Yes I Can

     If any of you know me, you’ve probably wondered why I’m in Korea. Usually I’m carrying on about Russia or Japan, the two loves of my life, with Korea merely being a side note attached to the end of a footnote next to an asterisk. I’ll admit, Korea’s not the first country that comes to my mind, nor has it ever been despite me being a lover of the Pacific Rim. But then again, as awesome and successful as Korea is, they really do like to keep it quiet. They’re like a hole in the wall diner serviced by your secret grandmother, offering delights your taste buds couldn’t imagine, but the only way you can find this place is by knowing someone. My someone is the TaLK program as a whole, as I’ve been involved in a month long orientation to teach me about Korean culture, history and everyday life. But why would Korea spend that much time on me before sending me out to teach its children? And why would they want them to learn English in the first place? I thought Korea was just like Japan, requiring everyone to study English as part of their general education. But there was more.

     If I could sum up what Koreans are after being here for under a month, it would be passionately hopeful. Some 50 years ago, you would find a Korea divided and ravaged by war, its people some of the poorest in the world while their resource poor country was a mangled mass of overturned dirt and leveled towns. But now when you look at Korea you see Samsung phones, Kpop bands and the 2018 Olympics host. In such a short time Korea has become a leader in economics and education, even giving my love Japan a run for his money when it comes to technology. Koreans don’t say this was a work of luck, however. Rather, they say every single success they have they owe to the blood and sweat of the Korean people as they tirelessly strove to do what the rest of the world thought was impossible. I’m honestly convinced the word “can’t” doesn’t exist in their dictionary.

     What does this have to do with English, though? The answer is everything. Korea believes that one reason they’ve come so far is because they pushed their children to learn English, one of the most widely spoken languages of the world, particularly in the business and technology fields. As much as the Koreans love their language, they know that Korean isn’t going to become a world language anytime soon unless they start having kids like rabbits and find room to place all these said bundles. And so, the Korean government started a national curriculum which included English. With English it’s believed that Koreans can go anywhere and do anything, thus making them more competitive on the world stage. This has caused English language fever in Korea, with the government spending 1/5^th of their ENTIRE budget on education, particularly English. This has led to the creation of “global villages” where native English speakers are hired to live in towns where they speak English to Korean children who sign up, several TV shows and internet websites 100% devoted to English language learning, and programs like TaLK bringing native speakers over and into the classroom. Parents are so driven for their children to succeed in English (and ergo have a better life than them) that some will spend thousands of dollars a MONTH in after school classes and tutors. This has unfortunately created a gap between the rich and poor classes when it comes to getting into college (there’s an English language requirement) and so the government is trying to even the odds by sending more native speakers into the rural areas (i.e., me). Korea didn’t become great because of a select few, so why have a select few succeed purely because they can afford it. It took the hope every Korean held that things would get better. All you have to do is forget, “I can’t.” Not a bad mindset, if I do say so myself.