Award Winners Credit
Reading for Good English
Korea Times
December 8, 2006
By Jane Han
Staff Reporter
``Today a reader,
tomorrow a leader.” Those famous words of 19th century critic and
journalist Margaret Fuller are reflected in the values of the five grand prize
winners of the Korea Times-hosted 2nd International English Contest.
The awards were presented Friday.
``Reading is my all-time
favorite hobby,” said Song Jee-un, eighth grader at Oryun Middle School, who is
one of this year’s grand prize winners in the English Proficiency division. ``I
always kept consistent in my reading because I enjoy it a lot, but winning this
prize came to me as a surprise.
The 14-year-old said she
didn’t think she would get graded so high in her English skills, but is grateful
for the award because it will be a great addition to her credentials.
Another student who was
surprised was Kang Sung-hye, student at Gyeongbuk Foreign Language High School.
``I hadn’t even planned
on participating in the competition because I wasn’t confident, but I’ m so
thankful to my parents because they trusted my English skills till the very
end, said Kang, smiling cheerfully. ``And they are actually the ones who filled
out and submitted the application form for me.
Kang said she reads many
different genres of story books in English and also listens to English story
cassette tapes at night.
``I find it fun to listen
to English tapes before going to sleep because it’s like listening to bedtime
stories, she added. ``But it was actually a pretty helpful pointer in improving
my English skills.
The youngest winner Seo
Hwee-tak, third grader at Du Jeong Elementary School, also credited his winning
to constant reading.
``I love reading, said
Seo, as his mother agreed. ``My son enjoys reading newspapers. He always reads
The Korea Times to help him get a firm grasp of English writing.
Kim Min-june, fifth
grader at Seryun Elementary School, and Cho Hye-Ryeong, eighth grader at Imae
Middle School, were the other grand prize winners.
The five winners will be
given an opportunity to take a one-month trip to Canada on an English study
program.
More than 2,500 students
from kindergarten to high school participated in this year’ s competition that
awarded five grand prize, 10 gold prize, 15 silver prize and 50 bronze prize
winners.
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