Any mention of an insulated society on the Korean Peninsula is likely to evoke images of a brutal regime run by a pudgy, screwball dictator.
Sure, North Korea could be fairly described as an insulated society, but what about "English Village" in Paju, South Korea? Located just a few miles east of the 38th Parallel, English Village is a world onto itself.
Like any small town USA, English Village boasts a main street flanked by Western shopfronts.
Ironically, the town also resembles North Korea in some respects. For example, English Village imposes what some might consider to be bizarre, draconian laws on its schoolage inhabitants: They are barred from speaking their mother tongue.
Luckily, "punishment" for speaking anything but English ranges from a friendly reminder to a gentle scolding from a teacher. For now, the Disneylandesque "language immersion camp" has decided against gulags and summary executions.
Inspiration
"We visited English Village twice in South Korea. It is basically a theme park, and we were so inspired that we had to set up our own English Village in Taiwan," said Morgan Sun (
A non-government organization (NGO) devoted to improving the quality of education in Taiwan, the foundation recently announced plans to open the Happy Global English Village in Taoyuan County in September next year.
Modeled after English Village in South Korea, Taiwan's village will accommodate 140 elementary and middle school students per day.
Although much smaller in scale than English Village, Taoyuan County Commissioner Chu Li-lun (
"To date, the King Car Education Foundation has invested NT$30 million (US$910,752) in the camp and we will have more infrastructure and software in place by the summer," Sun said.
Boasting additional funding and other material support from the Taoyuan County Government, the camp will simulate a tiny town in the West for Taiwanese children to lose themselves in.
A post office, airport customs, a Western restaurant, a hospital and, of course, classrooms galore will comprise the "town," according to a foundation press release.
Foreign staff will provide the finishing touches by fostering an English language environment, foundation and Taoyuan County Government representatives said.
"In addition to attracting retired teachers from the US for the camp, we want to offer teaching internships to native English-speaking college students," Sun said.
Jeffrey Lamb, a graduate student in the Graduate Institute of Teaching Chinese as a Second Language at National Taiwan Normal University, said that language immersion camps are all the rage worldwide.
Immersion
"We know that immersion is a good way to teach [foreign languages]," Lamb said, adding that camps and theme parks like English Village are popping up all over the US for Chinese and Arabic.
An expert on foreign language pedagogy, Lamb said such camps provide youth with more exposure to foreign cultures and languages than they can receive in the typical classroom.
"The camps are an effective way to teach language and broaden kids' global vision," Lamb said.
Attached to the Happy Elementary School in Taoyuan County, Taiwan's first language immersion camp boasts new buildings and plenty of public and private support: signs that the camp is a project with strong legs and the potential to be duplicated nationwide.
"We don't want this camp to be the only one of its kind in Taiwan," Chu said.
"We want it to be the first of many," he said.
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