CR#5-Don't Insist on English

     6.8 trillion won. This is neither the amount of money a developed industry makes every year, nor the money a local government spends annually. It's the amount of money that Korean people spend in private English education. Koreans spend more than a third of total expenditure on private education in English education, yet they spend only a sixth in Korean Education. 

     11% vs 20.5%. These are the statistics showing the ratio of outstanding Korean middle school 3rd grade students in Korean and  English ability. The result is simple. The number of outstanding students of English subject is twice more than that of Korean. Korean students are not as good in Korean as in English. 

     It is strange and inconceivable that Korean students are not good in using their own language than in using English. Koreans should use Korean better than any other people in other countries since Korean is their mother tongue; They have learned Korean since they were born and they use Korean in their everyday life. How can this situation happen in Korea?

     By thinking a lot about this issue, I found out that there is a logical explanation. The reason why English is predominant over Korean is because Korean people are so much obsessed with English. Korean people think that people who can speak English fluently is fascinating and great, and they want their children to be someone like them. In fact, people who can speak English better than others have been succeeding in most of the fields of our society causing others to envy them their success. By looking at their brilliant success, Koreans were more likely to have the idea that English education is more urgent than Korean education, which, they thought, cannot bring success, and it caused this kind of obsession of Koreans towards English. 

     As a student of KMLA, I felt the same before that having ability to convey one's thought in English fluently and fashionably is one of the best and most profitable ability a student can have. Looking at seniors who made   speeches in the election for student council, and looking at my friends in EDS(English Debate Society), I felt inferior to them, and sometimes criticized myself of not being able to speak English as fluently as them. However, I had found out that ability of foreign language usage should not be a barricade or an obstacle prohibiting people from working or studying. 

     The ability of foreign language usage, especially the usage of English, is emphasized because society requires people who can speak diverse languages, but is it really true? It is obvious that leaders of the society are not good in English compared to the natives, but still they can communicate with the leaders from other nations because they can find people who can interpret their thoughts in certain languages. In addition, preeminent scientists are not good in English, yet they are admired by others of showing outstanding achievement. For them, their ability of  English no longer a matters. Whether they can or cannot speak English fluently doesn't matter and can't determine their success. It is not true that society requires people with diverse language abilities, since it is possible to find people who can help them convey their ideas and intention in foreign languages. What a society needs is not a person who can speak English fluently but a person who be a real professional in any fields and can achieve certain goals or success in his or her field. One's ability of using foreign language should not be an obstacle to one's success, and if so, it will be less likely for society to gain advance. 

     In addition, insisting on English might cause serious harm to the society. As I mentioned in the beginning of the writing, Koreans are not good in Korean because they've only focused on educating their child English rather than Korean. What would happen if Koreans lose the ability to use Korean? Before answering to this question, let's talk about the importance of a language. Language used in a culture shows the ideology the culture is founded upon. Language reflects the thought of people using it. For example, the ideology of community spirit is shown in Korean as a form of frequent usage of pronouns such as "us", "our". We call Korea as "our nation", not as "my nation", also we call parents as "our parents", not as "my parents". If Koreans lose the ability to use Korean, they will also lose the core of our culture. In that case, it is obvious that Koreans will lose their roots, the origin they came from, and people without origin are less likely to bear the hardship they'll face in the future. 

     I won't deny the fact that English is the Lingua Franca now. It is almost possible for people to communicate in English with others from any other countries. In this situation, it is an undeniable fact that English ability is beneficial. However, we should speak out the fact that English must not be used to judge individuals' ability. As King Sejong wrote in the preface of 훈민정음, which is a book about the invention of Korean, a language is a tool for people to communicate with each other. It is acceptable to teach English as a tool to communicate with foreigners but we should not say to students that you're incapable because you are not good in English. Regarding the basic principal of language, we can figure out that English itself can never be and should not be a goal of study and a hindrance to one's success.