Korean New Years Resolution

I usually don't make a resolution for the New Year. I never follow it and I'm already perfect, so why make the effort? Many Koreans, however, do make them. And not surpisingly, they usually invlove English.

"Improving foreign language skills, especially English, was the goal that employees want to achieve the most in the New Year, with 56.8 percent of 944 people surveyed making the statement, according to a recruitment company Saramin."

Nearly 57% of people cited English as their number one priority for the new year. That number beat out "self-improvement", "saving money" and "maintaining good health". Apparently YBM, one of the largest English schools (and rival of my company), thinks that the resolution is the main reason for enrollment in adult language institutes.

"We have many students during summer, but have more in winter because English study is one of the most common New Year resolutions for both students and workers. Employees usually take early morning or late evening classes,'' Cha Kyung-sim, of YBM's marketing and PR department, said."

That's simply not the case though. It's winter vacation for college students. Many of them sign up for a month or two of classes to prepare them for more advanced classes at school, do well on the TOEIC/TOEFL test or make a good impression at summer internship.

Whatever it may be, it pays my bills, so good for them.