English Villages

Good news: the typhoon is over, the bathroom floor no longer floods when I shower, the door closes, and the showerhead stays attached to the wall where it belongs.  I haven’t even heard from the cockroaches in an entire week.

Well, I promised I would write about Kaohsiung’s educational system in regards to English, so here we go.  Apparently, somewhere in Korea, an educator had the brilliant idea of incorporating English speaking practice into realistic environments.  Following that stroke of insight, they built what henceforth became known as English Villages—supermarkets, clothing stores, subway stations, and so on—that served no real or practical purpose except to provide an area where children can run through dialogues and practice vocabulary that they would use in such a place.

Not long ago, Kaohsiung City began building English Villages and including them in the English language curriculum.  We toured three of the four English Villages in the city, and what we saw was amazing.  There were hotels with front reception desks, rooms with beds and bathrooms and closets.  We saw stores with items for sale on the shelves—food, clothing, newspapers, books.  There was an airplane cabin complete with seats, seatbelts, and so on.  We also saw a subway station, including those handles you’re supposed to hold on to while the train is moving.

The idea is that a native English speaker—that’s me and my fellow ETAs this year—conducts simple dialogues with elementary schoolers wandering through.  For example, in the hotel, the kid might say, “Excuse me.  Where do I check in?”  And a conversation about room numbers, amenities, and the like ensues.  After they are done in the hotel, the kids may complete some sort of activity to help them remember the vocabulary and expressions they used. 

I must say, this is an excellent idea.  Meandering through these English Villages, I found myself wishing that there were places like these when I was learning another language.  I would have loved to go to a French Village, or a Chinese Village, or even a Hebrew Village.  One of the big problems in second language education is the lack of places to actually practice speaking, and this would have been a fantastic place to do such a thing.  Unfortunately, there are a couple problems with instituting languages Villages in the US.  Americans tend not to place a high enough priority on foreign language education to be willing to commit the funds, first of all.  But even if taxpayers were willing to pay, what languages would be taught in the Villages?  I suppose multiple language groups could use the Villages at different times, but there are so many languages that no one group would benefit as much as they possibly could. 

Apart from visiting the English Villages, this week of orientation was not remarkable enough to be worth reporting.  I’m no longer jetlagged, which is most definitely a positive development.  I find myself experiencing highs and lows, which is to be expected.  Part of the time, I’m very happy to be in Taiwan, a place where I get to practice my language skills and not do any homework, for once in my life.  But I also spend a lot of time missing a lot of people who I won’t get to see for a very long time.  I wish I could bring them here to stay with me.  Then I would never get homesick.