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normalcyispasse
Joined: 27 Oct 2006
Location: Yeosu until the end of February WOOOOOOOO
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 Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 5:23 am Post subject: I Myung-bak to "revamp English language education" |
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http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest%2BNews/Asia/STIStory_205075.html
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Feb 10, 2008
Incoming S. Korean govt to revamp English language education
By Lee Tee Jong, South Korea Correspondent
IN SEOUL - SOUTH KOREAN children learn English throughout their 12 years in school, but most are shy about speaking the language.
One reason may be that in South Korean schools, English is taught in Korean.
South Korea ranked the lowest among 12 countries in East Asia for communication in English in a 2003 report by the Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy. Little has improved since.
Now, the incoming government of Mr Lee Myung Bak, who won the presidential polls last December, wants to change all that.
It has announced drastic plans to revamp the teaching of English, seeing this as an important step in strengthening the country's competitiveness.
Mr Lee, who assumes office on Feb 25, has thrown his weight behind the changes spearheaded by his transition committee. He said: 'In this globalised world, English is indispensable.
'The type of job and treatment a person gets depends much on his English ability. Countries which use English tend to be richer than those that do not.'
While numerous South Korean parents have recognised the value of English and have been paying heavily to give their children a leg up through private tuition, the new government's ideas still proved startling.
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I'd really like to see what his "drastic plans" entail. I'd also be curious as to what language he actually used when n he said, "In this globalised world, English is indispensable. The type of job and treatment a person gets depends much on his English ability" because I'm guessing it wasn't English. |
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mikekim
Joined: 11 Aug 2006
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| Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 5:28 am Post subject: |
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| get rid of konglish and make either english-only or hangul-only signs, slogans etc |
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kiwiduncan
Joined: 18 Jun 2007
Location: New Zealand
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| Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 5:55 am Post subject: |
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A reporter recently asked 2MB what he really thought of his own policies and this was his reaction.
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SHANE02
Joined: 04 Jun 2003
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| Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 6:06 am Post subject: |
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| Hey, his eyes are open in that pic! |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 8:48 pm Post subject: |
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| If you're going to write 이 with just one letter, why would you choose "I" instead of "E"? |
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flummuxt
Joined: 15 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 9:01 pm Post subject: |
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mikekim:
| Quote: |
| get rid of konglish and make either english-only or hangul-only signs, slogans etc |
I disagree with both alternatives.
ABBA has demonstrated conclusively that the best way to teach English as a Second Language is in Swedish. |
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normalcyispasse
Joined: 27 Oct 2006
Location: Yeosu until the end of February WOOOOOOOO
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| Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 10:30 pm Post subject: |
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| Ya-ta Boy wrote: |
| If you're going to write 이 with just one letter, why would you choose "I" instead of "E"? |
Both have their shortcomings, I suppose. I think I picked up that habit from transliterating Japanese. |
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nicholas_chiasson
Joined: 14 Jun 2007
Location: Samcheok
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| Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 11:35 pm Post subject: |
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| IPA long e is /i/ as in french Merci, or Italian Innocente. |
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Roch
Joined: 24 Apr 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 11:43 pm Post subject: |
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| SHANE02 wrote: |
| Hey, his eyes are open in that pic! |
Weed was very popular here until the '70s and he's looked high as a kite in all of his other photos. Hmmm... |
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oilme
Joined: 10 Dec 2007
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| Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 12:22 am Post subject: |
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my korean co-teachers have told me that LMB has released specifics of this plan. they said that by 2012(?) all subjects in korean public schools will be taught in english. that's right, not just one english class a day, but ALL SUBJECTS IN ENGLISH.
this means that foreigners will be in higher demand. i assume (and hope) that students will also have to be taught the regular subjects in korean by a korean teacher(since some material is too dense to be fully comprehended in another language) but instead of having one math class per day they will now have 2: one in english, one in korean. this means the school day will be dramatically lengthened.
if they do not implement the dual language classes i also anticipate the korean education system experiencing a decline in quality.
what do you hear/think? |
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normalcyispasse
Joined: 27 Oct 2006
Location: Yeosu until the end of February WOOOOOOOO
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| Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 12:24 am Post subject: |
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| oilme wrote: |
my korean co-teachers have told me that LMB has released specifics of this plan. they said that by 2012(?) all subjects in korean public schools will be taught in english. that's right, not just one english class a day, but ALL SUBJECTS IN ENGLISH.
this means that foreigners will be in higher demand. i assume (and hope) that students will also have to be taught the regular subjects in korean by a korean teacher(since some material is too dense to be fully comprehended in another language) but instead of having one math class per day they will now have 2: one in english, one in korean. this means the school day will be dramatically lengthened.
if they do not implement the dual language classes i also anticipate the korean education system experiencing a decline in quality.
what do you hear/think? |
Actually, I read just the other week that they dropped the plans to teach entirely in English. |
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oilme
Joined: 10 Dec 2007
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| Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 12:33 am Post subject: |
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| good riddance |
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jdog2050
Joined: 17 Dec 2006
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| Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 12:43 am Post subject: |
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| oilme wrote: |
| good riddance |
Someone trolled a couple of weeks ago on possibly adding more characters to Hangeul. I don't think that's a stupid idea. Think of how much trouble Koreans would save themselves if, from childhood, they learned a character for the actual sound of "th", "j", and "z". You could even add a character soft vowel/consonant endings--no more "changee" or "Georgee Bushee". |
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jvalmer
Joined: 06 Jun 2003
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| Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 2:06 am Post subject: |
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| jdog2050 wrote: |
| oilme wrote: |
| good riddance |
Someone trolled a couple of weeks ago on possibly adding more characters to Hangeul. I don't think that's a stupid idea. Think of how much trouble Koreans would save themselves if, from childhood, they learned a character for the actual sound of "th", "j", and "z". You could even add a character soft vowel/consonant endings--no more "changee" or "Georgee Bushee". |
Korean already has a "j" sound. But, apparantly originally Korean did have a sound that was similar the the "th" sound and the "z", but for some reason or another worked its way out of the language. |
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Julius
Joined: 27 Jul 2006
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| Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 2:48 am Post subject: Re: I Myung-bak to "revamp English language education&q |
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| normalcyispasse wrote: |
South Korea ranked the lowest among 12 countries in East Asia for communication in English in a 2003 report . |
It has improved a touch over the past 5 years.
But still very slow progress. Its hard to learn a language when it is of a society villified and negatively portrayed in your culture. |
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