Cheaper tuition fees, proximity to their home country and the high teaching standard are the reasons a growing community of Korean students are learning to master English at the English Language Academy in Kuching.
Anna Tan, principal of ELA
IT’S not the United Kingdom, Australia or New Zealand that a growing number of foreign parents are sending their children to study the English language.
Rather, and quite surprisingly, it’s Sarawak on the island of Borneo that is preferred by the parents concerned.
There is a small but steadily growing community of Korean students in Kuching. Many of them are boarding with relatives while their parents remain in Korea. There are also those who are accompanied by their mothers for their study here.
The students cited cheaper tuition fees and Sarawak’s proximity to their home country as the reasons for their parents’ decision to send them to study at the English Language Academy (ELA) in Kuching. Moreover, they said, the quality of tuition there is excellent.
Many of the students are taking language classes before joining international schools to continue their secondary education.
For 13-year-old Karen Kim Yung Won, the high standard of English taught at the Academy has helped to improve her fluency in the language tremendously.
“I used to struggle with the grammar and find the different parts of speech and tenses confusing but after taking the English classes, I now have a better understanding,” she said.
Siblings Trevor Baek Seung Heong, 15, and Gemma Baek Soo Jeong, 17, find their command of the language has improved significantly after attending the Academy. They are now more confident using English in public.
“I still get the jitters when I have to speak to the teachers but after a while, I start to settle in. I guess I still have a lot to learn,” Gemma admitted.
The Baeks who have been here for over two months, agreed the standard of the Academy was high – and so were its expectations. To keep pace, they said they had to sort of force themselves to speed up their progress.
“We force ourselves to speak English as often as we can in order to improve faster,” said Gemma who admitted to lapsing into their mother tongue when communicating in English got a bit hard at times.
Gemma had problems with her spoken English before joining the Academy but now, nudged by her friends, she speaks more openly and confidently.
On the other hand, Karen (Kim Yung Won) brims with confidence as she chats in impeccable English, attributing her progress to the language coaching at the Academy.
“Previously I was shy but after joining the English classes, I started to build up my self-confidence,” said Karen who has been studying in the Academy for three years now.
It was her parents who recommended the Academy to the Baeks back in Korea. They knew the latter were looking for a reliable English school to send their two children to.
Both the Baeks siblings and Karen are staying with relatives in Kuching. Their parents remain in Korea and the children return to home during the holidays.
There are 70 foreign students between six to 25 years old attending the Academy. Among them are university students of different nationalities who want to improve their English.
The ELA is the only language academy in Kuching where young foreign students have enrolled to study English. They are also attracted by the Academy’s highly-trained staff who specialise in teaching the language and its comprehensive teaching modules.
The Academy offers international and national structured courses.
“Foreign students go for the international structured English course as it prepares them better for international education while locals tend to opt for the national structured course which is compatible with what the local schools are teaching,” explained Anna Tan, principal of the Academy.
Admitting that the standard of English is now rather poor among the locals, she pointed out that learning the language should not be confined solely to the classroom.
“Constant practice is one of the best ways to improve,” she said.
Tan added that parents should encourage their children to speak English even at home, noting that many tended to lapse into their mother tongue the moment they left the classroom.
She recommended that the reading habit be inculcated in the students at an early age and that, according to her, beat all other methods.
“The love of reading is the best gift a parent can give a child. It not only expands the child’s vocabulary but also enhances the child’s curiosity and creativity,” she said.