Good Neighbor News

With voluntary USFK teachers, “I can speak English”

JoongAng Daily

“What’s this? Read it out loud”

“Egg, fox…”

Clear and high-pitched voices of children reading words on the blackboard out loud are echoing in a classroom. SrA (Senior Airman) Joshua Johnson, the teacher in charge, gives a big response, “Good job~”

29th of the last month in the community service center of Bongdeok-3-dong, Nam-gu, Daegu, students were paying undivided attention to their native-speaker instructors. With help of volunteers from the Red Cross, students were intently absorbed with writing alphabets and memorizing vocabularies. Each time children encounter difficulties understanding instructors’ words, voluntary interpreters would re-explain in Korean. Kim Se-yun, a third grader from a local elementary school, with a grin on her face said, “I am learning the real English from the real American.” SrA Johnson replied, “I don’t know how much we can actually help their English to improve, but we just love to see them being so happy.”

The program illustrated above is ‘the Red Cross English class for children.’ Four native-speaker instructors are US servicemembers from the nearby Camp Henry. 20 first to third graders are from local Bongdeok and Hyo-myeong elementary schools. Every Wednesday from 1600, students practice English with these instructors for an hour. The whole course lasts for about three months. The Korean National Red Cross Daegu branch provided free textbooks and snacks while the Bongdeok-3-dong community service center offered a classroom.

It was last September that the Red Cross Daegu branch initiated English classes for students under third grade who aren’t wealthy enough to attend private language institutes. Contemplating on how to deliver a good English education to local children, the Red Cross sought US servicemembers from Camp Henry for help, who were more than pleased to add to the community. Great response that they received from the first course led them to launch the second one 22nd of the last month with greater participants. Kim Min-hye, the staff in charge of the English course said, “The program contributes not only to children for their English to improve but also to US servicemembers and local residents to build a stronger bond. We will continue our effort to have as many children as possible to receive benefits of this program.”