The City Government of Seoul announced that the 3rd 'English Village' will be established near SNU Gwanak campus.

The estimated \15.8 billion ($10.4 million) Gwanak Camp in Gwanak District, will be equipped with about 30 study rooms built to simulate real-life environments where English would be needed, such as restaurants and post offices. Construction is slated to be completed by February next year.

Such centers allow students to develop their English language skills in an English-only environment, where they can study and live for a given period of time, ranging from a day to a week.

“While there was no initial plan to have another English Village built, Seoul decided to establish the third camp at Gwanak to meet the demand for practical English education from students living in the western part of Seoul,” said Park Shin-geun, the Seoul government official in charge of the project.

“Furthermore, the Gwanak Camp will be different from the existing two, as its programs will take advantage of the excellent educational infrastructure nearby, the Seoul National University,” he said.

Gwanak Camp will mainly offer nonresidential programs that students can attend, unlike the other two camps, where students usually stay for a few days.

But Gwanak is considering implementing longer-term programs in the future, to keep young students from having to travel overseas just to learn English, according to the official.

Feb. 26 2009
SNU PR Office