English Lessons
Premier League’s Koreans Can’t Afford to Be Tongue-Tied
By Kang Seung-woo
Staff Reporter
From this October, Manchester United midfielder Park Ji-sung might spend more time parsing a sentence rather than understanding Sir Alex Ferguson's tactics.
According to the Times, an English daily newspaper, non-EU players will be banned from playing in the English Premier League (EPL) from October if they do not have a command of simple English.
This will apply to all skilled workers including football players and managers.
The Home Office initially set a high bar that all players should understand the British GCSE-level English, but it lowered the standard for fear that many star players such as Arsenal's Brazilian midfielder Denilson and Manchester's Carlos Tevez of Argentina and Park would be ruled out.
The GCSE ― General Certificate of Secondary Education ― is a set of English qualifications, generally taken by secondary school students aged 14 to 16 in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
A document from the government office says that workers would need to demonstrate an ability to understand and use familiar everyday expressions and very basic phrases to introduce themselves and others and ask and answer question about basic personal details.
With the rule taking effect in five months, concerns over South Korean players in the English Premiere league are arising, but it doesn't seems to be a big deal to them due to long stays in foreign leagues. Only the new and fifth Premier Leaguer from South Korea - Kim Do-heon of newly-promoted West Bromwich Albion, is said to be concerned.
Although Park was mentioned by the paper, the 27-year-old winger has studied English since 2003 when he joined the PSV Eindhoven in the Dutch league.
In addition, he accompanied manager Ferguson at the press conference prior to the second-leg of the Champions League quarterfinals against AS Roma last month and answered question in the English language.
Fulham's Seol Ki-hyeon is considered the best English speaker among them.
29 year old Seol, has lived in Europe since his spell in the Belgian league in 2000, and can take care of non-football business without an interpreter.
Lee Young-pyo of Tottenham Hotspur can also command English without any problem. While playing with Eindhoven, Dutch reporters interviewed the 31-year-old defender in English and he was a target among international media during the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
Kim, who has played in England for four months, is required to study English to survive the language bar. ``Once his English gets better, he'll be a great addition to the squad for next season,'' his teammate Chris Brunt said.