someone else, make simple requests, or provide basic instructions or directions. Admittedly, these are things a lot of them will never need to do on a regular basis.
Someguy:
Yes, your analysis is very much in point – I myself am well aware of the points you are raising. I was, indeed, oversimplifying the issue because, although I know that you are a Francophone Canadian, I thought that the American majority on this blog might be confused by a more complicated analysis. Maybe I was mistaken here because, due to the ever increasing use of Spanish in parts of the US, Americans have become much more familiar with the issues of bi- and multilingualism than they were still in the 1990s.
“Wouldn’t the Swiss use English to communicate with one another when they encounter someone who speaks one of the other official languages? (I have yet to hear someone people from Seoul and Pusan switch to English because they didn’t understand one another.)”
Of course, you are correct here, as well, Someguy.
I may, however, point out that I, as a native speaker of German (from Germany) who likes going on vacation in Switzerland, I use English even “en Suisse alémanique” (German-speaking Switzwerland). If I used German there I would probably be understood, but would not be be able to fully grasp the reply, due to the widespread use of dialects.
Of course, my (Korean) wife and I look to the average Swiss mountain farmer like an Indian husband with a Chinese wife – so they would speak English to us, anyway. The problem is that my wife’s English, which was never very good, has become downright incomprehensible since she has started to learn German (and has become quite proficient in that language).
It seems that there are simply too many linguistic interferences between these somewhat related, yet very different languages. Thus it appears to be extremely difficult for the speaker of a third-language to switch between the two idioms without messing up both…
“Very true. Belgium, with Flemish and French, would be another example.”
Globalvillageidiot:
Yes, this is true – but I still want to correct you in detail, and I feel confident do so on the basis that, were I determined to do that, I could go to the German-Belgian border by bicycle in two hours or so, starting from my place of residence.
Belgium does, in fact have three official languages:
Dutch (around 62 pc of the population)
French (around 37 pc of the population)
German (around 1 pc of the population)
The Dutch spoken in Belgium is sometimes referred to as “Flemish”, as the area where it is spoken is called “Vlaanderen” (Flanders).
The three “linguistic communities” generally live quite seperate lives, with little contact between them (as in Switzerland); the defendant in a criminal trial does, however, have the right to demand that the proceedings be conducted in his preferred language (provided it is one of the three), irrespective of where in Belgium the trial takes place.
“Let’s Speaking!”, says the advertisement depicted in the photo in the article. An advertisement for an English hakwon. Amusing.
The energy wasted in English education reminds me of the energy wasted in French education in Canada, at least in the province of British Columbia where I have personal experience in. I went through the Canadian education system, spent around 5 years, give or take a year, learning French. I got all A’s.
But if a Francophone comes up to me and starts speaking French to me, I’m going to have to ask, “Do you speak English?” because I can barely remember how to say “Parlez-vous anglais?” spontaneously. It’s because outside of classrooms, there’s absolutely zero situations where you’d encounter French. I consider the effort I spent in “learning” French (mandatory French courses in public schools because Canada’s officially a bilingual country, although not really in practice in most provinces) a complete waste. Looks like Korea’s wasting time learning a language the average person is almost never going to use too.
i was recently in hong kong and an investor asked about a recent korean education startup: “big money, fantastic profit margin. the education businesses revenue in korea is really astounding compared to other countries in asia.”
then during dinner with a member of the hong kong trade and development council: “korea-great food, too nationalistic, can’t speak english.”
both were right.
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