Overcoming English Anxiety Through Online Pen Pals and Games

Seongdong-gu Seongsu Global Experience Center Online Penpal and Game Program Operation

Amanda, a native English teacher at Seongsu Global Experience Center, conducting an online class

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] The 'Seongsu Global Experience Center,' which provides local students with various experiential programs for English learning and opportunities to experience foreign cultures, is operating the 'Online Pen Pal' and 'Online Seongsu Games' programs to help elementary, middle, and high school students overcome their fear of English.

As the center faced difficulties in conducting face-to-face classes due to the elevation to social distancing level 2, it created various engaging online content to make English more accessible. This program was planned to help students, exhausted by the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, overcome psychological helplessness through communication with native English teachers.

First, the 'Online Pen Pal' program will run from September 1 to 25.

Targeting local elementary, middle, and high school students, the program involves writing English letters weekly on topics such as self-introduction, questions about the teacher, counseling on concerns, and questions related to English study. Students send their unique stories in English letters, and teachers provide feedback, creating an interactive online class that naturally continues conversations in English.

Amanda, a native English instructor, said, "We want students to overcome their fear of writing in English by freely attempting English writing." She added, "Korean students often fear writing in English because they worry about making grammatical mistakes, but by writing as freely as possible and conveying their stories to others, they can take the first step toward building confidence in English writing."

The 'Online Seongsu Games' program was popular during the summer vacation season. Therefore, it will continue to be offered in September for local elementary school students in grades 4 to 6. The program uses interesting games such as Pictionary and Dingbats, which may be somewhat unfamiliar to Korean students, to help anyone easily learn English words through word association. It improves both English vocabulary and speaking skills. The program consists of four one-hour interactive Zoom sessions held from September 15 to 18 and 22 to 25.

Residents who wish to participate or are interested can apply starting from the 26th on the Seongsu Global Experience Center website.

Jung Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, said, "We hope that these various online programs will provide communication opportunities for students who mostly spend their time at home and help them build confidence in English."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.