Global InformationGireogi appa information
A gireogi appa (Korean: 기러기 아빠; lit. goose dad) is a South Korean term that refers to a man who works in Korea while his wife and children stay in an English-speaking country such as the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia or New Zealand for the sake of their children's education.[1]
Many Korean people desire to speak English well. This desire is sometimes referred to as "English Fever".[2] English proficiency is very important not only for students but also for office workers because they believe that English skills determine their social position and promotion in the company. However, it is not easy for Koreans to learn and speak English fluently due to the difference in sentence structure between Korean and English. To overcome this difficulty, some parents choose to raise their young children in one of the English-speaking countries, and in the process, mothers and children live together in a foreign country, and fathers remain in Korea and live alone.[2]
The term is inspired by the fact that geese are a species that migrate, just as the gireogi appa father must travel a great distance to see his family.[3] Estimates of the number of gireogi appa in South Korea range as high as 200,000 men.[4] The word gireogi appa was included in the report '2002 New Word' by the National Academy of Korean Language.[5]
- ^ Lee, Kapson (Oct 26, 2004). "Korean 'Goose Families' Migrate for Education". New America Media. Archived from the original on 2009-07-05.
- ^ a b Park, Jin-Kyu (2009). "'English fever' in South Korea: its history and symptoms". English Today. 25 (1): 50–57. doi:10.1017/S026607840900008X. ISSN 0266-0784.
- ^ "The plight of Korean 'goose families'". Asian Pacific Post. November 3, 2004. Archived from the original on 2008-07-04.
- ^ Kim, Eun-gyong. "History of English Education in Korea". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on 2011-05-20.
- ^ 국립국어원. "2002년 신어 보고서".