"Fluency in English is a Must"

Fluency in English Is a Must,

by Kim Dae-joong

With ever more families separated for educational reasons, mothers living in the U.S. to look after their children also have growing regrets. The mothers, who are anything but fluent in English despite having studied the language for six to eight years in public education, acutely feel the shortcomings in our language education. The problem is not confined to them.

It is shared by students studying abroad. Corporate employees engaged in transactions with foreign firms, emigrants, and scientists and engineers who have to acquire top-notch technologies and advanced know-how. There is no way of accessing the individual losses and the national waste caused by our lack of fluency in English.

Language is a tool and means of communication. Though some may say that language incorporates a people's culture and history, culture and history are after all premised on communication, and language is merely their means. We live in an information society. How do we get information? Information is conveyed and received from what you know and think. Without the tool of language, it's impossible to exchange information.

It's common sense that the language of the country that has the upper hand in communication and exchange is dominant. Why deny that the U.S. has more advantages than us? What matters is not the fact that America is important, but that countries which share its national interests, deal with or strongly influenced by it communicate in English. There is no need to attach any further significance to English.

The singer Shin Hae-chul, not an expert on language culture, has criticized the presidential Transition Committee's English public education reform policy, talking about Korea becoming the “51st state” of the U.S. But it is anachronistic to suggest that we would become a vassal state of a country whose language we learn for our own needs.

Some may complain if we teach English even to those who don't need it "by force" and so-called immersion. But we don't study every subject we learn and take exams in because they are necessary for our daily lives. And unless by learning English we somehow eradicate our own language, this ultra-nationalism in language is extremely harmful.

Some parents worry that stronger English public education will affect the subjects of the college entrance examinations and consequently boost the need for extra-curricular English classes. Quite possibly. Crammers have long been a blight on our society. But think of it another way: it will be an investment in language, especially English, that is the most effective and practical in terms of cram school costs.

Sure, we will have to reduce the side effects. But if we are to catch a lot of big fish in the oceans, we have to pay something. Some side effects and excesses will arise, but we have to go out to the oceans looking for the big fish.

The world is opening. Borders are being eliminated and distance between countries is shrinking. We cannot close our doors. No, we have to take the lead in advancing to every corner of the globe. If we are bound by Northeast Asia, we'll eventually become a prey of the hegemony of China and Japan.

The weapons we can give to our children are the spirit of challenge and language skills. Only those who are better at languages can survive in this world. We cannot send our children out into that world tongue-tied.

Traveling around the world, of course, we may feel that fluency in English alone is not enough. With English proficiency alone, it's hard to catch up with young talents who command three of four foreign languages. English is a basic requirement, and you have to speak at least another foreign language, like Chinese, Japanese, Spanish or French, to catch up.

Look at the singer Park Jin-young. Had he stayed at home, bound by language barriers, where would his talents be buried now? But because he went to New York and learned from world musicians, he is contributing to the improvement of Korean pop music. I don’t mean to compare the two musicians in terms of talent. But should we choose the way of Park Jin-young or Shin Hae-chul? This is the question all our parents and the country as a whole must answer.

(englishnews@chosun.com )