A director-level official from a government body of commerce walks into a conference room. He is welcomed by a representative of a U.S.-based firm, who wastes no time in explaining his complaints and demands related to doing business in Korea.



The translator opens his mouth, only to be stopped mid-sentence by the director.



“Thanks, I’ll take it from here. I can speak English,” he says. He then goes on struggling to sustain a conversation with less-than-perfect, if not downright broken English.



“It was a bizarre sight. He told me not to translate, and just write down the conversation,” said the in-house translator, who works for a government agency. He wished not to be identified.



“Of the officials in high-ranking positions, people who think they speak English well enough are reluctant about using a translator, even though it is clear that they can benefit from professional assistance. This is because they feel compelled to appear as though they are fluent in English to save face,” he said.





(123rf)





The incident, witnessed on several occasions by the translator, was a reminder of how fluency in English is considered a yardstick in one’s ability in studies, work and life.



While many companies say they look past academic credentials when hiring new employees, most of them still require certified English scores with their applications.



Even people already secure in their jobs are required to study English in order to move up the company ladder.



A survey by YBM, a private education provider that also runs the Test of English for International Communication in Korea, showed that 87.6 percent of employees felt they needed to study English regardless of the type of work they do.



The top reasons were “for their own development,” “to move to another job” or “to be promoted.”



“More companies are requiring applicable English skills when looking for someone to promote, so a fairly high number of office workers are preparing for TOEIC and other certified English tests in parallel to working,” an YBM official said.



Aside from promotions at work, English skills of prominent figures have often also become a topic of interest among Koreans.



A video comparing the reaction to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s speech from native English speakers and Koreans went viral online a few years ago.



The video, originally aired by the Educational Broadcasting System, had aimed to remind that the content of the speech -- not the native speaker-like pronunciation -- was vital to conversation.



The program delved into different reactions among Koreans and English speakers, with the former being ruthless in judging Ban’s rather “candid” pronunciation of English.



U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (Yonhap)