Do you know about the English Lounge? It is a place where you can listen, speak, have fun, and even make friends in English. The English Lounge is located on the second floor of Sa-rim Guan and open to every CWNU student who wants to practice their English. There are many activities that students can join. Those who enjoy speaking English will definitely love this place.

The English Lounge is managed by several native English speaking teachers and some student parttime workers. They are there for a very specific purpose, to help visitors to improve their English speaking abilities. Any student can come and enjoy programs at the English Lounge. The very first rule of the English Lounge is that once you enter, you cannot speak in Korean anymore. For those who would feel awkward or uncomfortable speaking in English, there are many board games available to help you break the ice. There is also a list of thoughtful topics to help start deep conversations with others. There is a movie shown every Friday at 3pm. If you come at the beginning of the semester, you can also make a study group with new friends. Group members can set a weekly meeting time to practice English together.

There are some programs you can participate in even with a short amount of time. Every week a post named ‘One Sentence in English & Answering English Questions!’ will be uploaded on Waggle’s announcements. You can memorize these sentences and practice them with the managers of the English Lounge or have conversations with native teachers by answering those questions. Not only will it help you to improve your speaking skills, but it will also be counted as partial credit in certain classes that require English Lounge course hours. Each one of them will be 15 minutes.

Native teachers also help students with correcting and editing any style of English writing, which can be very useful when preparing resumes or applications in English. However, it is necessary to make appointments for editing because it takes place in the teachers’ office in the main building on campus.

Yun Na-young, a manager of the English Lounge said, “It seems like many students are too afraid to step into the English Lounge. I want them to have confidence in themselves and not to be afraid. It is open to anyone who does not speak English perfectly. There are many more fun things going on than what you can see from the outside.”

Han Si-in  siin0517@naver.com

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