Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bogey666]

supposedly called TEPS..

developed by the University of Seoul for internal (read "Korean") consumption.

does that university have an English Dept?

if so. it should be FIRED. En Masse.

and if they have a native teacher he/she should be deported.

I looked thru the tests today.. and the 2nd year HS test has at least 2 GLARINGLY bad multiple choice options (by this I mean completely INCORRECT)

and the first year test has one obvious error.

"I need to lean on your support".

the second year errors are funnier.. I don't have the test in front of me.. I'll print those later.

It's incomprehensible to me that a country that takes its English learning so seriously and employs myriads of native English speakers in its school system can put out complete F... king.. error driven drivel such as these "tests".

who are these clowns?
don't they employ proofreaders? how can a person who "developed" these options be employed as an English instructor?

embarrassing. really embarrassing. I felt compelled to comment to my VP about this.

[Countrygirl]

Proofreaders? Government signs on buses and the printing on products are never proofread. You would think with spellcheckers that at least they would get the spelling right.

I wonder if the obvious mistakes that we see on the English tests occur in the other subjects as well. Or is it only in English?

[sunhelen]

I think it is only English.

[bogey666]

[Poemer]

Anyone familiar with the Korean education system and its relationship with the English language knows that a test of English made by Koreans is going to be a total catastrophe. But, the tests made by Koreans are only used within Korea for use by Korean customers, as far as I know. Most of the people applying to jobs in Korea that require an English test will never actually need English for their job anyway, so nobody will likely ever notice that the test is a joke. These tests are just another facet of the the glaringly flawed jewel of "English education" in Korea. "Hey, ETS charges too much for testing! We will make our own English test, and charge an even more ridiculous price, if you consider our total lack of expertise and the minimal effort we put into it!"

[pkang0202]

I would imagine the test if bad. I think the TOEIC test is ridiculous too.

[sunhelen]

A few years ago I saw an education documentary that filmed a committee of Massachusetts state board of education evaluating questions for a high school history test that had been provided by ETS. NONE of the questions were acceptable. The committee sat around for a while trying to rewrite some of the questions, but eventually they decided that ETS had not fulfilled their contract. The questions seemed to have been written by someone who did not understand why students need to study history.