Local Officials? What is that?
The local officials in Korea are the non-teaching staff that you might see at schools, local district offices, training centers, research institutes, and/or any other government organization. They hold various different occupations and roles in their organizations and/or departments. They could work in accounting, facilities management, information technology, and etc. These people are the rank and file workers in the Korean government organizations. They are the most visible when you visit any administration office.
What was the Local Officials’ English Program?
The Local Officials’ English Program was specifically for any local official in Gyeonggi Province who wanted to improve on their English language proficiency (listening, speaking, reading, writing). The modules were tailored toward helping them use English that is related to their jobs and roles in their respective organizations and/or daily life.
What courses do you offer in this program?
The trainees took all the modules offered in the program. There were two types of modules:
Professional English Presentation (Angie Lee, Eric Flynn, Justin Howard) – One of the most daunting tasks we face in any language is public speaking … and this task is made all the more difficult when presenting in a language different from that which we usually speak. In GIFLE’s Professional English Presentation (PEP) module, trainees will learn a variety of skills for giving polished and memorable speeches in English for a wide variety of occasions, including: introducing professional organizations, informing an audience about a topic, guiding listeners through procedures, and more.
Business English Skills were divided into 2 skills.
Writing (Autumn Wright) – Email writing is an essential 21st century skill, but knowing exactly how to appropriately write one in English can be challenging. In this course, trainees examined different types of emails, identified parts of emails in English, and learned how to properly compose different types of business-appropriate emails (and responses) in English.
Speaking (Betsey Norman) – In this module, we introduced English vocabulary and phrases related to travel. Trainees were introduced a variety of settings and useful phrases for each “scenario” of a typical overseas trip. Using the phrases practiced in class, trainees were able to complete their own scenario along with adapting the phrases to fit the country they “traveled” to.