6월 23일 Topic

[Joseph]

Facebook을 주요 활동무대로 하기로 정한뒤, Daum에 신경을 못 썼더니

우리 club이 없어진 거 아닌가 하는 분들이 계실텐데요, 새로운 장소인 Cafe Heavenly에서 새롭게

그리고 활기차게 다시 시작했습니다.

이번주부터는 Daum에도 같이 Topic을 올리기로 했어요.

Topic 올라갑니다~~

1. Part 1 (30 minutes)
Small talks about your job, study, life, or anything you want to talk about.

... 2. Part 2 ( 30 minutes)
Preparation for speaking tests ( From IELTS Examination Papers)

Instruction: Instructors will ask some questions to all members in each group. Each member has 1-2 minutes to answer the questions. You do not have to get ready for the questions in advance as this is an exam to test your English speaking ability.

Topic: Describe your Job

- Question
1) What does your company often ask you to do?
2) Did you feel welcomed by other colleagues on your first day?
3) Have you experienced any conflict with your colleagues, particularly superior at work? How did you manage the conflicts?

3. Part 3 (50 minutes)

South Korean builders push employees to buy unsold apartments

Free discussion. Plz read the article attached.

GOYANG, South Korea — Five years after the global financial crisis, South Korean construction workers are feeling the pinch more than ever as they shoulder a mountain of debt from a real estate bust that has cast a long shadow on the country's growth prospects.

Facing the specter of bankruptcy, some construction firms persuaded their staff to take up loans to mop up unsold apartments.

"There was pressure. There's nowhere else in the world where there's a parallel to these practices," said a construction worker, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.

"Loyalty and hierarchy is still strong in South Korea and especially in the construction companies which are run like the armed forces," he said, adding that his employer Poonglim Industrial Co Ltd had asked him to buy two apartments, which meant he had to borrow 800 million won ($712,800).

A public relations official at Poonglim, which completed its court receivership in April, would only say employees had taken loans on behalf of the company and interest payments were being paid by Poonglim.

An office worker at Byucksan Engineering & Construction Co Ltd, Kim Keon-hoon said he was also pushed in 2008 to buy an unsold 800 million won two-bathroom, four-bedroom apartment in the Ilsan suburb outside Seoul as his employer teetered on the edge of bankruptcy.

Mortgages are commonly taken on by workers to provide cash-strapped companies with liquidity, and interest payments are usually shouldered by the firms.

The purchase has saddled the father of two with debts of 500 million won and monthly interest payments of 3 million won that he cannot repay. Kim and other employees say they were coerced to buy and have taken the company to court.

In South Korea, the practice of pressuring employees to buy their own company's products — as a way of boosting sales and manipulating profits — is a fairly common practice.

The South Korean business world is dominated by a handful of massive conglomerates. It is a top-heavy economy that gives executives immense power over those at the bottom, a reality that corporate governance activists have complained is unfair and undemocratic.

Retailers, for instance, regularly ask their store managers to purchase items such as makeup and clothing on their credit cards, offsetting poor sales. Suppliers sometimes pressure shops into buying up excess material they never ordered.

Because South Korea's real estate and retail markets are in the middle of a slump, the practice has become more prominent, and has brought controversy to some corporations.

In early May, South Koreans boycotted a major milk producer, Namyang Dairy, when a company representative was caught on tape using expletives, bullying an elderly shop owner into accepting products he didn't order.

Reuters contributed reporting to this article. Geoffrey Cain contributed reporting from Seoul, South Korea

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/south-korea/130530/south-korean-builders

[Tom Lim]

항상 수고해 주셔서 고마워요~ 말할 수 있는 기회가 더 많아져서 재미있네요~ 오랫동안 못 나온신 맴버님들 스터디에 들러보세요~ 미쿡에서 온 앤써니와 조셉이 너무 수고해 주셔서 스터디가 전보다 훨씬 재미있어졌어요~ 궁금하시다면 이번주에 오셔요^.^

[아자]

◐이런곳 처음이네요 백만원 꼴다 팔백 땃는데◑
◐바로 총알입금 해주세요 .. 입금 서비스 최고네요◑
◐바로가기:☞ http://gil.cc/84gq

[아자]

◐９８％ 최고확률 오프라인게임 그대로 ~!◑
◐무료머니로 오늘의 행운을 점쳐 보세요 !◑
◐바로가기:☞ http://p.tl/y3Zi

[Joseph]

이렇게 열씸으로 나와주시고 도와 주시는 분들이 많아져서 부족한 저의 부분을 채워가네요. 함께 친교도 하고 즐거운 대화도 하면서 실력도 키워나가고....이미 실력이 높으신 분들은 지금의 실력을 유지하실 수 있고. 정말 행복하네요~~