Please teach me english ! The movie !

[Ptyx]

[Taro Toporific]

[Caustic Saint]

This came out in Korea last year, but I still haven't seen it. I'll see if I can rent it from my neighborhood video shop as I've heard good stuff about it.

For those without a Korean video store, you can order your copy today at yesasia.com for only $27.99. (Region 3, English Subtitles) Free shipping, too!

[Bedi]

It's a pretty nice movie, I recommend it.

[Caustic Saint]

I was able to snag it at the video store tonight. I'll post a review after I watch it tomorrow.

[Caustic Saint]

(out of a possible 5)

This movie was pretty sweet. If you've ever taught ESL/EFL, you owe it to yourself to see this. Some of the plotlines were a little hokey (and that's to be expected to a certian extent in any romantic comedy) but the overall package was well put together. The flash type animations weren't used much at all, so they were cool when they showed up, but not overdone.

The movie opens with Young-ju at work (gov't clerk) when a foreigner comes in to complain about his electric bill. Nobody in the office speaks English (everybody else hides out when it's clear the foreigner can't speak Korean), and she's stuck dealing with him. Not that she can really do anything since she's got no English ability to speak of. That evening everybody in her office goes out to dinner and her boss goes on about how sad it is that nobody in the office can speak English. They spin a bottle on the table to decide who has to go to English class. Young-ju is the (un)lucky one, and the stage is set for the rest of the film.

The movie has a few good gags and the story's easy to follow, even if you're not paying perfect attention to the subtitles. Hands down, the best laugh-out-loud moments of the movie were the two "level tests," one of which was a dream sequence. I won't describe the dream one, because it's one of those "you've got to see it for yourself" moments, but as for the first one - just imagine an eikaiwa level test visualized as a Mortal Kombat-style fighting game. That scene was done with the actors over a CG-background, and the result is just too damned funny.

My favorite line, delivered by Young-ju on her way to register for English class, was this: "Everybody's obsessed with English. What's wrong with being born in Korea and just knowing Korean?"

I ask myself the same thing all the time.

I don't know if I'd pay $28 for it, but I'll keep an eye on the discount racks for this one. It's one of those movies that's worth coming back to every so often.

[Caustic Saint]

Oh, something I found while checking out the extra stuff on Disc 2. The movie's website is still online.

http://www.englishkiller.com/

[Bedi]

If you've ever taught ESL/EFL

Sry, could someone tell me what that is

"Everybody's obsessed with English. What's wrong with being born in Korea and just knowing Korean?"

I ask myself the same thing all the time.

I think the more languages you speak the better. It gives you great advantages in comunicating with others. I enjoy learning a new language, currently Japanese.

[Big Booger]

If you've ever taught ESL/EFL

Sry, could someone tell me what that is

ESL= English as a second Language

EFL= English as a foreign language

This site breaks them down so it is easier to understand:
http://www.blueturnip.com/projects/edu/english/efl/esl_versus_efl.php

[Bedi]

Thank you Big Booger

[Caustic Saint]

"Everybody's obsessed with English. What's wrong with being born in Korea and just knowing Korean?"

I ask myself the same thing all the time.

I think the more languages you speak the better. It gives you great advantages in comunicating with others. I enjoy learning a new language, currently Japanese.

The thing is, the line in the movie is right. In Korea, English is an obsession. There seems to be a strong cultural belief that English is the key to success - for everybody. From the garbageman to the executive, they all think if they learn English they'll be successful and wealthy and have a great life. Many corporate jobs here require a good TOEIC (Test Of English for International Communication) score - even if the job will never require any use of English, written or spoken.

The American Dream is alive and well in Korea. Speak good English? Well then, pack up and move to America! You'll be rich!

Now I'm not saying learning another language is bad. Far from it. Education, especially any that increases your communication skills, is great. (It keeps me employed, too.) It's the obsession that's misguided. Learning English isn't some magic bullet for success. It should be viewed as education, and nothing more. It's what the individual does with the knowledge that can make them successful, not the knowledge itself.

[Taro Toporific]

.. In Korea, English is an obsession....

And that's why Korea is making Japan its biatch.
Shucks, Korea has even got Japan beat in Tentacle Sex English lessons like these cute clips from "Please teach me english".

[Ptyx]

Damn you Caustic Saint i really want to see that now !
When you come back to Tokyo bring the dvd, i feel great "reenactments" potential here.

[Caustic Saint]

Damn you Caustic Saint i really want to see that now !
When you come back to Tokyo bring the dvd, i feel great "reenactments" potential here.

Will do. I've been keeping an eye for it when I've been shopping, but haven't seen it in stores yet. (It was one of the most popular movies in Korea last year, so it's quite possibly sold out everywhere.) I'm going into Seoul next weekend, and the movie/music stores are generallly better and cheaper there. This is one I want to keep in my permanent collection. Even if it's only to trigger Korea flashbacks and teaching memories.

Oh, the next Tokyo visit looks like it might be May 1 through 9. I'm still working out the details, so everything's tentative now. So for whoever's going to be in town during Golden Week, keep an evening open for a movie party.

[bejiita]

Yeah, this was a very cute and enjoyable movie indeed. I especially liked the bus driver scene.