Why South Korean children start English lessons early

THE South Korean kindergartners squirmed through their English-language writing class. They were not doing their ABCs. They were getting a head start on a defining moment more than a decade in the future: their college entrance exam.

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“Write a paragraph of five to eight sentences using five synonyms for large,” said Ms Keri, their teacher. The kids began jotting down ideas in neat handwriting.

But their minds wandered easily. “Make a stinky paragraph!” one girl yelled in English. The class erupted into uproarious giggles, echoing: “Stinky! Stinky!”

South Korea has long been notorious for its hothouse education system, where kids go from classes at middle or high school straight to after-hours tutoring at cram schools, often until 10pm or 11pm.

These private programmes prepare pupils for extremely difficult college entrance exams. Getting into an elite university is often seen as the golden ticket to a stable career at a top-tier company or government ministry.

But the race to the top schools is intensifying amid a widening income gap, fueling parents' anxieties about their children's future job security, experts say.

As a result, some parents think it's never too early to start preparing for college. Nearly half of children under 6 are now receiving some type of private education, most commonly English classes, according to a government survey released in March.

“The opportunities to succeed keep dwindling, but there is one rare path that remains available, which is going to a good university,” said Won-pyo Hong, a professor of education at Yonsei University in Seoul.