National educational broadcasting station EBS has decided to expand its “Newspaper Reading Class” as of late February.

The English study program uses articles from The Junior Herald to air twice a week ― Thursday and Friday ― from 9:50 to 10:00 p.m. on a cable TV channel.

Thanks to the ardent support of the EBS viewers, the program now airs Monday to Friday, 9:20-9:30 p.m., as of Feb. 25. Reruns of the program are again provided from 11:20-11:30 p.m. each day. The reading class is also shown on EBS TV from 5:40-5:50 p.m. every day.

The first episode of this reading class was broadcast on Aug. 30, and the class was designed to enhance students’ reading skills while also increasing their knowledge on current issues.

The popularity of the class taught by career lecturer Kim Tae-yeon was immense, and positive comments online have mounted over time.

Many viewers shared their experience of developing an interest in learning English while watching the 10-minute class twice a week, and most of them wanted the class to expand or continue long term.

The new class has long been planned by EBS staff to further activate children’s interest in English learning and to strengthen their practical language use in real life.

Lecturer Kim Tae-yeon told The Junior Herald on Feb. 18 that the newspaper reading class would find its rightful place in Korea’s English education as it aims to develop students’ language capacity for practical use.

She said she had been surprised to find the class originally aimed at middle- and high-school students had attracted elementary school students and adults as its viewers. She expected the number of viewers would continue to grow.

As for the newspaper’s first impression, she said she liked the different flavor of each page having various themes.

Kim said English newspapers would be of great use for those who want to understand the given text well in the first place and then to apply what they had learned in their lives and academic tests.

“Newspaper reading enables people to strengthen their skills in listening, reading, writing and speaking, and also help them figure what the article is about only by skimming through the headline.”

She also emphasized that use of English newspapers would help reduce Korea’s reliance on private education.

A Korean citizen who has never studied abroad, Kim used to be an avid reader and collector of English texts and audio-visual materials.

“I started learning English as a first grader at middle school, and I tried to memorize every sentence that I heard. I also kept a diary in English.”

Kim pointed out that the biggest obstacles ahead for Korean students learning English is that they study the language only for tests and do not take a real interest in it.

Rather than focusing on difficult English pronunciation, she suggested students should try to make themselves understood among foreigners in English, emphasizing that many different people worldwide speak English in their own accents.

The lecturer, who has had an illustrious career working for EBS, hosting various English radio and TV programs, writing books for students and adults, hoped that the newly expanded EBS newspaper reading class would contribute to helping people find their real interest in English language learning.

By Ro Ji-woong (jamesro@heraldcorp.com)