Army Spc. Abigail Lineau, Staff Sgt. David Mello and Pfc. Huh Min Jung, with D. Co., 5th Battalion, 5th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, work with South Korean students during an English-language lesson at an elementary school near Camp Casey, South Korea. (Juliana Gittler / S&S)
CAMP CASEY, South Korea — Army Spc. Abigail Lineau, with D Company, 5th Battalion, 5th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, reaches out to say hello to a group of giggling, bashful South Korean elementary students.
“Hi, my name is Aby,” she says.
“Hi Aby,” they mumble back, not completely clear on the pronunciation.
She and two other soldiers from her unit will spend the next hour helping 40 youngsters at a South Korean elementary school outside Camp Casey learn to speak English.
The school has an English-language listening lab but students can’t use it until they learn to speak some English, said their principal, Lim Hyk Kyoo.
Since they live in the vicinity of many Americans assigned to South Korea, it’s more imperative they learn the language, he said.
In support of U.S. Forces Korea commander Gen. Leon LaPorte’s Good Neighbor Program, leaders at Camp Casey began participating last year in the USO Virtues Development Program, an English-language tutorial.
Using a lesson plan from the United Service Organizations and picture dictionaries donated by the Association of the U.S Army, volunteers teach weekly lessons for 12 Saturdays. The second semester began this week.
The pupils get a chance to hear native English speakers and the soldiers learn about South Korea, create good will and earn a chance to feel good about being on a hardship-duty tour, sponsors said.
“It works both ways,” said Staff Sgt. David Mello, also with the 5/5 ADA. “This is the kind of stuff you hope to remember from your tour.”
The lesson start was a little bumpy, with 40 fourth- and fifth-graders excitedly drawing “friendship hands” — outlines of their hands to emphasize the virtue of friendship. Mello and Lineau, with help from Pfc. Huh Min Jung, a KATUSA (Korean Augmentee to the U.S. Army) from their unit, helped the students learn introductions.
About 24 volunteers — mostly soldiers and KATUSAs with a few civilians — will teach at six schools, said Sally Hall, director of the USO at Camp Casey, a northern camp in the heart of the 2nd Infantry Division country.
The volunteers range from privates to the camp commander, Lt. Col. Stephen Murray.
“Just by volunteering in general you feel like you’re making a difference,” Murray said. “It pays great dividends. The Koreans clearly want to learn English. These are public elementary schools; they can’t afford a professional English teacher.”
Commands encourage soldiers to join. Although hectic 2nd ID work schedules can make recruiting volunteers for a 12-week commitment difficult, twice as many volunteered this semester as last, he said.
Mello said he heard about the opportunity to teach kids before even arriving in South Korea; “as soon as I got here I started looking into it.”
He said volunteering is a good way to help his host nation and keeps him busy. Plus, he says he’s a pro since has two children at home about the same age.
Lineau said she worked with elementary students before joining the Army so the program was a natural place to volunteer.
“It’s fun,” Lineau said. “Hopefully when they get to know us better they’ll listen more.”
The students are revved up for the visits but really getting comfortable will take a few weeks, said Sgt. Daniel Roman, with headquarters and headquarters detachment, U.S. Army Garrison. He speaks from experience: He volunteered last semester and coached the new instructors before classes began this year.
After her first day, Lineau, said she found the children were pretty bashful.
“Especially the little boys,” she said. “They don’t know what to do, they’re so shy.”
