&#91LETTERS TO THE EDITOR&#93Sacrificing for English education

Your feature article on Tuesday's back page ("Heartsick moms," J-Style) about Korean families being separated to pursue English-based education had to be the saddest thing I have read since I came to Korea 18 months ago.

Is this what Korean society has come to? Is a lengthy separation of a nuclear family the answer to the "good life?" Does Korean society put so much importance on English education that it means one or the other spouse must endure months or years of hardship and heartache, just to be certain that their children have a fighting chance among others who have no doubt done the same thing? Is this really good for the children?

I am not naive. Far from it. I know that an American education, or more specifically immersion, now plays an important role in the development of an Asian child's education, simply because of the corporate and societal requirements of modern-day South Korea. But why separate the family?

If these things are so important, why not move as a unit to the United States? A career can be restarted or put on the back burner indefinitely.

by Paul Andrew