A NEW English education channel has been launched in South Korea as part of efforts to improve English skills, the Korean Education Ministry announced last week.
The nation’s first English-only television channel, EBS English, is run by the state-owned Korea Educational Broadcasting System. It provides a variety of English education programs for all ages through satellite-based TV and the Internet.
There are 43 domestic and foreign programs for 18 hours a day from 6 am to 12 am, said Yoon Mun-sang, director general of EBS English. The programs are graded into seven levels of difficulty. Programs of Level 7 are suitable for viewers fluent in English. A program aimed at teachers called “Teachers’ Guide” will be aired to train English teachers.
“It takes 5,000 to 6,000 hours for children to naturally converse in English but students only study English for a total of 730 hours at school,” explained Yoon, saying that the channel will fill the gap.
Speaking at the official launch of EBS English, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun said the government would create an infrastructure designed to embrace the foreign language, The Korea Times reported. “Korean students spend over 10 trillion won (US$10.5 billion) annually on private English study lectures and programs, but they are still considered weak in English. The government will gradually expand investments in social infrastructure for English education,” Roh said.
The president said EBS English was designed to revamp the nation’s foreign language education method.
“We will set up English immersion centers at 1,300 elementary schools by 2009 with a budget of 240 billion won (US$256 million),” Roh said. “All middle schools will have native English-speaking teachers by 2010.”21ST
