English education in Korea is a huge industry. Hundreds, if not thousands, of English study books are being published every year and a growing number of parents are sending their kids to English-only kindergartens.

But the majority of Korean learners struggle, something often attributed to the methods they use and ineffective education policies.

Benjamin Kalt, professor of TESOL Graduate School at Dankook University, says that Korea’s English education system is “broken” and parties involved should admit that there are problems to be fixed.

Kalt, who earned a master’s degree in TESOL at Columbia University, encourages Korean learners to seek more effective strategies in a departure from the traditional concept of “No pain, no gain.”

Kalt also shares his perspective on other related topics such as age factor in learning a new language, online materials, accent training and standardized English tests.

The following is an excerpt of an email interview.

Korea Herald: In your perspective, what are the most pressing issues or problems for Korea’s English education?

Kalt: No country in the world spends more time, energy or money on English education than Korea. Total 2008 spending was near 15 trillion won ($ 12 billion) and yet Korea ranked 19th out of 20 countries on the IELTS and 136th out of 161 nations on the TOEFL speaking section.

The country’s English education system is broken. Despite the numbers, many students, parents, and teachers still truly believe in the system or believe only minor changes are called for. They hear stories of Koreans habitually studying English to exhaustion and getting accepted to Harvard or Yale and believe all that is needed is more hard work and more hours at “elite” academies when what is needed is much more fundamental change.

The biggest problem is denying there is a problem. Until government, teachers, parents and students can dispassionately reflect, respect one another and admit there are problems and decide to work together to address them, parents will continue to spend, students will continue to suffer psychologically and test scores will not go up.

KH: What steps or methods do you recommend for Korean students to improve their English proficiency?

Kalt: The difference between good language learners and bad language learners is not IQ or a special language ability but “love of learning” and study methods. Many students sincerely believe that English is extremely difficult so they dutifully accept the pain and tedium of memorization and “study” as a simple fact of life, almost like paying penance. The pain is unnecessary and much of the time is wasted.

I recommend students follow their own interests and try to enjoy themselves. Watch English-language movies, TV shows, read Harry Potter or children’s books, read online fashion, sports, celebrity magazines, listen to music, Google “funny commercials” or “fun English” and just start looking around at any English language sites that interest you.

Once you’ve found things you like, do them regularly, create goals based on what you do and write them on a calendar, and track your progress, repeat words and phrases you hear, pay close attention to context and try to understand the main idea not the details and most importantly relax and have fun.

Many students may feel this is more like playing than studying but it is actually a more effective way to study. Be patient and in a few months you will see real improvement. “No pain, no gain” needs to be replaced with “work smarter, not harder.”

KH: What should Korean parents know when it comes to bilingual education for their kids?

Kalt: My advice to parents is to do your research. Talk to parents, talk to kids (in English if you can, if they answer you in English that is a great sign) and see if they enjoy learning and then observe actual classes and look for student-teacher interaction and active, spontaneously speaking students as opposed to diligent students doing written work.

The clearest advantage of starting young is native-like pronunciation, so kindergartens that focus on speaking skills give you more bang for your buck. All-English kindergartens also have a major social and psychological impact on children. I recommend having a mature discussion before sending your child to an all-English kindergarten explaining why they are being thrown into an English environment.

KH: What is the latest trend or research on the limitation set by age in learning a foreign language, and what’s your advice for adult learners?

Kalt: Most research shows that language learning abilities gradually decline over time, but, more importantly, studies also show that it is possible to learn a language at almost any age if you have time, motivation and study appropriately.

I am an adult learner trying to learn Korean right now and I read Korean-language Aesop fables and any story books I can find that are at my level. I have found, for improving proficiency, reading many easy books is much more effective than reading a few difficult books.

KH: Korean learners often struggle with their accent. What should be done to improve their accent and pronunciation?

Kalt: Many Korean learners feel that a good accent is a talent that some people are born with and others are not. This is not only discouraging for many but also largely inaccurate. Pronunciation of individual sounds is relatively amenable to instruction, stress and intonation are more difficult but can be dramatically improved as well, but you need teachers with “good” accents and teaching know-how.

Disillusioned Korean adults who believe they will always have a bad accent might be happy to learn that, globally, outsourcing of corporate call centers, especially to India, has spawned an “accent reduction” industry that has proven quite effective in reducing or eliminating heavy Indian adults’ accents in order to communicate with North American customers. Basically, with focused study anyone can improve their accent.

KH: What is an effective strategy to take full advantage of English newspaper, magazine and other media materials for learning English?

Kalt: Quickly reading an article from start to finish has minimal effect on learning. The most important thing when reading is to read actively, reading with a pen is a good start.

First, you have to find articles that are of particular interest to you and not too difficult for your proficiency level. Then pause frequently in your reading and summarize what you’ve read in your own words, try to guess the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary from the context, write reflective or analytical questions in the margins, circle new words, phrases and expressions and repeat them to yourself and keep a notebook of all the sentences (not just the individual words or phrases) that contain something you want to remember.

If you can’t figure something out, Google it in English and keep searching until you understand and then write it in your notebook. Review your notebook regularly and try to integrate what you’ve learned into your actual speech.

KH: What are the most memorable episodes in your teaching experience in Korea that you want to share with our readers?

Kalt: I once tutored a 17-year-old high school student hoping to study at a North American university. He talked regularly of his visits with his psychiatrist to treat depression.

He had spent four years in New Zealand without his family and was badly traumatized by the experience and still struggling to speak English fluently. He also told me that if he was not a millionaire by age 30 he would kill himself. As a teacher trainer, his case is a constant reminder to me that what we do as parents and teachers has a profound impact on young peoples’ lives and that there are things that are more important than English language proficiency and material wealth.

Prof. Benjamin Kalt can be reached at bek2109@columbia.edu.

By Yang Sung-jin

(insight@heraldm.com)

2009.05.28

Lee Keun-chull does not believe in perfection when it comes to learning English. After all, trying to obtain a high level of English proficiency in every field is not only impossible, but fatally discouraging.

“The most important thing is to have a purpose-based approach,” Lee said. “If I want to sell clothes at Dongdaemun market, I will focus on certain expressions, and if I want to become a reporter for an English newspaper, I will focus on writing.”

Lee said the frustrations facing Korean learners stem from their misguided desire to “master” general-purpose English proficiency, an aim that is unobtainable and, just as importantly, impractical.

Lee has gained a reputation as a celebrated English teacher here, thanks especially to his job as the host of Good Morning Pops, a long-running English learning program on state-run KBS. He has also published a dozen books including “Try Again,” a blockbuster hit that sold more than 500,000 copies here.

For all his success, Lee stressed that his English proficiency works in only select fields and he never attempts to do what he cannot. For instance, he does not believe he has an edge in interpretation from Korean to English, compared with others who have lived for many years in English speaking countries.

Many Korean learners of English despair about their lack of experience in those countries, but Lee said that such a negative attitude will not help.

“Even Korean speakers find it very difficult to host a party or conduct a business meeting in professional Korean, which means those who have foreign experiences tend to be poor in the Korean language,” Lee said. “We don’t have to be perfect in every field, and things get tough when we get trapped in an obsession, which is also true for learning English.”

Lee, otherwise known as “Jake” among his foreign friends, recently published “How to Revive Your Dead English,” an everyday expression title, together with Park Soo-hong, a comedian and radio show host. The new book is part of Lee’s efforts to help Korean learners implement self-study programs based on a daily schedule.

“This book is centered on a concept that one useful English pattern, if properly learned, can pave the way for other practical expressions in everyday conversations,” Lee said. From the wake-up call to bed time, essential English sentence patterns such as “Time to get up” are presented along with comic illustrations so that learners can practice while following their daily schedule.

“For beginners, less is more,” Lee said, adding that instead of trying to memorize a lot of expressions at a time, practicing one good expression or pattern again and again is much more effective.

“If you really know how to use ‘Time to’ pattern, you can apply it to other situations, such as ‘Time to hit the road” and so forth. This pattern is very simple, but you have to imagine that you are using it in real situations, and I recommend that you practice it whenever possible for about a week,” Lee said.

Lee said that once learners recite the key pattern for more than 30 times over a period of a week, they are now ready to use the pattern accurately and appropriately. “Using a mirror while practicing such key pattern is also recommended because you can self-correct your own accent,” Lee said.

Lee also encourages intermediate and advanced learners to use purpose-driven approach to English multimedia content. Many Korean learners watch English-language TV series and movies, but passive watching is a waste of time, he said.

“You have to divide, for instance, an American TV drama into five-minute segments, and study them separately,” Lee said. At first, learners should watch the five-minute clip without any script or caption. On a second viewing, Korean caption should be turned on so that learners can grasp what the characters in the drama are talking about. On a third viewing, English captions should be turned on, this time for checking what has been missed.

“Did I miss the pronunciation of a word, or did I miss a situation here? You should ask questions about what you don’t understand and you should take enough time to identify what you don’t know in that five-minute clip, and only then can you make real progress,” Lee said.

Watching a single episode just once is not enough, Lee said. “Watch the episode again and again, if possible, more than 10 times, because you practice a lot to internalize what you have learned through the five-minute sessions,” he said.

Dictation is another good form of practice for improving listening comprehension, but Lee said learners should narrow down the subject for dictation materials according to their own interest.

“Almost every topic is now available in English on the internet, a dramatically positive development for Korean learners, but the explosive growth of online content in English means that learners should make efforts to locate where the information they want is located,” Lee said.

Lee started teaching English on a cable network in October 1995 and took up the host position for Good Morning Pops radio show in June 2007.

“I’m an English teacher, but I make mistakes occasionally when I use English. After all, nobody is perfect and my Korean isn’t perfect, even though I’m Korean, so don’t get obsessed with the idea that you have to master everything,” Lee said.

By Yang Sung-jin

(insight@heraldm.com)

2009.06.04

However, after a number of years of fighting the constant preaching of “you must” or “you should,” I’ve simply realized “I can.”  Why do kids rebel?  It’s because they “can.”  Why do children not listen to their parents?  It’s because if the parent doesn’t scold them, they “CAN” get away with it.  Why do we do many things in life?  It’s because we CAN…

So, when you finally realize in life (it may not be as a middle school student, but it CAN be…), you’ll WANT to work hard because you CAN! Honestly, you CAN also NOT work hard. It’s an answer a lot of cynical kids ask me after I tell them they “CAN” do it. However, you might as well “die” because you’re wasting a lot of air and water if you honestly don’t want to work hard. The more depressed will say then “I’ll just die.” However, I’d reply very quickly: …just remember one good time in life where you laughed so hard that your stomach hurt! Remember a time where you literally got a tingly feeling in your stomach or felt your heart drop because you saw a girl or boy you thought was absolutely gorgeous.  Remember the moment of something incredibly tasty in your mouth? Well, it would be a waste of all those years and times, if you decided to just end it…you have many more chances for all of this again and again. You CAN do it!

I love Rob Schneider’s quote “You can do it!” from above! It’s so true…