Above photo  – aerial view of an English Village in Korea.
In an effort to halt the flow of money out from Korea
by students studying English in foreign countries,
Korea now has several English villages offering English immersion in Korea.

The concept is run as a commercial venture in Spain and Italy, and is quasi-governmental in Korea.    The very first English village is a  pilot Italian program, first launched in Tuscany in 2005 but is now situated in Umbria, in a medieval village which has been restored using period materials to maintain its authenticity. It is located in the heart of the lush, green HighValley of the Tevere offering our “city slickers” a slice of the real country life.

In Spain,  an English Village was built in Villadavilla, Spain called Pueblo Ingles for English immersion studies.  Kids, teens come together to learn English.

Above is a photo of a stonehenge replica at the English Village in Korea, known as Clonehenge.

The first English village in Korea was opened in August 2004 in Ansan , Gyeonggi-do province. English villages in South Korea provide a short-term immersion English experience in a live-in environment where only English is spoken. This is intended to promote English learning and to build students’ Anglo-American cultural awareness.

English villages employ a mixture of foreign native speakers of English and fluent English-speaking Korean staff. They are intended to help students face the particular challenges of speaking English in the Korean context. Many families seek to improve their children’s English ability by sending them to study abroad in English-speaking countries. This results in a substantial amount of money leaving the country. The English villages are intended to reduce this loss, and make the immersion experience accessible to students from low-income families as well.

Every facility and training program encourages visitors to actively participate, and so it enables a natural English learning experience in the context of daily life. In a setting resembling a village in an English-speaking country, participants experience various culture from around the world, increase their international social consciousness and realize the value of English as a means of communication. Coaching by kind, native English-speaking teachers helps increase participants’ interest in English and boosts participants’ confidence in speaking to foreigners. Upon completing the camp, students will be more motivated to study English with greater interest and enthusiasm.

All facilities have been newly built to simulate a village in an English-speaking country. Students can learn English by enjoying a cultural experience in an exotic environment. Paju Camp is a model English village created by Gyeonggi Province. The more than 700 trainees and teachers residing in the village, and the hands-on training programs and facilities merge naturally in daily life through the 3Es (Education, Experience and Entertainment).

Hence, the term EDUTAINER has been coined to refer to education entertainment English teachers.

Why talk about this concept?  Because there is big money and entrepreneurs should be made aware of this opportunity.

Here’s a video clip of an English village in Korea.

and here’s another clip of  an English Village in Second Life.

My world is getting larger and larger everyday as I interact with students and teachers.  This weekend, I was invited to go to a Shoe Show at the Hilton Hotel by a student  in the shoe business.   This Shoe Show is an annual show where exhibitors (manufacturers,  factory agents, and importers/distributors) get to promote their products and take orders from the retailers.    This is the footwear buying event for the Spring 2010 season.  A biz-to-biz trade show, this is not open to the general public, however, as an intern, I am an invited guest and is able to visit the show.

Exhibitors include representatives from many shoe brands, most of which I don’t recognize.  A few of them that I do recognize are: Paris Hilton, Heidi Klum, Gisele Bundchen, Tommy Hillfiger, Birkenstock, Guess, Reebox, Lacoste, Helly Hansen, Dr. Scholl, Adidas, Guess, Tiffany, Timberland……

After a week of dealing with cash flows, financial statements, breakeven analysis, would you blame me for getting excited about going to a shoe show, I mean SHOE PARADISE?

So, I guess, the next question is:  did I get any samples?

Well, the samples that the shoe manufacturers give out is always only half of a pair.  What will I do with one left shoe and one right shoe that are dissimilar?