By Jun Ji-hye
Talent donation is quite popular among those who have it. In an underprivileged district of Seoul, a group of people are donating their time and English proficiency to students who would otherwise be stuck on the poor side of the so-called English divide.
Sydney University graduate Lim Sa-rah and Columbia University graduate Kim Yoo-min give free English lessons at a church located in Shindang-dong, Seoul, every Saturday.
“I heard from the pastor that children here have few education opportunities because the region is one of the more impoverished areas of Seoul,” the 32-year-old Lim said. “The issue about the widening disparity between the rich and the poor and the educated and the uneducated was behind our starting this.”
Kim, 30, joined the project following a request by Lim. She said she has been interested in teaching since working for human rights education projects at Amnesty International. “I can feel students’ passion to learn when I see them voluntarily participating in the class and asking me to teach,” she said.
Han Byul, 15, who has attended the class for six months, expressed her pleasure in the opportunity to learn English, saying, “It really helps improve my English. Now I know a lot of words. My listening skill has improved too as teachers always speak with us in English.”
The classes are run by the Jesus Town Ministry whose pastor is Rev. Chang Hak-il, 58. He said he wanted to operate free English classes for less fortunate young people and this finally came true after Lim volunteered. “We distributed flyers to passers-by and received all students who came for the classes whether or not they were Christians. It is open to all who want to learn.” he said.
Chang and the teachers said they felt the greatest joy when they saw two way conversations in English become possible for elementary school students after only three to four months. “They even wrote an essay about themselves and their family and gave a presentation in front of many people. We were all touched and their parents felt glad,” Chang and Lim said.
The English divide has been already raised as English education mainly relies on private language courses, whose availability is decided by income level. A report, titled “Equity and Efficiency of English Education Spending” released in June by the Korea Development Institute, showed that 70 percent of students whose parents earn more than 5 million won a month receive private English education, while only 20 percent of students from families earning less than 1 million won are able to get private lessons.
Lim said she felt sorry to see that many children born into poverty lack dreams. “I want to help my students gain confidence to achieve their goal,” she said. “I hope that more people in “real need” can know about us and come to us to learn English as I am sure that there are many people who want to learn English but can't due to financial reasons.”