Teaching English in Gyeongbuk Province English Camps

A summer full of successful camps for teaching English in Gyeongbuk Province has come to an end!

The Gyeongbuk Office of Education successfully completed the ‘Happy English School’, which was held for a total of 450 elementary school students at Dongguk University’s WISE campus, Andong University, and Gumi University during two weeks of summer vacation.

This program was prepared to improve English communication skills of elementary school students and reduce private education expenses for parents by using excellent foreign instructors from the university.

A student from Andong Gangnam Elementary School who participated in the Andong University English Camp said, “There are no native speakers at my school, but by participating in the camp, I was able to communicate directly with a native speaker and actually practice expressions I have never used before.”

A student from Pungseo Elementary School responded to the interview, saying, “There was no native speaker class in my 6th grade, but it was great to come to the camp and take a class with a foreign teacher.

A parent of a 4th grader from Pohang’s Duho Elementary School who participated in the Dongguk University English Camp said, “It was hard to drive my child to Gyeongju for 10 days, but it was rewarding because he likes to participate in English classes.” Her son added, “I struggled at first, but after 5 days, I understood about 70% of it, and it was really fun to play outside and conduct classes with different games and activities every time.”

The Gyeongbuk Office of Education implemented the program at two universities in 2021, but due to the high demand for English camps for native speakers, this year, the program was expanded to three universities in the region.

Kyung-Ok Lee, head of the local government’s Education and Welfare Division, said, “It was a vacation where young students wanted to play while using the opportunity to participate in the ‘Happy English School’ camp.