By Andrew Calhoun

Jon Huer's April 25 article, ``Why Is English So Difficult for Koreans to Master?," is frankly quite disturbing, not because of his bleak outlook for English education in Korea, but because most of his assumptions rest on stereotypes and outright falsifications. 

Let me briefly point out some of his errors and then offer my own suggestions as to why the English language has not thrived in Korea. 

Huer has exaggerated the role that Korean honorifics and Korean culture play as inhibitors in learning English. While English doesn't use honorific verb endings, it is quite sophisticated in regard to showing respect in the appropriate situations. 

It is not consistent in all social situations as Huer has suggested. For instance, a waiter in a nice restaurant might choose to ask, ``Would you care for an appetizer, sir?" rather than, ``What do you want?" 

Much more troubling is that Huer is treating Western culture and Korean culture as mutually exclusive in that a child who learns some English is losing a part of his/her Koreanness as a result. 

Huer's paradigm insinuates that in order to speak English properly, a Korean person must think individualistically and suppress Korean attributes such as communal belonging or filial piety. This is a dangerous oversimplification of the complex processes of language acquisition and self-identity development. 

Huer also states that there is little difference between spoken English and written English. This is just not true. Consider the differences between a legal document in English and an English conversation on the bus between two close friends.

There is a world of difference, not onl　y in the vocabulary and phraseology, but also in simple grammar choices. A good example is the use of coordinating conjunctions like ``and," ``or" and ``but." These are used as initial words in conversations, but rarely in writing. 

While this makes English writing a difficult skill to pick up, Huer's assertion that Koreans are accustomed to having a large difference between spoken Korean and written Korean, and are thus resistant to learning a language that has few differences between its spoken and written forms, is highly dubious. 

Finally, Huer strikes a number of condescending notes in his article, particularly in his conclusion where he in essence mocks Korea's effort to learn English as hopeless.

He seems to believe that Korean culture is static and inflexible, and that the Korean language itself is inferior to English because it is derived from a people that prioritize emotional outbursts above logical thinking. 

Huer's article has crossed the line between cultural interpretation and cultural imperialism. 

Yes, Korea has generally done poorly in terms of English acquisition in the past, and yes, there are a myriad of reasons for this ― financial expenditure not being one　 of them. 

Huer was much closer to the mark in a previous article in which he suggested that Korean children were not performing well in English because they did not see the value in it. There is a lot of truth to this. 

Value is a relative term. For example, in the Netherlands and Scandinavia, TV stations that broadcast cartoons often don't have the ability to dub them into the local language, instead leaving them in English and adding subtitles. 

Young children who love watching cartoons every day are well motivated to learn a lot of words and phrases. The value in language acquisition is not in preparing themselves for a future career in international business, but rather in understanding what Shrek and his donkey are talking about. 

In a more sobering example, many poor kids in Southeast Asia who sell souvenirs and cold drinks to the seasonal hordes of backpackers tend to have great English for their age, albeit a very specialized English. Their motivation comes from the circumstances into which they were born. 

The point is that those individuals, Korean or otherwise, who are well motivated and find sufficient value in learning another language, will do so. 

There are substantial differences between the Korean and English languages, as well as between the Korean and Western cultures, but none so severe as to allow Huer to claim that the possibility of Koreans developing world-class English would be as unlikely as a rose blooming in a trash can. 

Korea has had a compressed modernity in which it has consistently demonstrated its capacity for rapid change and successful adaptation. 

The country is becoming increasingly interconnected with the rest of the world, and as a result, the number of ways in which regular Koreans are finding themselves motivated to learn English is also increasing. Huer might want to be more patient before passing judgment. 

Andrew Calhoun is a doctoral student at the Graduate School for International Studies at Yonsei University in Seoul. He can be reached atredliondrew@yahoo.ca.

Ayak: Masquerading

Verwirrung kommt meistens langsam – wenn’s halt schwierig wird, klar zu denken.
Vielleicht verlier ich ja grad den Verstand.
Und vielleicht macht’s dir ja Spaß mir zuzugucken, wie’s mir dreckig geht.

Nur dass ich darin halt genauso schlecht bin wie du: mich dran freuen wie’s dir dreckig geht.
Ich glaub, wir wollen beide nur die Kontrolle über diese miesen Spielchen behalten,
die wir dauernd aufführen.

Aber wenn’s dir besser geht ohne mich, warum sagts du dann, dass du mich liebst?
Ist das auch nur so’n Spiel für dich?
Du sagst, dass du mich nicht sehen willst und hängst dann dauernd um mich rum.
Entweder oder, such’s dir aus, Schatz!

Die ganze Situation ist doch völlig absurd:
Ich rede dauernd, aber du hörst nicht zu.
Und ziehst es vor, deine echten Gefühle zu verleugenen
und dich fortwährend vor mir zu verstecken.
Ich weiß, ich bin da genauso schuld dran,
weil ich halt Angst davor habe, abgewiesen zu werden.
Und wir kaschieren weiter und verlangen und sehnen uns nach irgendwas und...

Ich will diese dummen Spielchen nicht mehr.
Lass uns mit der Maskerade aufhören.

認定こども園

北海道 [編集]

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• 島武意海岸（北海道積丹郡積丹町）
• 江ノ島海岸（北海道島牧郡島牧村）
• 百人浜・襟裳岬（北海道幌泉郡えりも町）
• トド原（北海道野付郡別海町）
• イタンキ浜（北海道室蘭市）

東北 [編集]

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• 岡崎海岸（青森県西津軽郡深浦町）
• 椿山海岸（青森県東津軽郡平内町）
• 大須賀海岸（青森県八戸市）
• 高田松原（岩手県陸前高田市）
• 浄土ヶ浜（岩手県宮古市）
• 碁石海岸（岩手県大船渡市）
• 奥松島（宮城県東松島市）
• 十八鳴浜（宮城県気仙沼市）
• 象潟海岸（秋田県にかほ市）
• 鵜ノ崎海岸（秋田県男鹿市）
• 荒崎（山形県酒田市）
• 由良海岸（山形県鶴岡市）
• 薄磯海岸（福島県いわき市）
• 大洲海岸（福島県相馬市）

関東 [編集]

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• 大洗海岸（茨城県大洗町）
• 五浦海岸（茨城県北茨城市）
• 高戸海岸（茨城県高萩市）
• 九十九里浜（千葉県旭市、匝瑳市、山武市、山武郡横芝光町、九十九里町、大網白里町、長生郡白子町、長生村、一宮町）
• 鵜原・守谷海岸（千葉県勝浦市）
• 犬吠埼君ヶ浜海岸（千葉県銚子市）
• 前原・横渚海岸（千葉県鴨川市）
• 筆島（東京都大島町）
• 葛西海浜公園 東なぎさ・西なぎさ（東京都江戸川区）
• 照ヶ崎海岸（こゆるぎの浜）（神奈川県中郡大磯町）
• 葉山海岸（神奈川県三浦郡葉山町）
• 七里ヶ浜海岸（神奈川県鎌倉市）

中部 [編集]

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• 鯨波・青海川海岸（新潟県柏崎市）
• 尖閣湾（新潟県佐渡市）
• 雨晴海岸・松田江の長浜（富山県高岡市、氷見市）
• 宮崎・境海岸（富山県下新川郡朝日町）
• 千里浜なぎさドライブウェー（石川県羽咋市、羽咋郡宝達志水町）
• 鉢が崎海岸（石川県珠洲市）
• 小舞子海岸（石川県石川郡美川町）
• 越前松島東尋坊（福井県坂井市）
• 越前海岸（福井県丹生郡越前町、福井市）
• 若狭小浜（福井県小浜市）
• 山中湖夕焼けの渚（山梨県南都留郡山中湖村）
• 河口湖留守が岩浜（山梨県南都留郡富士河口湖町）
• 諏訪湖ふれあい渚（長野県諏訪市）
• 弓ヶ浜（静岡県賀茂郡南伊豆町）
• 牛臥・島郷・志下海岸（静岡県沼津市）
• 恋路ヶ浜（愛知県田原市）
• 千鳥ヶ浜（愛知県知多郡南知多町）

近畿 [編集]

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• 七里御浜（三重県熊野市）
• 二見浦海岸（三重県伊勢市）
• 琵琶湖湖岸なぎさ公園（滋賀県大津市、守山市、高島市）
• 天橋立（京都府宮津市）
• 伊根湾舟屋群（京都府与謝郡伊根町）
• 琴引浜（京都府京丹後市）
• 慶野松原海岸（兵庫県南あわじ市）
• 竹野浜海岸（兵庫県豊岡市）
• 須磨海岸（兵庫県神戸市）
• 白崎海岸（和歌山県日高郡由良町）
• 白良浜（和歌山県西牟婁郡白浜町）

中国 [編集]

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• 浦富海岸（鳥取県岩美郡岩美町）
• 鳥取砂丘、白兎海岸（鳥取県鳥取市）
• 弓が浜海岸（鳥取県境港市、米子市）
• 稲佐の浜（島根県出雲市）
• 琴ヶ浜（島根県大田市）
• 渋川海岸（岡山県玉野市）
• 沙美海岸（岡山県倉敷市）
• 桂浜（広島県呉市）
• ロマン・ビーチ県民の浜・恋が浜（広島県呉市）
• 室積・虹ヶ浜海岸（山口県光市）
• 青海島（山口県長門市