Volunteer group bridges Korea's 'English divide'

Beyond the English Divide (BtED) volunteers interact with children at Dolsan Child Community Center on June 22. / Courtesy of Beyond the English Divide

By Jon Dunbar

English language education is far from perfect in Korea, but access to it correlates directly to career opportunities and social mobility.

When Bruce J. Lee moved to the affluent Gangnam-gu in southern Seoul, he was surprised how prevalent English was among local residents. He heard about children from privileged families being sent to private English kindergartens costing up to 2 million won per month.

He refers to the unequal opportunities for English education as the "English divide," a social problem that widens the gap between rich and poor.

Driven to action, he formed Beyond the English Divide (BtED), registered as a nonprofit organization in September 2017. In February 2018 he also created Beyond Career Mentorship, and merged both in January this year.

Now he's the head of Beyond Inc., a nonprofit corporation run by non-paid volunteers and supported by local government and private donations. They welcome donations in the form of money or school supplies.

BtED volunteers visit six volunteer learning centers in Seoul and its surroundings once monthly to interact with children and offer English instruction. The locations range from child community centers to a welfare center and an orphanage.

The organization's base of around 70 active volunteers includes Koreans and foreigners from all over the world, people of all ages, language experts and language learners, and civilians and U.S. military personnel.

"The biggest similarity for all our volunteers is that we all put the kids first," said John, an English teacher from the U.S. working at a Korean elementary school.

Nick, a student from the U.S. studying at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, said BtED's foreign volunteers tend to be long-term residents or those considering long-term stays.

"It's people who want to make a difference, however small, in where they are claiming as their possible new home," he said.

Despite past rumors that even unpaid volunteering violates visa rules, BtED is under the supervision of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, and registered with the 1365 Volunteer Website managed by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. This means not only does the government acknowledge BtED's foreign volunteers, but those volunteers can also collect points for obtaining an F-2-7 long-term residency visa. Korean volunteers can list their work with BtED on their resumes, and university students can fulfill the volunteering requirement some universities have for graduation.

Beyond the English Divide (BtED) volunteers hold up a banner at Guro Child Community Center on June 15. / Courtesy of Beyond the English Divide

Maite, a volunteer member from Spain, described the students they teach as "the same type of kids you could find in every other classroom. We have children with very different levels of proficiency, and some children which we think may have some other issues, like ADHD. In any case, to face these challenges, we have decided to follow a non-traditional approach to teaching them English using the gamification approach, in which we value bonding with the kids through games and activities as much as lecturing them in English."

The volunteers acknowledged BtED's service is a band-aid solution, providing relief to a far-reaching societal problem rather than prevention.

"Volunteering is an absolute band aid, but if the government was working at 100 percent efficiency, this kind of service would not be necessary," John said. "Unfortunately, the world is imperfect, and underprivileged children are stuck at the bottom of the system without much knowledge or many options for better opportunities."

"If you want to really solve what we call the "English Divide," you have to increase the level of English education in public schools," Nick added.

"Volunteering is, indeed, just a band-aid solution," Maite said. "But it is the solution we have in our own hands."

As far as their effectiveness as a band-aid solution, the volunteers see real progress in their work, but realize they are up against a near-infinite problem.

"Meeting with the children only once a month is almost like 'nothing'" is a complaint Maite has heard.

"Some places have expressed dissatisfaction with our limited number of days we can schedule classes," John said. "We have heard one orphanage say they didn't want to involve themselves with us unless we were willing to have a long-term commitment with them. Other than a few odd things like that, the very large majority of centers and places that we've taught at have been very welcoming and enthusiastic to work with together with us!"

"As I accompany the teachers every weekend, I'm amazed to see changes in the confidence of children, who tell me they don't 'hate English' anymore," said Bruce, whose day job is working as a project engineer in the automotive industry. "My program may not transform them into native English speakers, but it will surely help them become more confident about seeking opportunities to learn, connect with people, and pursue their dreams."

This weekend, the volunteers are heading to Guro Child Community Center in southwestern Seoul. Contact BtED on Facebook to find out how to volunteer.