SOUTH KOREA: STUDENTS AT "ENGLISH VILLAGE" CAMP IMMERSE THEMSELVES IN LEARNING THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Record ID: 346873

  • Title: SOUTH KOREA: STUDENTS AT "ENGLISH VILLAGE" CAMP IMMERSE THEMSELVES IN LEARNING THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
  • Date: 19th October 2004
  • Summary: (L!1) ANSAN, SOUTH KOREA (RECENT) (REUTERS) WIDE OF EXTERIOR OF ENGLISH CAMP WIDE OF CAMP GATE WITH "ENGLISH VILLAGE" SIGN VARIOUS OF STUDENTS CHECKING IN IMMIGRATION DESK WIDE OF SEATED STUDENTS CLOSE OF STUDENT FILLING OUT IMMIGRATION CARD WIDE OF STUDENT IN CAMP BANK WIDE OF CAMP DIRECTOR CARL DUSTHIMER SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) CAMP DIRECTOR CARL DUSTHIMER SAYING: "We
  • Embargoed: 3rd November 2004 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: ANSAN, SOUTH KOREA
  • Country: South Korea
  • Topics: Education
  • Reuters ID: LVABKI7DAEZ7CUHI6N71KDQ9W781
  • Story Text: South Korean students immerse themselves in an English language camp designed to let them feel as if they are experiencing life in a foreign country.
    South Korean students checked into the country's first English-language immersion course, where students learned to interact in English as if they were visiting a foreign country, instead of sitting in an English grammar class.
    The English Village is a state-run camp resort built 20 km south of Seoul, where a snack counter, bank and gym replace the traditional classroom setting. Students are granted 30 English Village (EV) dollars at the beginning of the week and can buy snacks at the store, which helps them practice English with the English-speaking store owner and bank teller.
    "We don't just call it a village it is a village where they come and they live, they work, they make money, they spend money... and it really is like living in a different country," said Camp Director Carl Dusthimer.
    For students who can hardly communicate in English, enforcing a rule of speaking only in English can be quite difficult.
    Yet imposing a five-dollar fine has caused students to stick to the rule in fear of becoming bankrupt by the middle of the week.
    Classes consist of anything but grammar and vocabulary - students learn cooking, book making, gym and "fine dining," or Western dining etiquette. English is not a class, but a means to communicate with the American and Canadian teachers.
    Instead of mimicking English phrases after a teacher, 15-year-old Kim Soo-ryun said in English during robotics class, "I'm drawing the course the robot has to go."
    Dusthimer hopes the camp's free and casual atmosphere encourages the students to speak in English and instil confidence in them.
    "Rule number one is have fun. Rule number two is always try to speak in English," he said.
    About 200 students are accepted at the camp each week.
    There are thousands of after-school institutions that teach English in South Korea, where English is mostly taught in a classroom setting. Nixon Eagle, who teaches cooking and western dining etiquette, explains the camp's different approach to teaching English.
    "Here, we try to stay away from teaching a lot of English. What we like to do is let the children use the English they already know," Eagle says.
    Learning English is something of a national obsession and some parents spend tens of thousands of dollars a year for their children to go on overseas study trips. Dusthimer hopes the camp can serve as a more economic option for parents.
    "There's a lot of money being spent sending children abroad for week long, or two weeks or three weeks or month or longer programmes to learn English. And if we can have similar programmes or the same kind of programmes here, it will save parents a lot of money," Dusthimer says.
    The cost of a week's study at the English camp, averages out at around 400,000 won ($350), with students having to foot only a fifth of that with local government making up the shortfall.
    The country also has hopes of becoming a north Asian business hub, although fluency in English still falls far short of Asian neighbours such as Singapore and Taiwan despite the time, money and effort spent on trying to improve.
    Finance Ministry data show that South Koreans spent nearly $900 million on overseas education including language courses in the first 5 months of 2004, according to Yonhap news agency.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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