Oh, the irony.

So I understand English is taking over Korea at the moment. What I mean is that English has now become the most important subject among kids in kindergarten, preschool (or are they the same thing? How would I know, I’ve never raised a kid), elementary school, middle school, high school, etc. I’ve even heard of parents who start sending their babies (who are barely able to speak) to English hakwon (afterschool educational facility). Ok, but how’s the ROI looking? From what I’ve seen and heard, hakwon education takes up a large portion of one’s household income. It’s not cheap, and when a kid is sent to ten different facilities, the cost really adds up as you can imagine.

So I asked why parents are so determined and focused on teaching their kids English. I was told that it’s for them to enter a prestigious university. Ok, that’s understandable, “but what comes afterward?”, I asked. “After they graduate from university, they continue learning English to enter a reputable company, preferably one of the top Dae-Gi-Up, meaning large conglomerates in Korea, such as Samsung, Hyundai, LG…” So basically, Koreans live to work for a company. I don’t know about you, but I have a hard time digesting that as a fact. Really? Is that what one’s life revolves around? Is that why kids spend years in school and hakwon torturing themselves studying something they have no interest in? Is that why some kids become depressed and kill themselves? To get into a company to do something they are going to hate and to drink their life away every night because otherwise they won’t get the promotion they want and will be left out to be a loner/loser? English is really that important to put their life on the line? A secondary language that many of them never even get to use in their lifetime?

Let’s talk about the effectiveness of hakwon education. I’m told that the facility’s success (a short term success, I’d like to believe. I expect them to have a much broader or larger goal as an education facility) is based on the result of test scores which is usually the case. From what I’ve seen at a bookstore, Korean test questionnaires tend to focus on grammar, sentence structure that which basically does nothing to help one’s communication skills which is the single most important factor if you’d like to work in a global business setting. I have yet to come across a Korean person solely educated in Korea to be “brave” enough to strike up a conversation with a foreigner or even with me as a friend. Let me correct that. I’ve actually met someone who was eager to learn so I created a comfortable environment yet the person was immediately discouraged as soon as the mockery started. On that note, I would like to mention that Koreans have this strange tendency to put others down. and what bothers me even more is that they actually enjoy it. But when you analyze the psychology behind it, such behavior stems from jealousy which all starts with self-esteem issues. Basically, person A subconsciously enjoys mocking person B because B is doing something that A has only dreamed of doing, or secretly but desperately been wanting to do. And the reason why A only “dreams” about it is because he/she does not have enough self esteem to do so, because he/she is afraid what others would say and think of the action. (and of course, there is a reason for that too but that would take up the whole page so I unfortunately must digress) But think about it. If my life revolved around what others thought of me, how could I possibly live? How can I survive even one day? Many people would agree that happiness is what most people chase after. How can you live a happy life when your life is focused on satisfying others? (and you understand that I’m not referring to helping those in need, but making sure others approve of your lifestyle, behavior, or things you say, etc) Whose life are you living? Anyhow, I digressed a bit but my point is that people (especially those in Korea) need to start focusing living their own life as I’ve mentioned before.

Back to the topic of English craze in Korea… So according to my research and analysis, Koreans spend millions or billions (both money and time) on learning something that (1) they are never going to use, or (2) they are never going to be able to reach the level of fluency (or even close to that) to properly prepare them for the job for which they sacrifice their entire life. I don’t know. Does that make sense to you? You’d be surprised at the level of English proficiency of some of these so-called “well-educated” people in Korea possess who work at a top conglomerate (and I’m referring to the typical intelligent type as they are called who went to one of the top universities: Seoul, Korea, or Yonsei). If the educators or political figures (whoever decided to place priority on English in the Korean education system) were right, shouldn’t these people be fluent English speakers by the time they graduate from college? Shouldn’t they be going places, as in getting hired at top global firms all over the world doing top-paid jobs? Why are they stuck in Korea writing emails to overseas offices in English that absolutely make no sense? Why are so many young college graduates having such a hard time finding a job? It’s obviously a complex issue that involves all kinds of confounding variables, but this English madness is a bit too much for me to take in. I really don’t even know about the qualifications of the teachers at these facilities to be honest. (I know there are also those who are indeed highly qualified, I’m only referring to those with questionable qualifications and/or motives) While it’s undoubtedly a great opportunity for those trying to make money in Korea doing something that’s relatively easy (compared to the jobs in America that pay about the same), when I see it from a parents’ perspective who spend a fortune on sending their kids to these facilities, I really can’t help but question what the ROI looks like not in terms of test scores but the facility itself as a educational facility, and keep in mind that education in its broadest, general sense is “the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. In its narrow, technical sense, education is the formal process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills, customs and values from one generation to another.” (Sourced from Wiki)

How is Korean education system contributing to this purpose? Something to think about…

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not here to criticize the education system or facilities but it’s just that I can’t help but think about the reasons behind all these news of kids committing a suicide because of a test score or parents who worry so much over their children’s English (which by the way, I encounter on a daily basis)… and these foreigners I see on the streets who are apparently staying here to “teach English” and the kids who never learn simple manners or ethics because of all these English classes they must attend instead…

But to be honest, I must admit that I am forever grateful that I don’t need to worry about English (because it’s no longer just the kids who are stressed over it, it’s spreading like a wildfire among average adults as well) which is interesting considering that I was indeed one of those kids participating in the same education system twenty years ago…

Oh, the irony.

© 2012, Tomi. All rights reserved.

Tags: Korea, Korean culture