Few people in the world are more psychologically disturbed because of English than Koreans. Koreans admit that English is one of the most important professional qualifications, and that people with little knowledge of English might be at a disadvantage in their jobs. Many of them “risk” their lives to conquer English. But most of them don’t know how to study it. Unlike Japanese, which has a grammatical structure very similar to Korean, English has a very different linguistic structure, and this becomes more important as people become more advanced in their study. The grammar oriented study in the schools brings only trouble to people when they are faced with real speaking and listening situations.
The lack of English skills, especially in speaking and writing, is also said to impede the further economic development of our society. Some people jokingly say there is only one way to reverse this trend: English speaking and writing should be included in university entrance exams. This would definitely guarantee immediate success because Korean parents and students would do whatever it takes to enter top-class universities.
1.Why do you study English? 2.How long have you studied English? 3.What is the most difficult thing for you in your English studies? 4.What do you think is the best way to study English? 5.Have you ever used an English-English dictionary? 6.Have you ever written a letter or a diary in English? 7.What do you think about current English teaching methods in middle and high schools? 8.Have you ever studied some other foreign language? What is the difference between it and English? 9.Do you think it’s OK to teach English in elementary schools? 10.Do you read English newspapers? 11.Have you ever tried to watch programs on AFKN? 12.Which do you think is more difficult, speaking or writing English?
