Yonsei Korea

English Education

Early Studying Abroad Boom of Korea by Jung Yeon

Nowadays in Korea, advertises which urge under high school student to study abroad are found out in various newspapers. There are several reasons why early studying abroad is booming in Korea. First, Koreans lives in strong academic clique formed or diplomaism society, so fierce competitions exist to enter prestigious schools. They are too stressful for enduring the educational circumstances by hard competitions. Next, Koreans are tired of their cramming education. They expect better education of advanced nations, like U.S.A, U.K, and Canada. Many Koreans also take degrees from universities which located in Korea. Because of that reason, it is not easy to get good occupations with diplomas of Korean universities. To get better job, Korean need to go abroad for studying. They are bound to do it anyhow. As a result, young Korean students want to go abroad. They leave Korea to find hope.

The Problem of Early English Education by Moon Mi-jin

Early English education affects negatively children. According to international trend, parents focus on only English education to their children, so children in Korea get unbalanced education. If a person doesn't get balanced education, he or she can't be a broad minded person. It is important to get balanced education as if human body needs all kinds of nutrition. Next, early English education burdens children, and it causes childeren to feel uneasy. A few days ago, I watched a TV program about a young child who got an early English education. He unconsciously watched English learning program although he couldn't speak mother tongue yet. As he grew up, he got to have a language difficulty and showed nervousness. Third, children can mistake their identity when they accept the second language before they master mother tongue. Language training in a childhood affects greatly one's identity, because language is a part of one country's culture. For example, Koreans get to learn Korean culture as they learn their own language. When children learn two languages at a time, Korean and English, they may feel embarrassed who they are and what country they belong. To make children learn English early causes problems, and it also causes problems to follow international trend uncritically.

Early English Education And Its Side Effects in Korea by Choi, Jae Pil

Early English education is booming among children in Korea these days. Many Korean children are learning English by native speakers and so the English level of them has become quite higher than before. However some side effects of learning English from too early years are emerging also in Korea now. First, it may be very risky for children to learn a foreign language before they master their mother tongue. Actually children are too young to learn another language as well as their language, even though some linguists insist the importance of early age to learn a language efficiently. Nowadays some Korean parents want their babies to learn English even before they start learning to speak Hangul (the Korean alphabet) just desiring them to speak English better than other children. However it may rather lead them into confusion between English and Korean, and even sometimes cause them to have speech defect. Second, learning another language can cause a lot of stress to children, so they may lose interest in it so early. Many Korean students seem to be under too much stress to learn English. They have to study English in school regardless of their intentions, because English is a required subject in Korean school and also one of the most important one in SAT for the college entrance. That is why most Korean parents want their children to study English as early as possible to achieve good grades in tests when they go to school. Although the eagerness of Korean parents for the English study of their children is educational and desirable, they should know that their children could lose interest in English because of their obsession with early English learning. Finally, from the viewpoint of a social problem, most Korean parents spend too much money on the early English learning for their children. Many English institutes, big or small, are spreading over the Korea recently due to the need of early English education to children. It is good for the children to have a chance to learn English by native speakers but the problem is that the tuition fee is quite expensive to the common people in Korea. As a result of it, some of Korean mothers even do part-time jobs to make money for their children's English learning. The market of English education in Korea is so overheated now but the enthusiasm of parents for their children's English learning still keeps arousing. This is the dilemma of early English education in Korea now. Early English education must be a good opportunity for children to learn English effectively in Korea, but it has some negative effects on children, family, and society, too.

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