Coming at English from all angles

David Redman

There are a wide range of opportunities in the field of relaying the English language to the Korean public, and David Redman has taken advantage of just about all of them.
For six years, the Canadian taught English at Hanshin University in Suwon, Gyeonggi. While working there, he auditioned for the EBS English-language children’s show “Go Go Giggles.”
“It was the first audition I’d ever gone to,” Redman said. There, he met a producer who suggested that he submit a few scripts. He landed a job writing for the show. “Then from writing I stepped into acting.”
Working on Go Go Giggles became a launch pad to other forays, including a role as a detective on “Surprise,” an MBC show. “Some of the directors on ‘Surprise’ watch ‘Go Go Giggles,’” he explained.
English-language acting in Korea wasn’t what he had expected, however. “I found acting to be much more technical than I thought. I always thought that directors were looking for people who could emote. But it’s more about people who can stay in the frame and hit their marks.”
Other Surprise hopefuls learned this the hard way. “A lot of them fail at taking direction,” he said.
Redman, who was an English literature major at the University of Toronto, is now heading up a production company that makes “innovative language products.” The flagship book, “Quantum Spies,” is what he calls an “audio-toon.”
“We combine graphic novels with a soundtrack. We’re using compelling stories to promote language learning.”
The concept, which Redman claims is the first of its kind, is based on his Hanshin teaching experience.

By Richard Scott-Ashe Contributing Writer [richard@joongang.co.kr]