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By Kang Shin-who
Abby Thomas noted that Indian teachers are competitive and as qualified as current native English teachers.
“India was a British colony and English is almost our first language. Most educated people in India understand English and use standard English. (Many) English teachers from overseas in Korea are just English speakers, not teachers,” Thomas said.
“Americans might better speak English and pronunciation is better (than us). Our English sounds difficult and harder to understand. But, we are top-level and certified teachers. Many of us are tri-lingual, speaking English, Hindi and a local language.”
Thomas said that Indian teachers use only positive words because of their belief and tradition.
“We don’t use ‘shut up,’ and many children in our country might not understand it. We say ‘Be silent’ instead of ‘Don’t make noise.’ ‘Come on time,’ instead of ‘Don’t be late.’”
“In India, no people are swearing. It is because we believe if we say negative words, we create negative energy. Which energy teachers spread in the school classes is very important,” he added.
The 53-year-old teacher said, “I am older than other teachers and treat students as my daughter and my son. Loving students is the most important qualification for teachers.”
Asked about his opinion about Korean English education, he said Koreans should not fear mistakes.
“I say to students, ‘Make a mistake and another mistake.’ Don’t try to speak perfect English, that’s the way to learn English,” said Thomas, who came here 10 years ago.
“Korean students tend to speak English perfectly. Even though we cannot drive perfect, we can drive and we can cook, although we cannot cook perfectly.” He also advised that Koreans need to focus on spoken English rather than grammar.
No matter how well foreign nationals can teach English, those who are not from the U.S., Canada, Australia, U.K., New Zealand, Ireland and South Africa were not allowed to teach English in Korea. In contrast, English teacher hopefuls from the seven countries have always been hired by Korean schools, regardless of their teaching experience.
This is because the Korean government had issued English teaching or E-2 visas according to the nationalities of applicants, instead of their English teaching ability.
However, The Korea Times reported in 2008 the unfair factors of the regulations on E-2 visa and the immigration authorities decided to allow English teachers from other countries where English is used as an official language such as India, Singapore and the Philippines. Thomas became the first Indian who benefited from the changed immigration rules.
Under the English Program in Korea (EPIK), run by Korean government, about 8,000 foreigners have been employed to teach English conversation classes. Among them, some 70 percent are Americans and Canadians.
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