Midterm Topic-Early English Education

I would like to talk about early English education based on my experiences. While many parents believe that their children will fall behind in school if they do not have early English education, I believe that students can learn second language after they are used to speaking their native language. There are some problems that are ineffective for learning foreign languages in the Korea education context.

First, Korea’s English education is basically focused on grammars and comprehensive reading including memorizing whole lists of words. The English textbook covers conversations that are not commonly used in daily conversations in the English speaking countries.

Further, if children learn English too early, children have less chances of learning Korea’s culture and history. Learning English at an early age of course makes it easier to pronounce properly and learn faster, but it does not mean children can speak English fluently. I think that good English ability comes from good Korean language ability.

Many parents send their children overseas for studying English. There are many good opportunities to learn English in Korea with the media, but they have the pressure to do so because others do it. Students can learn English in Korea with a wide range of programs, so parents should not necessarily have to follow what others do. Some students are good at speaking English from the very start, but others may accelerate their speed after they enter school. No push for hurry.

In my case, I learned English from 3^rd grade (elementary school), but it did not help me. When I entered middle school, I saw a lot of English dramas and watched good videos through You Tube. Reading books that are written in English also helped me to improve my English abilities. I may not be good at speaking with good pronunciation, but I can clearly speak to convey meanings. That is just enough.