Here we are now with the last article in this series of how to improve your English skills, just as we are approaching the end of this semester and the end of this “Year of the Pepero.” In the last article, I discussed in great detail how you can go out right here in Korea and meet and talk with foreigners. But no matter how much you were to do that, the conversation would only last for a short amount of time and then you would be right back in a Korean-speaking world again. So now, let’s talk about the one sure way to take your English speaking ability to another dimension. If you do this, I can almost guarantee that your English ability will double or triple from where it is today. You need to take one year off from your studies and go to an English speaking country, where you will live and interact with native speakers full-time. The question is, are you willing to make the sacrifices necessary to make that happen?

I realize that leaving the comfort of your home and traveling to lands unknown can be a scary thought, but more and more Korean students are going abroad to experience English, and in order to compete with them you may need to do the same. There are limits to which your English can grow if you are practicing it in a predominately Korean-speaking society.  After you study English, you go shopping in Korean, travel home with Koreans, eat dinner with Koreans and live in a Korean home. How does your English have time to survive, let alone improve? The only real way to totally immerse yourself in English is to actually go to an English speaking country and become a part of their society for an extended period of time.  This way you can actually “live” English, as your everyday life will take place completely in English.  You will shop at English-speaking stores, eat at English speaking restaurants, study at English-speaking schools, and bump into English-speaking people as you walk home everyday. You will be in an English-speaking world. 

There is another reason why you are only able to advance your English here in Korea “just so much” no matter how much you may study and study and study. It’s because you are still thinking in Korean, then translating into English, and then back to Korean, as you navigate your way through the target language. Each time you stop to shift into Korean, you stop your English learning. Then you begin again when you study or read English again. But as soon as you pause to translate into Korean, your English learning is put on hold again! How can you ever truly improve when your learning stops and starts like that? The only answer is to get out of your Korean world and step into the real world of English. By going to an English speaking country, you are able to study at the “laboratory of life” where every step, every interaction will lead you into a total English experience where there will be little room for stopping and translating. You will be completely involved in your English speaking surroundings.

So where should you go? The best place is somewhere where there are few Koreans! You may think that would be an easy task, but guess again! You will find that there are many Koreans in almost every country of the world. And that’s especially true of English speaking countries. So your first concern should be in finding a smaller city (Koreans love big cities) where there is a smaller number of Koreans. You’ll need to do a little research on the area to see if it is advertised frequently to Koreans and if there are many package deals offered to go there. If this is the case, then avoid that place and go somewhere else. If it’s too hard to find a place with few Koreans, then you will just need to make a concerted effort to place yourself in an English speaking community once you arrive in the city. Never live with a Korean family, no matter how comforting that may feel, when you go to another country to learn English. Living with native speakers will force you to speak English at home, the one place that is usually your “safe zone” where no English penetrates.

Once you are in the English speaking country, whether you study English or just take a guitar class, whether you go out to eat or just stay home to eat, your whole life will be involved in English. When you go to the grocery store to buy a soda and a candy bar, to the bank to deposit a check or to the post office to mail a package, you will be completely engaged in communicating in English. And you will find yourself thinking first in English and translating less into Korean, which is exactly where you need to be to really grow in English.  They say that if you are thinking in English, you will also dream in English. So whether you go on a “mission trip” to a place like the Philippines or India where there is a need to fill, down under to Australia or New Zealand where beauty abounds, or to the bright lights of United States or Great Britain, you will find that the experience of living abroad is the best way to totally immerse yourself in English. You will also find that your English will grow beyond your wildest dreams. And when that dream comes in English, you will know that you have arrived!

Brian Roberson (Dept. of General Education)

brianrober@gmail.com