legacy admission 기여입학

legacy admission 기여입학제 be passed over for promotion: 승진에서 제외되다 has got nothing on ~ : ~에 상대가 안 되다. =can't begin to compete with ~ =looks pale beside ~ =can't stand comparision with ~ =is dwarfed by ~ philistine: 교양머리 없는 =ignorant

Robot English teacher "EngKey" in Daegu elementary classrooms

Today morning, I heard on KCLU Radio--a live American radio channel available on NPR App. on my iPhone--about a remote-controlled robot teaching English to kids in a classroom of an elementary school, Hakjeong Elementary, in Daegu, South Korea, as an assistant to a human teacher. The robot interacts with kids, showing video and correcting their pronunciations one on one. An outsourced Filipino teacher controls the robot which can move anywhere in the classroom. The argument for this robot teaching is that it costs half the moneny--about USD $40,000--the government pays for employing a native English teacher from abroad. Of course there might be downsides to robotic teaching. Critics are pointing out lack of human interaction in it, arguing that the most important thing that English learners should take away is human interaction. Well, in my opinion, that's nothing to worry about too much because the students are sufficiently immersed in human interaction in non-English classes and activities outside school. If human interaction is that much essential, what about learning English from TV, radio, video and the Internet? Are they all seriously flawed ways of learning the language? In fact, those methods are even short of the quasi-human interaction that a robot teacher can provide. Language-learning is an area where virtual reality can be most effective. A robot teacher will go a long way to succeed and will eventually take root in Korean classrooms after constant inovation.

My suggestion to KORAIL

The other day, I posted a suggestion on the Customers' Voice section of KORAIL's Web site. I pointed out incorrect grammar in an English sentence appearing on a yellow warning sign on the floor of Dong Daegu Railway Station. They had acknowledged and accecpted my suggestion, and agreed to correct it. I noticed a few days ago that it has been corrected as promised (The corrected sentence is shown in the picture). I feel a sense of being productive and pride myself on playing a role, though small, in heping society go in the right direction. :))

Here's an email response from KORAIL:
안녕하세요? 김종호 고객님 매주 KTX를 이용해 주셔서 대단히 감사합니다.
고객님께서 말씀하신데로 철도공사에서 고객신뢰선에 사용하고 있는 "Only paid customers past this line."은 틀린 표현입니다. 고객님의 의견을 참고하여 "Only paid customers can cross this line."으로 정정하는 것이 맞습니다. 항상 관심갖고 지켜봐 주셔서 감사합니다!^^"

The soft bigotry of low expectations

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/09/25/opinion/edbush.php Bush's lowered bars  Throughout his campaigns in 2000 and 2004, George W. Bush talked about "the soft bigotry of low expectations": the mind-set that tolerates poor school performance and dead-end careers for minority students on the presumption that they are incapable of doing better. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said recently that this phrase attracted her to Bush more than anything else.  

Regards,

Jongho Kim

 

Skim off the top

삥땅하다. 횡령하다. 
It means taking a share of any profits which you have collected on someone else's behalf before reporting the correct amount of your collections. Not only is it illegal, it could get you killed if you were skimming off the top of the Godfather's property.

Regards,

Jongho Kim

 

Speak to : prove

"Anyone who's able to navigate those political waters and emerge not only intact but as a deeply respected voice speaks to a level of skill that few of us have ever seen before."

Regards,
Jongho Kim

Chin-deep in red ink

- chin-deep in red ink: so deep in deficit

- could do worse than V or ~ing: had better V, may well V

Regards,
Jongho Kim