Friday, September 15, 2006

Korea's obsession with English

English is everywhere in Korea. Almost all signs are in Korean and English. Many shops and companies have English names (although, often with mistakes in spelling). T-shirts and other items of clothing, notebooks, pencils, and other items of stationery, and numerous other items often/usually have some sort of English on them, usually very strange English (more times than not, it doesn't even make sense). Korean children are pushed to learn English from a very young age (as young as 3). In order to get a good job in Korea, it is said that soon, it will be required to be fluent in at least one language other than Korean, preferrably English (Chinese is the other popular choice).
I found an interesting article in the Korea Times to do with the beginnings of Korea's obsession with English: English in Korea

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