English Village (language acquisition project)
| Korean spelling | |
|---|---|
| Korean alphabet : | 영어 마을 |
| Hanja : | 英語 마을 |
| Revised Romanization : | Yeong-eo Ma-eul |
| McCune-Reischauer : | Yŏng'ŏ Maŭl |
The Gyeonggi English Villages (English for: " English Villages Gyeonggi ") are an institution in the South Korean province of Gyeonggi that provides an English-speaking environment for learning the English language. The pupils use the English language in direct real-life contexts, for example in local public transport or when shopping.
The village also has 150 teachers, most of whom are native English speakers or Koreans who speak English fluently. The teachers act as police officers, bank employees or waitresses, even street hippies. The 700 students live here for up to four weeks and usually come in class to speak English from morning to evening.
It was opened in April 2003 and has the legal form of a foundation under public law. The construction costs amounted to 70 million euros. Further English villages are planned in Paju and Yangpyeong. Thereafter, the concept is to be marketed as a franchise company.
background
Korean families like to send their children abroad to study English. The USA is preferred. However, only rich families can afford the costs of up to 50,000 euros per school year. In the English Village, a week of full board costs only 70 euros. This low price is made possible by government subsidies. The governor of the Kyong-Ki region, son Hak Kyu says:
- " With this English village, we want to give normal people the chance to experience and learn English in a very realistic way. "
The headmaster Jeffrey Jones says:
- " If I can speak English well, then I can get a better job, I can make more money, I have better opportunities. And Koreans do everything possible to seize such opportunities. "