Trend: Language-Teaching Theme Parks

Meta-Trend: Edutainment

The new concept of Language-Teaching Theme Parks includes total immersion plus tons of fun. And the students don’t have to travel abroad.

Learning by Playing: New Media, computers and the Internet have already taken this educational concept a step further. Teachers are starting to call themselves edutainers, meaning that they not only educate but also entertain. Universities are equipped with multimedia classrooms to further this concept. The available material is growing: besides television programs, computer and video games, multimedia software, music and websites there are also some new concepts emerging, such as language-teaching theme parks. They are based on the fact that it is easier to learn a foreign language by being totally immersed in it.

Case:

Paju English Camp, South Korea
Paju Camp is the world’s first Engish Education theme park. Envisioned as kind of a “Disney World of English Education”, it is designed as an English-only environment where children, families, or whole school classes visit for the day or stay for short periods of time to practice their English. The goal of the Camp is to motivate children and help them gain confidence in the English language. It is supposed to open in spring 2006 and will be built close to Seoul in the 30 mile belt between the capital and the demilitarized zone, which was – until now – kept sparsely developed and served as a buffer zone against attacks from North Korea. Paju English Camp has an official partnership with UNICEF. UNICEF’s approach to teaching global citizenship, multicultural education and service learning is an integral part of the English Camp’s curriculum.

Trend Impact
Language is an important tool in today’s society. As globalization takes off, it will become even more important. Language teaching programs start these days at preschool. And parents are constantly looking for new ways to give their kids the gift of necessary skills to be successful in tomorrow’s world. Often the children might feel overwhelmed by all the classes and courses they have to take on top of their regular school day. By combining the learning experience with fun Language-Teaching Themeparks are a smart solution to keep the spirits up. The business idea of it also seems to be promising. We probably will see more of this rather soon.

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