The ESL Teacher and the Big Picture - Part Two (of Many) - The Positive Side
Koreans may get a bad rep for being an exclusive society with shy people, but the language barrier has so much to do with that.
Koreans love to meet foreigners and having some ability to speak English has opened that window of opportunity for them to enjoy.
You can see it in their eyes when they are trying to communicate in English that they are struggling like hell but also having the time of their lives.
And though I’m sure they’d much rather be in the playground, the kids really do enjoy the camps. I did a Saturday camp this past week. There were about 200 kids and probably 197 of them had a blast. (There will always be a few who hate everything).
Not much effort has been made to promote the Korean language abroad or even locally to foreigners living in Korea. Classes are not very accessible and there’s little encouragement from employers. This leaves Koreans with the option of learning foreign languages or communicating only with their brothers and sisters.
In Korea, and in Japan as well, something I have noticed is that their cities seem like they were designed for foreign invaders to get lost in. And their languages, like their cities, are in essence, designed to be exclusive and confuse the outsider – who, historically, was usually a threat.
In times of war, foreigners learn your language to weaken you. They learn to break the codes.
All languages more or less seem to evolve this way. People in every part of the world are proud of their dialect and the words they share that only a select group “in the know” can comprehend – be it within the same neighborhood or city or nation.
The concept of outwardly sharing a global language – English fed, chewed up and spit out in so many different ways, is a new experiment. The point of it all seems to be about doing business. But not in every case.
Although the English teachers may feel a sense of guilt by association, they really are small players in this game. The big picture is only there if you choose to see it. You don’t have to look beyond the walls of your classroom.
“The price one pays for pursuing any profession or calling is an intimate knowledge of its ugly side.”
- James Baldwin
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