The Catholic Peace Weekly in its Religious Platform column asks the question why do they use Korean to explain the English Exam? The columnist is the Diocesan Director of Migrant Pastoral Care Center.
The columnist unexpectedly became a Jeju resident 10 years ago. Life on Jeju Island is still good, where you don't have to run to avoid missing the subway. It's still possible to live without the need to rush. For the first 2-3 years, if a friend came from Seoul, he could easily go there after work and have dinner even if it was far away, but now he can't. This is because he has become a 'Jeju Islander' who considers 'movements longer than 30 minutes' needing a special itinerary.
Jeju residents have sincerely welcomed the construction of a '15-minute Jeju city', which is a key pledge of the new provincial governor. [An urban planning concept in which most daily necessities and services, such as work, shopping, education, healthcare, and leisure can be easily reached by a 15-minute walk, bike ride, or public transit ride from any point in the city. This approach aims to reduce car dependency, promote healthy and sustainable living, and improve well being and quality of life for city dwellers]
The real Jeju language, although Korean, is more difficult than foreign languages. Even though it has been 10 years since he moved here, he still only knows a few words. Even though he is confident that his listening skills have improved a lot, he feels a sense of shame when he listens to the grandmothers' stories. He is aware that it takes a considerable amount of time and effort to become familiar with a new language.
He works at the Naomi Center, affiliated with the Catholic Diocese of Jeju’s Migrant Pastoral Committee. It is a place that helps foreigners, such as immigrants and refugees. It offers an English Mass every week, a Mass in Vietnamese and Timor-Leste every month, and a Mass in Filipino every other month. Free medical treatment in internal medicine and obstetrics and gynecology is also provided. And for foreigners who are not eligible for health insurance, they have introduced the Foreign Medical Mutual Aid Association through business agreements with 21 hospitals, including Jeju National University Hospital, to support the immigrants and refugees.
The study room within the center is attended by 'children with migrant backgrounds' who have lived in various countries such as Yemen, Sudan, India, and Vietnam. The children’s thoughts and actions are as varied as the countries are diverse, so it is always new and interesting.
The common language in the study room is, of course, Korean, and the common menu(?) is chicken. Unlike beef or pork, there is no country or religion that taboos chicken. If there is a new menu item that is added over time, it is a 'Spicy Cup of Noodle Soup'. Children eat food from their country of origin at home, eat Korean food outside, and grow up to be 'multicultural' children who know how to enjoy food from various countries.
One day, a 5th grade elementary school student from India, who is not yet good at Korean, complained and said, "I took the English test today and I got three questions wrong!" When the study room guidance teacher expressed regret that an Indian whose main language was English got three questions wrong on the English test, she complained while the child rolled his eyes. "Why are we taking the English test in Korean? I got three questions wrong because I couldn't understand the questions written in Korean." The columnist who was next to him, said: "I’m taking the test in Korean because I’m Korean~", but he thought there was some truth to what the child said. He was able to think again about the English test system in which Koreans get better scores than native English speakers.
When he was young, he remembers being scolded by adults because he couldn't use chopsticks properly. Nowadays, if a child cannot use chopsticks, instead of scolding him, we give him a fork. Western cooking utensils are used to eat Korean food. Just as the newly changed Korean food culture is no longer unfamiliar with Western food culture, we look forward to an educational environment where foreign students can live together in harmony.
