Thursday, March 28, 2013

Rice and Bread in Korea

from the Korea Times
        http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2013/03/116_132943.html
March 29, 2013

Bread, dairy to surpass rice in consumption 

By Nam Hyun-woo

Bread and dairy products’ consumption will likely surpass that of rice this year as Koreans eat more bread and milk, government data showed Thursday.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the country’s per capita dairy products consumption amounted to 70.7 kilograms in 2011, up 10 percent from 64.2 kilograms the previous year. A stronger demand for fermented milk and cheese products boosted the increase.

The total production of bread has also increased. The bakery market size stood at 4.69 trillion won ($4.21 billion) as of 2011, up from 4.12 trillion won in 2010 and 3.58 trillion won in 2009. 
It marks about 15.5 percent annual growth. 

The country’s leading bakery franchises, such as Paris Baguette of SPC Group and Tous Les Jours of CJ Group, also saw their sales rising to 2.44 trillion won in 2011 from 1.76 trillion won from 2009.

Meanwhile, the country’s consumption of rice, a staple for many Koreans, has been plummeting. 

According to a report by Statistic Korea, per capita rice consumption more than halved to 71 kilograms in 2011 from 156 kilograms three decades ago.

Though per capita consumption of rice remains larger than that of dairy products in 2011, experts say dairy products will likely outpace rice this year in terms of consumption.

“As the number of people living alone and women working outside of their home increases, more Koreans tend to eat convenient instant foods, breads or dairy products rather than cooking meals,” an official from a bakery firm said.

namhw@ktimes.co.kr
 

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Namecards (Business Cards)

[Logo]

                     John Jones
                     Marketing Team Chief
                     Alpha Corporation
                     Home Appliances Division
                     Nonghyup Center #1304
                     1-15 Sejongro 1-ga
                     Jungang-dong
                     Jung-gu, Seoul  110-359

02) 357-0987  (office)                   email:  JJ@alpha.com
010) 8765-4321  (cell)

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

March 20 I'm not here

Next week, March 20, Professor Se-Jeong Park will teach a double class, since I will be in the USA. The week after (March 27) I will do a double class. There will be a review and quiz of all we have done so far.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Defining Globalization / perspectives

Files about "Defining globalization."
There are two different documents here, each available both as PDF and DOC (MSWord)

1. What is globalization?
2. a good summary of the major characteristics of globalization

Your assignment was to consider different perspectives on globalization, such as the view by
  1. ordinary citizens (consumers?)
  2. business owners and managers
  3. government officials
There is no One Best Answer. It is important that we see globalization as a process (not yet complete, perhaps never complete) and that it affects different fields in different ways, and is perceived as good or bad or powerful or invisible or... by different players.

Monday, March 4, 2013

Combing studies of "content" and English

In this course we will study both public administration in the English language, and study English as it is used for professional purposes.

We can imagine three or more types of English study in university:
  1. General English (often, English Conversation, also, often, Engilsh Grammar & Writing)
  2. Test English (usually TOEIC, sometimes for other tests such as TOEFL, IELTS, PELT, etc)
  3. Professional EnglishW e can include "academic English" in this subject if we want, or we can make "academic English" - such as skills in writing a thesis - a separate section (section #4).  Professional English can include reading professional or academic papers, making presentations, writing documents & theses, etc.

The images below help to explain the challenge.


Combining Language and Ideas, Challenges for Learners

Thinking or learning new ideas (“cognition”) is hard enough for anyone, but if we add the problem of difficult language it makes things much harder. Your mental “computer” is “multitasking,” working harder. The “cognitive demand” is increasing. When teachers combine the learning of new information with the learning of language, we call this “content-based instruction” (CBI) or “content and language integrated learning” (CLIL).

Language teaching experts have divided the kinds of English skills language learners have into two classes, BICS (basic interpersonal communicative skills, ordinary talk between people), and CALP (cognitive academic language processing, the kind of language you need when you are learning or talking about school materials or difficult subjects (see Cummins, 1979). CALP requires both higher content demand (thinking about content) and higher language demand (harder vocabulary, more advanced forms of grammar). This description of language is true whether we are reading, listening, writing, or speaking.

Two pictures indicate some of the issues.
In the first, we show the relative demands of the BICS and CALP orientations.



Here, the “demand” is the same as skills. We might say that the TOEIC test is based on BICS, and the TOEFL is based more on CALP. How are these two tests different?

In the next picture, “demand” is more like “challenge” or “difficulty” -- how hard is your brain working to do this? So it is different for each person, because even for people who study the same, we have different skills. It suggests that if the total cognitive demand is too low, learners will be bored, and if too high, learners get frustrated. But when the overall cognitive load is ideal, people learn well and are contented. To fit the ideal, when the “content” load increases, the “language” load must decrease. Also, cultural differences and stress can add to the cognitive load.




So as you can see, we have a considerable challenge ahead. Don't worry, we'll work carefully to make sure we all succeed!








Sunday, March 3, 2013

Self-Introductions

I usually ask (undergraduate) students to introduce themselves in the style just below.  However, for working professionals who are also graduate students, we will change it a little. First, let's look at the Undergraduate Style (which can easily be changed to a businessman's style, once you understand it).
A Student's Self Introduction
Hi, my name is 정민성. My family name is Jeong, spell that J-E-O-N-G.
Please call me Minseong or Min. (or Minnie?)
I’m a second-year student of public administration at Keimyung University in Daegu (Korea).
I’m from Andong, but I live in the university dormitory now.
OR – I’m originally from Gyeongju, but I moved to Daegu 5 years ago.
OR – I live in Banwoldang, near the center of the city.
OR – I commute to school each day from Gumi.
OR – I take the school bus from my family home in Hwanggeum-dong.


So,
what do we find in the above?
  1. Explain the name (Koreans use family name first, and if you do it Western style, you might confuse people who think you are doing it Korean style!).
  2. Tell them how you would like to be addressed (named).
  3. Explain your (student/work) status.
  4. Tell them a little (a LITTLE) about you - in Korea that often means "hometown."
Please note that the American idea of hometown is not quite the same as the Korean idea -- Americans think hometown is "where I feel most comfortable." Probably the place I attended middle-school or high school.  Korean's often think hometown is "where I was born" or "my father's family place."

How might a working professional who is a student do a self-introduction?
Your "Professional" Self Introduction
Hi, my name is 정민성. My family name is Jeong, spell that J-E-O-N-G.
Please call me Mr. Jeong, or Jeong, or Minseong or Min.
I'm a public servant, at the Suseong District Government of Daegu, working in the the Manhon-dong Citizen's Service Center (as team leader).
I'm also a graduate student of public administration at Keimyung University in Daegu (Korea).
[If we have a name-card, you can cut out the spelling part!]

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Why do we do it like this?  (Korean's often do longer self-introductions)

Westerners like to learn by asking, creating "back-and-forth" conversations. This is called "turn-taking." One person usually talks for less than 15 seconds. Longer than that feels like a "speech" and is considered a little rude. And in fact, we usually don't even say more than one or two sentences at a time. So, for example, see my below.

Hi, my name is Robert Dickey. You can call me Professor Dickey or Dr. Dickey or Robert. Robert is fine!

(later someone will ask "What do you do?")

I'm a professor of public administration at Keimyung University in Daegu, South Korea.

(later someone will ask about my time in Korea)

I've been teaching in Korea since 1994. Before that, I was an immigration lawyer and manager in NGOs.

(later someone will ask where I'm from)

My father was a Navy man, so we moved around. San Diego is my home, although I lived in LA for university and I worked there, a total of about 10 years. I also lived in rural Florida for my elementary school days, so I can talk like Forrest Gump too!

etc., etc., etc.






Monday, February 25, 2013

I will add content as we work through the course. Your ideas are important.