‘Two Hundred Years of Teaching English in Korea’ with Matt VanVolkenburg

Please join the 10 Magazine Book Club for our October meeting on Saturday 25th October. We will be joined by very special guest Matt VanVolkenburg. Matt has taught English in Korea for thirteen years and writes the highly popular, acclaimed blog 'Gusts of Popular Feeling,' which, among other things, examines media perceptions of foreign English teachers in Korea. Matt will give a presentation entitled ‘From Explorers and Missionaries to Vagabonds and Potential Criminals: Two Hundred Years of Teaching English in Korea’ and then take audience questions.

“From the first-recorded English lesson in 1816 to Lee Myung-bak's promises of a "native speaker in every school,” English has played many different roles in Korea's history, from its use in Korean attempts to preserve its sovereignty and Japanese efforts to present Korea as a 'failed state' at the turn of the last century to the radical expansion of the study of English as a foreign language over the past twenty years. This presentation will look at the experiences of those teaching the language, including missionaries, Peace Corps Volunteers, 'beeper cowboys' and even World War II prisoners of war. At the same time, while the Korean government has perceived mastery of English as necessary for Korea to compete in a globalized world, it has also shown distrust of the culture attached to the language, a wariness which stretches back to the days of the Joseon Dynasty, and manifestations of both the desire to learn the language and the distrust of the accompanying culture - and the teachers who embody it - will also be examined.

As well as writing his fantastic blog (populargusts.blogspot.kr/) Matt has written for various publications, and co-authored with Benjamin Wagner 'HIV/AIDS Tests as a Proxy for Racial Discrimination? A Preliminary Investigation of South Korea’s Policy of Mandatory In-Country HIV/AIDS Tests for its Foreign English Teachers,' which was published by the Journal of Korean Law in 2012. He is also a council member of the Royal Asiatic Society, Korea Branch (www.raskb.com/) and hosts the Seoul Film Society (www.facebook.com/groups/seoulfilmsociety/)

I hope you can all make it. I really look forward to seeing you there. I think it’s going to be a fantastic meeting.
우리 모두가 참여하기를 바랍니다. 그곳에서 모두를 뵙기를 기대하겠습니다. 아주 멋진 모임이 될 것입니다.

Also, I should have some copies of 10 Magazine to give away.
또한 여러분을 위해 10 Magazine의 복사본이 있습니다.

All the best
안녕히 계세요.

Barry Welsh 드림.

Date: Saturday 25th October.
날짜 : 09월 27일
Time: 4pm to 6pm.
시간: 오후 4시
Admission fee: 5,000won (Students 3,000won)
Place: Haechi Hall in Seoul Global Cultural Center
(5th Floor M Plaza in Myeong-dong) (www.facebook.com/Seoulcenter3789)

Full directions are here http://www.seoultourism.kr/2013/eng/center/center3.asp

(Call Barry on 010 5138 8859 if you get lost or can't find it and I will come meet you at exit 6 Myeong-dong station.)

Also don't forget to check out and 'like' the main 10 Magazine Facebook page here - www.facebook.com/10magazine - or the 10 Magazine website here - 10mag.com/. It really is the number 1 best resource in English for finding out what's happening in Seoul and the rest of the country. There are lots of special offers and you can also advertise your business and events with 10 Magazine as well.