Education gaps are increasing nowadays. As institutes and private tutoring increase, the amount of money one has greatly influences education. The difference doesn’t stop here. Most elite schools and the best education atmospheres are normally around Seoul, Korea’s capital. People in other areas don’t get the same chance to learn from these prestigious learning systems. So naturally the difference gap increases.

The most eye-catching difference is in English. English is second language to Koreans and can’t be learned by simply reading books by themselves. Pronunciation and writing must be taught by professionals in order to be learned properly. Also English-based learning materials are hard to get. So naturally people in isolated areas don’t get the chance to properly learn English.

That’s why this summer, I went to Gang Won Do Yeongwol Big Tree Study Center to teach the children there a little English. This center has about thirty children who are exburant about learning. A building that used to be an abandoned school became this valuable center for these children. Mainly the center focuses on teaching subjects that can’t be done by regular education such as English.

A bunch of teenagers and I went together, and since I hardly knew anyone them, I dreaded going there. It was supposed to be a short trip, still staying at a place with strangers wasn’t an appealing thought. Still I prepared a couple of English folktales and enthusiastic games to play.

When I first reached there, the anxiety was overwhelming. The little kids were different from the ones I were used to in Seoul. There were shy little ones, and since the place I went to have no connection outside there were a little afraid of strangers. Also the sad truth was that even though most of the youngsters were in elementary schools few youngsters knew how to make full sentences. So the English books I brought had no use.

Still I didn’t give up and tried my best to open their hearts. It certainly wasn’t an easy task since they weren’t willing to come forward, also they didn’t know any games or entertainment so it was even more difficult to communicate with them. However their best advantage was that they were pure and bright. They were nervous at first but kept their manners and smiled a lot. The anxiety disappeared quite soon and I found myself enjoying the project afterwards.

They weren’t able to read English books so I made alphabet games for them to play with. They were enthusiastic and soon memorized the letters. When I first got there, they didn’t even know the basic system but by the time I left they were capable of making short passages. Their sudden improvement made me feel proud and joyful.

Going to Gang Won Do was a great experience for me because it gave me the chance to feel proud of myself. I was able to feel a great deal of pride afterwards. Also I learned to be thankful of what I have. These youngsters don’t have any mechanical devices to play with and live in a totally isolated area. Still they know how to be thankful and are sweet. It was a great trip because all of us learned a valuable lesson at the end.