Casey Lartigue Jr., co-founder of the Teach North Korean Refugees Global Education Center, compiled these statements from interviews with refugees.
Ah-na, female, released from Hanawon in 2018
On my freedom flight to South Korea, I saw flight attendants talking to everyone in different languages. That moment touched my heart. Being able to fly around the world represents true freedom for me, unlike my life in North Korea. I am now preparing for the flight attendant exam. When I was in North Korea last year, I was studying piano and singing, so I had only memorized some vocabulary. But here, I need English to survive, so I must study hard.
Dong-hyuk, male, arrived in 2004
The first time I encountered English was when I was escaping through Thailand. I made some foreign friends, but the studying wasn't serious. They wanted to talk about North Korea and I didn't learn English in a structured way. People have high expectations about my English because I graduated from a university; so many of my friends dropped out. But sometimes I feel that people dismiss me after they find out my English level isn't high. I work at a foreign trade company so I often communicate with foreign customers and many documents are in English. I can't get promoted without improving my English, so it is a burden and a challenge for me.
Kyung-ok, female, arrived in 2017
I was learning classical singing when I was in North Korea, so English wasn't relevant to me. After I escaped from North Korea because of a family problem, my life changed when I was working in a restaurant in China run by South Koreans. I saw many hours of South Korean TV shows. Some had some English mixed in. I had learned Chinese, so I began thinking about learning English. I still hope to become a classical singer, but I also know that I need English as a backup plan in my life here.
Young Kwang, male, arrived in 2007
People think I'm crazy because I have now traveled to more than 30 countries and want to travel to even more. Now I feel like a citizen of the world, not someone isolated like I was in North Korea when I knew about fewer than 10 countries in the world. It feels great to be free to travel to places that I had never heard of when I was in North Korea. My least-favorite subject in school had been English, but after traveling, I was a changed man. During my first trip abroad, to Europe, I realized that I needed English. I was relying on translation devices. I remember meeting a British man. I felt so sorry that I couldn't communicate with him. We just drank beers together. I am a maniac about learning English at every moment. I want to be able to talk freely and have real conversations with people I meet around the world.
Ah-na, female, released from Hanawon in 2018
On my freedom flight to South Korea, I saw flight attendants talking to everyone in different languages. That moment touched my heart. Being able to fly around the world represents true freedom for me, unlike my life in North Korea. I am now preparing for the flight attendant exam. When I was in North Korea last year, I was studying piano and singing, so I had only memorized some vocabulary. But here, I need English to survive, so I must study hard.
Dong-hyuk, male, arrived in 2004
The first time I encountered English was when I was escaping through Thailand. I made some foreign friends, but the studying wasn't serious. They wanted to talk about North Korea and I didn't learn English in a structured way. People have high expectations about my English because I graduated from a university; so many of my friends dropped out. But sometimes I feel that people dismiss me after they find out my English level isn't high. I work at a foreign trade company so I often communicate with foreign customers and many documents are in English. I can't get promoted without improving my English, so it is a burden and a challenge for me.
Kyung-ok, female, arrived in 2017
I was learning classical singing when I was in North Korea, so English wasn't relevant to me. After I escaped from North Korea because of a family problem, my life changed when I was working in a restaurant in China run by South Koreans. I saw many hours of South Korean TV shows. Some had some English mixed in. I had learned Chinese, so I began thinking about learning English. I still hope to become a classical singer, but I also know that I need English as a backup plan in my life here.
Young Kwang, male, arrived in 2007
People think I'm crazy because I have now traveled to more than 30 countries and want to travel to even more. Now I feel like a citizen of the world, not someone isolated like I was in North Korea when I knew about fewer than 10 countries in the world. It feels great to be free to travel to places that I had never heard of when I was in North Korea. My least-favorite subject in school had been English, but after traveling, I was a changed man. During my first trip abroad, to Europe, I realized that I needed English. I was relying on translation devices. I remember meeting a British man. I felt so sorry that I couldn't communicate with him. We just drank beers together. I am a maniac about learning English at every moment. I want to be able to talk freely and have real conversations with people I meet around the world.
