SO IS IT STILL NECESSARY TO LEARN ENGLISH?

Jin Lee has studied English for a long time. Read the story and find out:

How does he feel about leaning English?

I am a fourth-year student at a good university in Korea. I will graduate in four months and take a job with a company in a small town near Seoul. I have spent almost 10 years learning English. And let me tell you, it has been a waste of time.

To begin with, I will probably never use English in my work. My job will be with a taxi company. Everyone speaks Korean. The owner of the company is Korean and all of the employees are Korean, too. The taxi drivers themselves do not need to speak English because there are very few foreign visitors in our small town.

I don’t need English in my free time, either. If I want to read about what is happening in foreign countries, I can read Korean newspapers and magazines. I can learn all about other countries by reading my native language, not English.

And of course all the television stations carry international stories, so I don’t have to watch the news in English I order to understand what is happening all over the world.

I think of many hours, days, weeks, even years that I spent in school and at home studying English. Just think of what else I could have studied instead of English. I could have studied more history, so that I could understand my country better. Or I could have read more literature, to help me understand the great writers of my country.

Instead, I spent so much time studying English. And for what reason? So I could pass examinations? What a terrible waste of time. I really can’t understand why people need to study English for so many years.

Taken from: British Five international module

Which opinions do you agree with?

-         English is the important international language. We should all study it until we are good at it, even if it takes several years.

-         If you need English for work or travel, you should learn it. But not everybody needs to learn it – for a lot of people, it is just a waste of time and energy.

-         You may think you don’t need English now, but who knows? You might need it in the future. So, it’s better to be prepared.

-         I think learning a foreign language is very important. But it doesn’t have to be English. Other languages are important, too, especially the languages of neighboring countries.

-         We should study English but not for so long. The people who really need it can continue to study it if they want.