“What use is teaching English at an early age if children have little cultural knowledge or manners. Even if those children turn up with a degree from Seoul National University, no, even Harvard, global corporations won’t want to work with them." The advice may be a bitter pill to swallow for some mothers in Korea who are desperately trying to ready their children for the global age. But it is worth listening to, coming as it does from Kim Yoo-mi, who has taught English as a second language in the U.S. for 25 years. Kim, who is also a well known writer, was in Korea on Tuesday to promote a book about child education. "Children Succeed When Mothers Change" was borne out of her exasperation with the way some mothers push their children’s early education.

As a “global mom” herself, Kim is proud that one of her daughters is vice president of a consulting firm and the other variously in charge of marketing for the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times.

The first task, she says, is not to raise children into wizards in written exams, but to endow them with dignity and a rich cultural background. "Global companies put together applicants at a hotel for a week and evaluate the real life of the person after looking at the documents,” she says. “Companies check the overall cultural levels of an applicant while eating together, watching sports, opera or plays, or hanging around in a club."

The second virtue is to broaden children’s horizons from an early age. That isn’t simply done by teaching English. "I would save all the money sending children to English institutes and rather go traveling abroad with the money,” she says. “Not for language training, but just to see and feel while traveling or camping." While Kim is all for getting children acquainted with English at an early age, she advises parents to cut off institutions that teach grammar to six- or seven-year olds and give loads of homework memorizing vocabulary. “When they understand phonics and read and listen to fun English stories or tapes repeatedly, children will automatically write 'She likes me' rather than 'She like me' even though no one tells them to."

The third task is the globalization of the mothers themselves. "Cut down on time spent in the bath house and try reading 'The Da Vinci Code' with some curiosity about what makes it a bestseller. If the child likes art, they can look at the biography of a famous painter together. Moms should gain some basic knowledge of music, world history and wine, even if it’s shallow." Not being able to speak one word of English while scolding their children to study English is illogical. "Mothers don’t have to be fluent. Being able to go shopping alone when traveling abroad will do. By memorizing one sentence a day, you will be able to speak 100 sentences in three months."

(englishnews@chosun.com )