Learning a foreign language often involves a lot of boring memorization and verb conjugation, except in South Korea where flying punches and killer kicks are part of the curriculum.
More than 40 academies nationwide teach what is known as "Taeglish," where Korean children are trained in Taekwondo by English-speaking instructors who say the martial art gives the students confidence in the language.
South Koreans spend billions of dollars a year on English instruction for their children. The language is seen as a must for entry into a good university and a good job.
"After English is combined with Taekwondo practice, children can have fun learning the language and do it in high spirits," said Kim Sung-han, the founder of Taeglish.
Taeglish, a combination of the words Taekwondo and English, was introduced in March 2007 as an activity offered by a department store for children. In about a year, academies had spread throughout the country.
Taeglish students are far more energetic in the classroom than their peers who study through traditional methods but their language skills are often not as good as their peers.
学外语常常需要进行大量枯燥的记忆以及掌握动词的各种变位，但在韩国，拳打脚踢也成了外语课程的一部分。
目前，韩国已有40多所院校教授所谓的“跆拳道式英语”(Taeglish)。在这些地方，教练们用英语向学生教授跆拳道，他们认为跆拳道能增强学生学习外语的信心。
韩国人每年在孩子学英语上的投入达到数十亿美元。在韩国，英语好被视为进入好大学和找份好工作的必要条件。
“跆拳道式英语”的创始人金宋汉说：“将英语与练跆拳道结合起来后，学生们能够开心并且精神饱满地去学习英语。”
“Taeglish”(跆拳道式英语)是Taekwondo(跆拳道)和English(英语)两个词的合成。这一方法于去年三月推出，当时是一家百货商店为孩子们组织的一项活动。而在之后的约一年中，教授“跆式英语”的院校已遍布全国。
与用传统方法学英语的学生相比，接受“跆式英语”训练的学生在课堂上要活跃得多，但他们的语言技能往往不如前者。
