4 in Every 100 Gangnam Children Study Abroad

[영어도우미]

4 in Every 100 Gangnam Children Study Abroad

 

 

 

 

Four out of 100 elementary students in the upscale Gangnam and Seocho Districts in Seoul went overseas to study last year, the Gangnam Office of Education said Wednesday. A total of 2,165 students left to study overseas last year, accounting for four percent of the 53,228 students in 51 elementary schools in its jurisdiction.

Assuming there are 25 students in a class, one student in every class went overseas, four times more than the ratio to all elementary students in Seoul in 2007.

Of the 2,165 students, more than half or 1,250 went abroad for study either by themselves or only with their mother, with their father being left in Korea to earn school fees. Some 32 percent went overseas with both parents who had been sent overseas for work, while 10 percent emigrated.

Favored destinations were largely English-speaking countries such as the U.S. (890 students), Canada (484), New Zealand (85), Australia (79) and the U.K. (33). If Singapore (78) and the Philippines (76) are included, English-speaking countries account for 80 percent of the entire outbound students from the two affluent districts.

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2009/04/23/2009042300765.html

VOCABULARY LIST:

upscale - describes goods and products that are of very high quality and intended to be bought by people who are quite rich

jurisdiction - the authority of an official organization to make and deal with especially legal decisions

emigrate - to leave a country permanently and go to live in another one

affluent - having a lot of money or owning a lot of things; rich

DISCUSSION POINTS:

1. How many people you know have studied abroad?

2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of studying in another country?

3. If you'd go study abroad, would you prefer to go alone or with one of your parents? Why?

4. Why do most Korean students favor English-speaking destinations?

5. In this period of global recession, do you think Korean students and parents should still push for studying abroad?

6. Do you think the split-family structure of those families who have kids studying abroad will have an impact on Korean society in general?

7. What would your country gain from having sent a number of its students to study overseas?

8. Do you think studying abroad also serves as a means of gaining cultural exposure?

9. Do you believe that Korean students who go overseas also serve as friendship ambassadors to other countries?

9. What does Korea have to offer to foreign students?