No Pain, No Gain

A paragon of English and French in Korea, Professor Choi Jung-wha of the Graduate School of Interpretation and Translation (G.S.I.T.), Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, is often asked,

" How can we study foreign languages well? "

She answers, " It is important how long and intensively one repeatedly studies foreign languages. It's so simple. Whichever language it is, if one listens to it 13 or 15 hours a day for six months or one year, anyone understands it easily when it is being spoken. Most people don't do that and live on with agony for the rest of their life. "

She still gets up at 4 a.m., reads four newspapers including English dailies, and watches CNN at 7 a.m. While she commutes to work and back home, she listens to English tapes. Coming across unfamiliar words, she cannot resist looking them up in the dictionary immediately.