Read Aloud in English 20 Minutes a Day

By Kim See-bong

Language is an art. Art requires theory and practice. As far as second language teaching is concerned, practice comes first in importance. No matter how much of an expert you are in theory, it's nothing without practice. Linguistic efficiency results from practice.

Our chronic problem of teaching English is further being complicated under the in-coming government. They say they will solve the national English education problem by making secondary schools teach other subjects, other than English, in English.

Their aim is, allegedly, to help secondary school students master English and be sufficient in the language by the time they leave school.

What a wonderful idea it is! But it is too idealistic. Who invented such a hare-brained and off-the-cuff policy? Language is an art like carpentry so we must teach the art slowly, and one should not forget the ancient Korean saying, ``no matter how much of a hurry you are in, you cannot just tie thread around the shaft of the needle.''

A carpenter must have a certain level of skill to make a desk. The skill can be acquired only by practice.

The level of English required to teach other subjects in English should be almost as high as that of a native speaker. With the achievement of such English skills, the nation would not need to be concerned about English.

First of all, where can you find such competent teachers? Do you think you can train them within the time length you have in mind? And what about the students? The idea the new government is proposing is preposterous.

At this juncture in order to prevent a tumultuous fiasco, there's one thing I want to make clear. English teaching is thought about too much in terms of theory.

The continuous emphasis on theory will only lead to theory without practice, like learning the skill of carpentry without the practice.

In our country too much emphasis is put on the theoretical aspect, so the principal method of teaching is the deciphering of the language and explaining why it makes sense.

I would like to share a helpful tip from my experience with languages with the policy makers of the new government. Read aloud in English 20 minutes a day, if possible, make it the first thing you say in the morning. I recommend reading the same thing aloud repeatedly until you memorize it.

I started with a textbook that I was studying that year, and after one year I found that I had memorized the lessons in the book. In my second year of high school I continued this method with the New Testament, specializing in a few gospels that I liked. I almost committed them to memory.

Dear policymakers, why not propose a nationwide read-aloud-campaign. What is more important is not how you teach or who teaches English, but how English is studied.

The writer is principal of Polyglot Day School in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province. He can be reached at glsacademy@dreamwiz.com.