Blog Post #7 - Should Korea Have More Than One Official Language?

             As you know, we are living in the global age. In this era, many people insist that Korea should have more than one official language like many other countries. Especially, some of them say we have to adopt dominant global language, such as English and Chinese as our official language. However, Korea should not have more than one official language because the current language system of Korea is operated well, having more than one official language will bring confusion in Korea, and Korean culture can be in danger by using dominant language.

             Korea doesn’t need to adapt another language as its official language because the current language system of Korea, which has a single official language, is operated well. The official language of Korea is Hanguel. According to statistics collected by the OECD in 2015, Korea had the second lowest illiteracy rate in the world after Japan. It shows that Korea doesn’t need to have another official language. While some people may think that they can promote Korea to other culture around the world by adapting new official language, it is uncertain whether Korean people could adapt the sudden change. Rather than promoting Korea, it will destroy the current stable language system of Korea.

             Another reason Korea should not have more than one official language is that it will bring confusion in Korea. Language is not just a means of communication. It is an important part of the culture. Also, it expresses its own way of seeing the world. For these reasons, if we have another official language, it would give rise to disunity and conflict among Korean people. Some people may think if having more than one official language brings confusion and conflict as I say, there is no reason that many other countries like Canada have more than one official language. However, if they considered that most countries that have more than one official language have many different races, they would see that unlike these countries, Korea, which is a homogeneous country, does not need more than one official language.

             Finally, Korean culture could be in danger, if Korea adapts dominant global language as official language. As we know, many smaller languages are disappearing because of dominant language all over the world. Although we must learn the dominant global language in order to compete in the global economy, we should preserve our native languages in order to retain culture and history. If dominant global language, such as English and Chinese becomes Korean official language, the government will promote that language, and many young people will probably abandon Hanguel like many people in different countries did. If so, Korean may lose Korea’s unique spirit contained in Hanguel, not to mention information about the history and culture.

             The fact that the current language system is operated well, adapting new official language will bring confusion, and there is a risk that Hanguel and Korean culture is proof that adapting new official language is not a good idea for Korea. However, it doesn’t mean that we can ignore other dominant world language. As already mentioned, learning dominant language like English is essential in the global age. Then what should we do? The answer is not so difficult. If the government maintains the current language system and make effort to give people a good foreign language education, Korea can improve its international competitiveness without having to worry about risk of losing our language. I am sure that if Korea can have its cake and eat it, Korea can be a strong country in the future.

Formal Essay #1 - Rewrite

This is the edited version of my essay #1

Myunghee Yoon

Prof. Kyle Brebner

IERW (04)

10 November 2015                  

Two Different Characters That Have Similar Problems

            Whether we realize it or not, everyone tries to survive in harsh reality. On the other hand, people always have a fantasy like dream and romantic view of life, but it is almost far from reality. Thus, it is very important to reduce the gap between reality and fantasy. There are two books about people who suffer from this discrepancy. One is A Streetcar Named Desire and the other is Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage. In these books, the main characters, Blanche and Tsukuru, have a problem that is caused by the gap between reality and fantasy, but there is a fundamental difference between their attitudes toward solving the problem.

One of the stories is called A Streetcar Named Desire. The main character is Blanche who lives in an era of rapid change from traditional society to capitalist society. At first, everyone around her, including her sister, likes her. But soon they turn their backs on her since every word and behavior that she did is exposed as fake. In terms of reality and fantasy, we can think that the reason why she lies is because she wants to keep her past life and doesn’t want to see reality. To her, her past life is her fantasy, so she has to hide her real self.

The other story is called Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage. Like the title, main character is Tsukuru who is a colorless man with little personality. Similar to Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire, his friends who are everything in his life suddenly turn their backs on him without saying anything before high school graduation. After they reject his several efforts to mend their trouble relationship, he realizes that there is no hope of solving the problem. It seems that there is no alternative but to leave them, so he leaves his hometown. In terms of reality and fantasy, we can interpret that his choice to leave thier friends is an effort to avoid seeing his fantasy collpase.

These two characters are similar but also very different in some ways, especially in terms of a gap between reality and fantasy. Both characters are suffering from reality that is different from their ideal. Interestingly, it is because they can’t adjust to society which changes fast. For example, Blanche experiences the change into industrial society. For her, who still stays in the past, these changes make it harder to face the reality. Similarly, Tsukuru experiences a big change from teenager to adulthood. To him, who doesn’t want to see reality, graduation is a good excuse to rationalize that he doesn’t solve the fundamental problem to avoid facing collapse of his fantasy. This situation, which helps him to escape from the problem, makes him vulnerable to reality.

Despite their similarities, Blanche and Tsukuru are very different. We can see it when we compare their attitudes toward reality. Blanche is stronger than Tsukuru. Of course, there is no doubt that both are afraid of reality. However, at least Blanche tries to survive in reality. For example, in the book, Blanche said, “I mispresent things to them. I don’t tell truth, I tell what ought to be truth…The opposite is desire.” It shows how she treats the problem. During unimaginable trials, including family’s death, she never gives up on life. She struggles to stay in reality by hiding her inner side. It is the only way to compromise with reality. In contrast, Tsukuru gives up everything. For example, after he leaves his friends, he doesn’t eat anything, and almost doesn’t sleep. He doesn’t even take a shower until his body smells bad. So, unlike Blanche, he shows a weak attitude until the end.

In conclusion, both characters are suffering from reality that is completely different from their fantasy. Nevertheless, they are different because they have different attitude toward reality. As we know, there is always a gap between reality and fantasy. All people can be faced with a problem like Blanche and Tsukuru. What is important, however, is how we handle the problem. Someone can struggle to solve the problem like Blanche, and someone just gives up everything like Tsukuru. Therefore, we always have to remember that positive attitude toward solving the problem is very important.

Blog Post #6 - Andraka's New Method

           Steve Jobs, who was known as the CEO of Apple, died of pancreatic cancer in 2011. After this shocking event, people began to pay attention to the pancreatic cancer. According to the Korean Medical Association, on average, twelve people have pancreatic cancer every day in Korea, but the survival rate is only 8 percent. The reason why the rate of death is too high is because it is difficult to detect pancreatic cancer in its early stages. However, one teenaged boy named Andraka developed the way to diagnose this cancer. His new method that detects pancreatic cancer by paper sensor is very important because it’s accurate and convenient.

           Andraka’s invention is important because it is accurate. According to an interview in the famous science conference TED, his new method is over 90 percent accurate in detecting the presence of mesothelin. Mesothelin, which is a protein that appear in early stages of pancreatic cancer, is a key point of this cancer treatment because there is little symptom in the first stage of it. If doctors diagnose the cancer in its early stage, the survival rate can grow by 20 percent. Therefore, by using the new method, doctors can diagnose the cancer correctly, also the patients can get prompt treatment.

           Another reason that Andraka’s invention is important is that it is convenient. According to Andraka, “Because the method uses a paper sensor, it costs a mere three cents.” These price is twenty-six thousand times cheaper that the existing method. Furthermore, it takes just five minutes for diagnosis. The time is one hundred sixty eight times faster than the existing method. For these reasons, no matter how poor you are, you can check whether you have pancreatic cancer or not.

           In conclusion, Andraka’s new method opened new way in the medical world. His invention is accurate and convenient. Thus, we can save many people who are suffering from pancreatic cancer. Susan Desmond-Hellmann, oncologist and chancellor of UCSF, said that with use of Andraka’s invention, we can develop other studies of cancers like ovarian cancer and lung cancer. As he said, I expect that someday we won’t need to worry about cancers.

Blog Post #5 - A Small Action for Sustainable Future

           It’s no exaggeration to say that the earth is dying. With modest economic growth, people want more and better food, more basic goods and luxuries, so more resources like oil and water are needed to raise them. It’s a big problem because there is a limit to Earth’s ability to replenish the resources. Even at this moment, the environmentalists eager to find the solution for a sustainable future. However, no one is concerned about everyday bad habit that seems to be a little thing but could contribute to the destruction of nature. For example, we need to pay attention to thousands of paper cups thrown away every day. Saving trees and protecting nature from danger are two reasons for not using paper cups.

           One reason that we should not use paper cup is that if we reduce the use of paper cups, we can save large amounts of trees. Paper cup, which has been widely used in café, fast food restaurant, office, school and other places where people are, is made from trees. According to a research conducted by the Ministry of Environment, people used more than 286 million paper cups last year. And to produce this enormous amount of paper cups, we cut almost one million trees that are more than thirty years old. To think one 30-year-old tree can remove five-kilogram carbon dioxide, it is tremendous losses. Therefore, not using paper cup is good for the planet.

           Another reason that we should not use paper cup is that it helps to protect nature from danger. Most of paper cups are incinerated or buried after they were used. When paper cups are incinerated, it is releasing poisonous gases into the air. For example, greenhouse gases, which cause global warming, are produced while we burn the paper cups. Besides, when we bury the paper cups, the land is poisoned. According to the article from EBS, it takes twenty years to biodegrade one paper cup. So, if we don’t use paper cups, we can preserve our nature from the harm.

           In conclusion, not using paper cup is a good way to ensure a sustainable future because it save large amounts of trees, and it also protect nature from the harm like air pollution, land pollution, and global warming. Relatively speaking, not using paper cup can be considered a trivial matter in comparison with other efforts for sustainable future, such as finding new energy resource. However, I think we have to know these small actions could save the Earth and our future. It’s not difficult to use reusable bottle and mug instead of paper cup. Let’s do it. All of us can build our sustainable future.