By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
Winners of an English speech contest said studying abroad does not guarantee fluent English speaking.
Yoon Jung-one, a fourth grader at Sinseo Elementary School in Seoul, is one of the two grand prize winners of an English speech contest held on Saturday at KINTEX in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province.
She lived in the United States for just two years from 2002 till 2004, when her father, a Seoul City official, was studying at Duke University. She was enrolled in a kindergarten and an American primary school for two years.
It was after she returned from the United States that she has seen her English proficiency improve dramatically. For the past three years she has attended an after-school private language institute in Seoul to learn English. She used an inexpensive Internet phone service to make international calls to her tutor, whom she met when she was in the United States, to learn English for one hour twice a week.
She said reading English books for kids and writing in English helped her polish up her skills.
``Students, who have lived outside Korea for a while, can speak English with better pronunciation. But the overseas experience does not guarantee fluency in English speaking,'' Yoon said. ``The gap of English proficiency between students who have the experience of studying the language overseas and in Korea is likely to narrow over time.''
Yoon Young-seok, father of the winner, said it was important for parents to put their children into an English-immersed environment to help their kids maintain and improve English proficiency.
``Watching English TV programs and reading English-written children's books is part of her daily life. And she also frequently contacts friends in the U.S. to brush up her speaking proficiency and pronunciation.'' An Internet phone service is a practical solution to help her keep in touch with American friends, he said.
She won the coveted prize among about 10,000 children who competed in regional preliminaries across the country.
She was one of the 20 finalists who competed Saturday for the coveted prize in the category of students who have lived overseas. She won the prize through interviews and written tests.
Parents of Choi Seo-yeon, a second grader at Chorim Elementary School in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province, another grand prize winner, also said, ``It is the matter of studying method. Of course, studying overseas must be helpful for children to improve their English skill in a short time. With society enabling children to watch numerous English programs, however, students in Korea can be exposed enough to an English language environment.''
The contest was organized by Korea Poly School, a private English education institute.
Alex Im, CEO of the school, said he plans to host various English-related competitions to provide children here with more opportunities to evaluate their English proficiency in speaking, writing and reading.