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English Village in South Korea and Taiwan

A couple of months ago, one feature article on an English village in South Korea caught my eye. Today, another news about an forthcoming English village in Taoyuan, Taiwan blew me away. Undoubtedly, this measure will definitely improve the quality of English education in Taiwan. At least, it will bring a new aspect and place for English learners in Taiwan. However, what's an English village and how does it function? Let's take a look.

The Paju English Village in South Korea was aimed to immerse students in an all-English environemnt so that students can feel as if they were in an English-speaking country. In other words, the Paju English Village is not just a summer or English camp. Instead, it's a community. It boasts its own bar, bookstore, bakery, restaurant, bank, theater and even a city hall. The motives behind the establishment of the English village are to entice more Korean students who want to study abroad but can't afford it. All the street signs and documents in this community (village) are all written in English. The staff and people in the community have to speak English. Not only that. The village even invited and recrited a lot of foreign teachers from various English-speaking countries in order to build a real English-learning environment. So, do students have to speak English all the time? Almost. They can only speak Korean only twice a day over meals.

As most people know, Korea's powerful economy and entertainment industry have a great influence on Asia and even in other parts of the world. The enhancement of English and Chinese abilities will help their competitiveness in business communication for sure. Taiwan depends on exports very much. English is the most useful tool in the international trade arena. Most people in Taiwan know the improtance of English and are willing to stop at nothing to sharpen their English skills. However, it seems that most English learners are disappointed about their English level even after they spend a lot of bucks on English programs or courses in cram schools. There are a lot of factors influencing why this doesn't work (e.g. teaching methods and all that. ) However, maybe the real-life English village case in Korea can be an alternative to the hindrance.

Fortunaly, a non-government organization devoting to improve the quality of education in Taiwan announced plans to open an English village in Taiwan. An English village named the Happy Global Englshi Village, will be set up in Taoyuan COunty in September in 2007. Initially, it will not be open for people who are willing to go to this village. Only aborginal and financially disadvantaged children will be granted to enjoy the cutting-edge educational resources. Similarly, there will be a post office, airport customs, a Western restaurant, a hospipal and other facilities in the premises. In addition, retired teachers from the U.S. will be the main targeting native professionals recruited to teach in the village. As for whether similar English-speaking policies or measures will be carried out or whether students or staff will be allowed to speak other languages except for English is still unknown. But it is conceivable that people have to speak English as often as possible so that they can totally immerse themselves and take advantage of the environment. Yet, how will the staff enforce the regulation? Are they going to set up hidden cameras to monitor and make sure that students don't violet the rule? This really intrigues me.

There are a lot of different teaching methods when it comes to English teaching, such as communicative method, grammar-translation method, audio-lingual method and all that. However, no matter what methods are used, students can only listen to and speak English totally in class. Once they step out of their classrooms, they return to the settings where they rarely speak English. Therefore, the emergence of an English village like those in South Korea and the one that will be established in Taiwan are not only a breath of fresh air to English learners, but also a cheaper way for students who want to study English abroad.

For readers who are interested in this topic, please click on the following link for more info .

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2006/04/18/2003303384

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2006/04/05/2003301085

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58633-2004Nov17.html