Seoul Public Schools Will Teach English In English
Happy New Year (of the Ox)! This blog is still alive and well, and we’ll be posting information more regularly from now on. Yesterday, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education announced that Seoul’s public elementary, middle and high school English classes will all be taught in English, starting in 2012. This move, which has sparked considerable public discussion and even controversy over the past year will be implemented under the newly-announced School Managed Innovation of Learning English, or “SMILE” program. An article in The Joongang Daily reports that the Office of Education plans to upgrade English education by
- offering English immersion classes,
- holding training sessions for Korean English teachers, AND
- recuiting more native-English speaking teachers.
The office hopes these moves will allow students to become fluent in English through classes at public schools, cutting the amount of money spent on private instruction.
We’ll have more to say on this important topic throughout the year. In the meantime, I want to thank those of you who have sent in positive comments regarding this blog. We are considering whether to make the effort to translate it into Korean for the benefit of parents and prospective study-abroad students.
Sincerely,
James F. Larson, Ph.D.
Deputy Director
Fulbright Commission
Seoul, Korea