Intermediate English Writing (1) Monday 7-8
200801224 DIS
Park, Sunghee
Early Childhood-Foreign Language Education
Last night, on the way back home, I was so tired and sitting back on the bus. When I almost got to sleep, I heard talks using both in Korean and in English in the back of the bus and woke up. I kept listening what they were talking about and after few minutes, I found that they were a mother and son. Even though the boy looked like a kindergartener, he spoke English quite fluently. These days, we can often face kids like him speaking English well and this is the result of many parents' effort trying to make their kids like that. I strongly agree that foreign language instruction should begin in kindergarten because it is much easier to learn foreign language when we are young. Though some may argue that early childhood-foreign language instruction can disturb mother tongue education, it would not. For example, there are many second-generation Korean Americans who can speak both fluently. Of course, balanced education between two languages is required. Also, according to 2007 EU report written in Korean Trade Investment Agency (KOTRA), the Dutch have learned various languages since they were young and they can not only speak several foreign languages including their native tongue but achieve the highest TOEFL score every year. To conclude, I would prefer to have my kids learn foreign language in kindergarten because many researchers reported that the younger the better in studying foreign language and there is no denying that foreign language (especially, English) is essential to live in the globalized world. There is no reason to put off the day learning foreign language.
It was pretty neat essay. I liked this. I can see your point on agreeing the important of early education. Also, I think it was really good to quote an example of Dutch kids. One little more thing I want you to add to support your point is that the case of kids in Korea who have learned English in kindergarten and grew up that way. Since we're in not bilingual environment, I think readers may want to know more detail about how those kids turend out to be. Other than that, examples were clear. Thank you for your writing.
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ReplyDeleteLast night, on the way back home, I was so tired and sitting back on the bus. When I almost got to sleep, I heard talks using both in Korean and in English in the back of the bus and woke up. I kept listening what they were talking about and after few minutes, I found that they were a mother and son. Even though the boy looked like a kindergartener, he spoke English quite fluently. These days, we can often face kids like him speaking English well and this is the result of many parents’ effort trying to make their kids like that. I strongly agree that foreign language instruction should begin in kindergarten because it is much easier to learn foreign language when we are young. Though some may argue that early childhood-foreign language instruction can disturb mother tongue education, it would not. For example, there are many second-generation Korean Americans who can speak both fluently. Of course, balanced education between two languages is required. Also, according to 2007 EU report written in Korean Trade Investment Agency (KOTRA), the Dutch have learned various languages since they were young and they can not only speak several foreign languages including their native tongue but achieve the highest TOEFL score every year. To conclude, I would prefer to have my kids learn foreign language in kindergarten because many researchers reported that the younger the better in studying foreign language and there is no denying that foreign language (especially, English) is essential to live in the globalized world. There is no reason to put off the day learning foreign language.