18 WEDNESDAY

JANUARY 2, 2008 COMMUNITY

EFL seminar pitches unique approach

Life&
Community
Life & Community is your page, where you can
By Paul Langkamp

As Gyeonggi Province ramps

up its efforts to complement
English education with more
native English speaking teach-
ers, the programs organizers
displayed a unique though com-
mon-sense approach to teach-
ing, language, and living in
share stories about your life and community here Korea.
in Korea. Send articles, photos, and letters marked On a recent training day, an
“for publication” to mattlamers@heraldm.com official from the Provincial
Education Office told over 1,000
foreign teachers in Gyeonggi
Province government schools:
Letter to the editor “You have chosen Korea, and
you have chosen to teach chil-
dren. We depend on you, and we
The underreported want to offer you encourage-
ment.”
The day’s program included
by Dr. Seongha Rhee, a profes-
sor at the Korean University of
Foreign Studies, and a doctoral
graduate of Austin University
who taught for many years in
the United States.
At this day-long event, which
tool place at the Everland
theme park, professor Rhee told
the foreign teachers that
Koreans prefer a particular
style of speech which expresses
an inordinate concern for the
person. He gave as an example
Korean train station announce-
ments advising to people “watch
your step.”
“There is a large gap between
the platform and the carriage,
and we are worried about your
foot falling into it, so please be
careful to enter the carriage
the gist of the message.
Rhee explained how percep-
tion can be limited by an “insid-
er’s-folly” view of language,
whereby a language user as-
sumes that the universal word
for a thing or action is the one
he uses. He contrasted the
Korean word for a pig’s grunt,
“gul gul” with the English, “oink
oink.” And he suggested that to
be locked into the view of one
language is a kind of arrogant
foolishness, whereas to ac-
knowledge another language,
and appreciate its culture and
its way of thinking and doing
things offers an expansion of the
mind and soul. Koreans want
the benefits of learning English,
along with being exposed to for-
eign cultures. The benefit goes
encouraged.
He also acknowledged that
the “communicative” approach
to language teaching, suitable
to small classrooms, does not
work in large ones, and instead
urged an “interactive” method
in which the foreign expert
works with a Korean co-teacher
to create more diverse and dy-
never argue with your boss —
negotiate; dress neatly and con-
servatively; be polite; watch
yourself when participating in
Korean drinking culture; police
will intervene if conflict arises;
parents are watching you, and
will accord teachers high respect
when proper decorum is evident.
One Chinese-Canadian teach-
namic classrooms. He empha- er of English shared some
sized that this requires plenty of amusing anecdotes about every-
imagination and skill. The goals day Korean idiosyncrasies: The
are not haphazard but guided constant bumping into others on
by the nation’s seventh national subways, the asking of personal
curriculum. By the end of high questions, the eating of live oc-
school, students should have
more than several thousand
topus, etc, etc.
After formal proceedings, for-
English words for ready use in eign teachers enjoyed an hour or
English speaking situations.
Sue Choi lectured on the “how
to’s” for foreigners in Korean
two of Everland, as in observing
real Korean tiger enclosures
and riding rollercoasters.

undocumented two lectures. The first was given when the doors open” — that is both ways: “Learn Korean,” he school staff rooms: learn to bow; (paul_langkamp@yahoo.com)

I am writing to express my concern with the current situation

that migrant workers are facing living and working here. Their This week’s PHOTO CHALLENGE was open to any category
plight, for too long ignored by the mainstream press as well as
society at large, demands our attention.
I was prompted to write this letter after a friend asked me for
advice. His Myanmarese friend, lying in a hospital with a herni-
ated disc, which he got as a direct result of his work, was unable
to pay his medical fees. As an undocumented worker, he is not
covered by medical insurance. With no other option, he returned
to his home ten days later, without getting the necessary opera-
tion.
This situation is common for migrant workers. Numbering
around 230,000, undocumented workers exist in a precarious
position inside society: they are needed by the Korean economy,
but are regularly mistreated, overworked and underpaid. Their
situation was brought into the spotlight in early 2007 when nine
workers lost their lives in a migrant-detention-center fire in
Yeosu. This incident was a symptom of the problem, however,
and has not triggered the response from the public that is need-
ed.
Migrant workers are often employed in “3-D” jobs: dangerous,
dirty and difficult. Due to an increasingly educated domestic
workforce, migrant workers have become a preferable option be-
cause they work for low wages and are more easily exploited by
employers. Though forming a crucial pillar of the Korean econo-
my, migrant workers are not treated accordingly.
Many migrant workers come to Korea in hopes of providing for
their families back home, but end up being mistreated by un-
scrupulous employers who take advantage of their undocument-
ed status. Many cannot afford the airfare home. Many find their
pay withheld for long periods. Others have their documents con-
fiscated to prevent them from fleeing. Tragically, suicide is some-
times used as a way to escape these conditions.
Despite introducing the EPS Act in 2003, which legalized
many unrecognized migrant workers, the government has failed
to protect workers adequately. Rather than taking steps to im-
prove conditions for migrants, the government is currently carry-
ing out a crackdown on undocumented workers, recently com-
pleting a cleanout of the executive committee of the Migrants’
Trade Union by deporting three executive members. This action
was clearly targeted at crippling the union, and was a severe set-
back for migrant workers’ rights.
Without support from the general population, and pressure on
the government to recognize all migrant workers in Korea, we
risk losing more lives to the shortcomings of this system.

Tom Rainey-Smith
Coordinator G48 This photograph is a blend of ancient and modern. The idea of ancient and modern is an important balance that needs to be practiced, respected and maintained. The fore-
Amnesty Korea ground shows flowing traffic, and in the background, National Treasure No. 1, Namdaemun Gate. (www.maisondezion-korea.blogspot.com) Kyle Groth

Festivals calendar
for January 2008
Following are major cultur-
al and tourist festivals to be
held in Korea in January. —
Ed.
Pyeongchang
Trout Festival
From Jan. 1 to Jan. 31,
Pyeongchang will host the
Pyeongchang Trout Festival.
Pyeongchang is an alpine
county and a haven for winter
sports with bumper snow pre-
cipitation. Throughout Jan-
uary the county presents a
festival of snow, ice and trout
fishing on a lot of 33,000
square meters located on land
with average altitude of 700
meters above sea level. For
more information, call 033-
325-2248 or visit the website
at www.festival700.or.kr/-
trout. (Yonhap News)
Hwacheon Mountain
Trout Festival
From Jan. 5 to Jan. 27, the
Hwacheon Mountain Trout
Festival attracts anglers from
around the country. Taking
place in Hwacheon River,
Hwacheon, Gangwon Pro-
vince, enjoy fishing for moun-
tain trout under the thick ice of
Hwacheon stream, the origin
of the North Han River. Catch
trout with your bare hands
and compete in the creative
sled competition. For more in-
formation, call 033-441-7575
or visit the website at
http://ice.narafestival.com.
(Yonhap News)
Inje Bingeo
Fishing Festival
From Jan. 31 to Feb. 3,
Soyang Lake, Inje, Gangwon
Province, try your luck at ice
fishing. Fishing on frozen
lakes is a unique winter pas-
times, and those who want to
try their luck during the
smelt (bingeo) season can
rent a site and fishing tackle.
Also worth seeing is the snow
sculpture park and an ice
sculpture collection. For more
information, call 033-460-
2082 or visit the website at
w w w. i n j e f e s t i v a l . n e t .
(Yonhap News)
Daegwallyeong
Snow Festival
From Jan. 17 to Jan. 21, in
Daegwallyeong, Gangwon
Province, the Daegwallyeong
Snow Festival is a great place
to spend time with the family
at this winter wonderland.
The Daegwallyeong Snow
Festival offers lots of festive
events such as snowman
making, top-spinning and
various traditional winter
games. For further informa-
tion, call 033-336-6112 or vis-
it the website at www.snow-
festival.net. (Yonhap News)
Mt. Taebaek
Snow Festival
The Mt. Taebaek Snow
Festival takes place at Mt.
Taebaek Provincial Park,
Hwangji Lake and Taebaek
City, Gangwon Province.
Various events will be held in
the highlands of Taebaek, 800
meters above sea level, dur-
ing the 10-day festival. For
more information, contact the
tourism and cultural division
at Taebaek City at 033-550-
2081 or visit the festival’s
website at http://snow.tae-
baek.go.kr.
Demystifying aperture
By David Smeaton
Q: I don’t really understand how aper-
ture works. I’ve done lots of reading on-
line, but I still don’t get the meaning.
What is aperture and how exactly does it
work? — Gary, Seoul.
A: Aperture is one of the hardest
things for beginner photographers to un-
derstand. The best way to think about
aperture is that it’s the same as an iris,
like the pupil in your eye. Simply, a big
iris lets lots of light into the lens and
camera. A small iris means less light. For
cameras, the measurement of light en-
tering a lens is referred to as an f-stop.
Where most people are confused is that
the numbers are the opposite to what
you’d expect. A small f-stop such as f2.8
represents a big iris and lots of light into lenses have no zoom and are often much DoF because they can create the im-
the camera. A large f-stop number like cheaper. pression that their entire scene is in fo-
f22 means a small iris and only a little Aperture has another important use; it cus.
light into the camera. controls the depth of field. DoF is the Finally, an important point to remem-
A lens will generally have an f-stop area in focus when you take a photo. A ber is that a lens is engineered to work
range. An 18mm-70mm f3.5-5.6 lens, wide aperture, such as f1.8, has a very best at wider apertures, especially
means the maximum aperture at 18mm small depth of field. As a result, your fo- around f8. So try to keep your aperture
is f3.5, the maximum aperture at 70mm cal point will be sharp, but the rest will range between f1.2 and f11, which will
is f5.6. The maximum refers to the max- be out of focus. give you maximum quality photo-
imum amount of light that can enter the However, at f22 the focal range is often graphs.
camera; a big iris. This is where dedicat- considered to be infinite, giving the ap- Happy shooting.
ed lenses, or prime lenses, have an ad- pearance that everything in your photo
vantage. They can have better maximum is in focus. Because f22 allows very little
apertures. Some lenses can go as wide as light into the lens, this aperture is diffi- Send David a message at david-
f1.2 or f1.4, which allows a lot of light cult to use. smeaton@gmail.com or visit his website
into the lens. A dedicated lens is a zoom Photographers love to exploit depth of at www.davidsmeaton.com . If you want
lens that can hold the same aperture field. Intentionally keeping the DoF to be a part of the weekly Photo
throughout the focal range. For example, very shallow allows for nice blurry Challenge, join the “Seoul Photo Club”
an 80mm-200mm f2.8 lens means it’s backgrounds, which we call Bokeh. group on Facebook (www.facebook.com).
f2.8 regardless of the focal length. Prime Landscape photographers like larger — Ed.
A little boy (left) sits on his fa-
ther’s shoulders to get a good
view of the action in Jongno,
downtown Seoul on New Year’s
Eve. Many colorful scarves (top)
kept Seoulites warm during a
frigid New Year celebration.
Revelers (right) set off personal
fireworks. Police were busy con-
fiscating fireworks all night.
Personal fireworks have caused
several serious injuries in down-
town Seoul over the years.
Matthew Lamers/ The Korea Herald