Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Real Reality]

Koreans Waste W15 Trillion on Private English Lessons
South Koreans spend 15 trillion won per year for private English education, but this large sum of money does not produce effective results, according to a report by the Samsung Economic Research Institute Thursday.

According to Political and Economic Risk Consultancy, a consulting firm in Hong Kong, foreigners selected South Korea among 12 Asian countries as the country where communication in English is the most difficult. Koreans themselves do not think their practical English skills are good. A survey conducted in 2003, indicated 74.2 percent of Seoul's citizens said they have difficulty communicating in English or hardly speak the language.
By Kim Rahn, Korea Times (November 16, 2006)
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200611/kt2006111619263511970.htm

[shifter2009]

shhhhhh, don't tell THEM that.......

[crazy_arcade]

Wow good work on this one buddy!

Rule of thumb for foriegners in Korea's major cities: Need help...talk to someone between the age of 11 and 24. Problem solved.

[Ginormousaurus]

This isn't gonna be good for business.

[jajdude]

Surely not all of that money is wasted.. a lot of it is well spent, as some do actually improve at English, a lot.

I would have thought Japan or China would be hardest. My guess is that this merely reflects businesspeople's opinions, who don't deal with the public so much while staying in expensive hotels and eating in expensive restaurants during their brief stays..

[Homer]

Well considering the quality of the lessons they get sometimes...I agree with ya RR..Koreans are wasting money on private lessons at times when they hire a clown instead of a teacher...

[mindmetoo]

Although not good for us, I really do wish parents got a huge clue and realized shoving their kids 6 nights a week in hagwon isn't really teaching them anything. If they complain about the high cost of hagwon education, they should stop packing their kids off to hagwon every night. It's just herd mentality. "Everyone else is doing it, I don't want my kids to fall behind."

[Homer]

Well mindmetoo...thats a big statement.

I think sending students to hakwons can be beneficial up to a point. I agree that too much extra hakwon work and it becomes a negative.

However for language acquisition, extra classes can be very beneficial.

[The Man known as The Man]

No, they do not.


Koreans won't be wasting money on private lessons.


Privates are illegal.

[Ginormousaurus]

[The Man known as The Man]

That's right, privates are illegal.

[ChuckECheese]

I think part of the problem (not learning English) in Korean public school is that the K-education system got K-teachers in charge of the classroom rather than FTs.

It should be other way around. FTs in charge and K-teachers assisting.

[Mashimaro]

[Satori]

[Mashimaro]