higher education and employment opportunities. Photo courtesy Gyeonggi English Village Yangpyeong Camp
Education in Korea is a serious business. Hagwons (private learning academies) are ubiquitous and are packed with students working late into the night.
However, private education comes at a price. There are many stories of parents getting second and sometimes even third jobs to help pay for their child’s hagwon fees. This has created a growing divide between the haves and the have-nots in Korea.
Children whose parents can foot the bill for a high-level hagwon have a huge advantage over students whose parents cannot afford such an opportunity.
However, some parents in Jeju City are trying to bridge the gap.
They have formed a group called “While We Are Listening” to help educate their children without private education. The group meets twice a month to talk about methods to help their children in their studies.
The name “While We Are Listening” comes from the Jeju dialect phrase 들엄시민. The group seeks to research ways other than the rote memorization so prevalent in schools to assist children learning English. The organization is currently assembling lists of both emotionally and intellectually stimulating videos. The children watch these videos without subtitles, either Korean or English.
In the testimonials on the Jeju Alternative Institute Community Web site, a mother of three wrote that she wanted to send her eldest (who was in grade six) to an English hagwon, but her husband subbornly objected. After finding out about the “While We Are Listening” program, she decided, though skeptical, to give it a try.
Over the course of a year the videos she used as educational tools produced results. “My child no longer complained about watching movies without Korean subtitles.”
“Also, when he compared himself to his friends who attend English academies, he used to say ‘I can’t speak English’ but now he’s got the confidence to group himself in with those friends. It seems like his self confidence is growing.”
The mother said that since she’s seen positive results with their oldest, she plans to use the system with her other two children.
During meetings, one of the several English teachers in the group conducts a class with the members’ children. These small classes focus on listening and speaking rather than memorizing vocabulary and grammatical structures. The classes are free-flowing and diverge into small group discussions to discuss the subject material being covered.
Advanced students read and talk about news items, as well as study books like Greg Mortensen’s Three Cups of Tea. Younger students play games and go on outings where they learn English expressions.
“While We Are Listening” began in August of 2008 at the Jeju Alternative Community, an organization that provides space and funding for issues of local interest. Recently, they received approval from the Jeju Office of Education and will be using the facilities at the Foreign Language Center in Jeju City over the Winter break.
The group is open to anyone interested in a new form of English education and is a great alternative to the increasingly expensive and time-consuming private education that has become the norm here in Korea.
Learning a foreign language is a unique and challenging task that is not well-suited to traditional educational methods. Korea has made massive efforts to improve its English programs yet it still lags behind other countries in its number of English language speakers. “While We Are Listening” thinks outside the box and poses a solution to this oft talked-about subject. Community action and hard work are what will overhaul the education system in Korea.
“While We Are Listening” is a great start. <Jeju Weekly>
<David Ederer contributor@jejuweekly.com ⓒ Jeju Weekly All rights reserved>
