The Importance of Learning English
This morning I came across a New York Times story that says, “By 2015…12 prestigious Western schools will have opened branch campuses in a government-financed, 940-acre Jeju Global Education City…where everyone — students, teachers, administrators, doctors, store clerks — will speak only English. The first school…broke ground for its campus this month.”
I had no idea, but it’s more proof that Koreans are crazy about learning to speak English. So many people have asked me why I decided to come to Korea. It can be an overlooked country. Initially, I dreamed of teaching English in Europe or South America. After some research I realized it’s much more difficult and hardly as lucrative to teach in, for example, Spain or Argentina. Koreans are serious about education (it’s already QUITE clear to me) and an important part of education for Koreans right now is English. They know how important the language is for globalization and they’re willing to employ hundreds, if not thousands, of teachers in their country just to educate kids in English.
The other weekend I was talking to a teacher at a different school who claims the hagwons here are an education revolution. He thought there would be pages in the history books describing the blooming business of English education in South Korea. Revolution or not, it’s definitely seen as a business. Administrators and teachers at my school view the parents as our clients and we’re expected to work hard to impress and please them. It’s a much different mindset after attending public school my whole life. But these families are paying a pretty penny to send their kids to the schools. The children do deserve a top notch English education if that’s what they seek.