A Korean pastor, who struggled through his experience of improving English for years, even after opting to choose to live in Australia, is now sharing his experience of mastering in English. But his method is unusual in that he termed it as "speaking English in Korean." Hugh Park, 52, a Korean who has lived in Australia, wrote a book, titled "Speaking English in Korean: by Hugh." That unusual title grabbed readers' attention as much as the unusual method he preaches to improve English among Koreans. When he was a seminary student in Korea, Park volunteered at a church in Gwacheon, south of Seoul. There, he met many foreign migrant workers. While interacting with them, he always felt the communication gap, arising from his lack of English proficiency.
He made up his mind to improve English by immersing himself in an all English-speaking environment. He went to Australia. "At first, I thought I would stay here for a year or two," Chosun Ilbo cited him as saying. "But later I changed my mind. I told myself I wouldn't return home unless my English would be as good as my Korean." That took 19 years. And he wrote a book, sharing his experience.
Park said a good way to improve English is to mix English in a daily Korean conversation. "Korean people frown upon it," he said, but he emphasized that it is one of the most effective ways to improve the foreign language. He also offers other advice as well. Interestingly, all of them emphasize the importance of Korean language, which he said, can help improve English. They include:
1. Recollect a past experience or a scene and describe it in English.
2. Try to think in Korean first, and then think its English.
3. Keep a Korean-English dictionary always within your arms' reach.
4. Take advantage of your Korean language ability. (He argues that many English expressions are very similar to those of Korean language habits. So, when you cannot think about a proper English expression, just translate the Korean expression into English. For example, 'No news is good news' or 'I am saying like an old lady'. These expressions, he said, are similar in both Korean and English.
5. Don't fear mixing English with Korean. (He argues that when you cannot finish your sentence in English, it's okay to switch into Korean halfway in the middle. By doing so, he believes, one doesn't have to be frustrated and gain confidence. )
If Park found a way to develop his own language skills then that's something to be applauded. However, that second suggestion of his seems especially off base to me.
