As U.S. President Barack Obama had once pointed out, South Korean’s zeal for education is second to none. But English language education author Patrick Jackson said effort alone is not enough when vying to become a polyglot. For young language learners, the key is to keep the work interesting, enjoyable and connected to the real world. “The amount of content (Korean) students go through in a year is much more than any other place I know, more than possibly anywhere in the world,” he said. “But i

PeopleApril 22, 2014

Monochrome gelatin and vintage silver prints of subjects ranging from completely random strangers to some of the world’s most influential politicians were on display at the Coex Convention Center last week to celebrate 100 years of Leica photography. The exhibition was held from April 17-20 and featured some of the German camera company’s most prized possessions, including 50 vintage cameras and 50 iconic Leica photographs. The event featured an array of vivid, artistic photographs of icons like

CultureApril 21, 2014

BROOKLINE, New Hampshire (AP) ― In the portrait, the little boy’s blue eyes twinkle as he looks straight ahead. His apple cheeks shine. There’s a gap in his teeth, and his reddish-brown hair is just slightly tousled. He’s an all-American boy. He’s Dick, of the illustrated “Dick and Jane” series that helped teach generations to read from the 1930s to the 1970s. He’s also Nancy Childress’ childhood neighbor and the model for the drawing by her father, Robert Childress, that along with Jane, Sally,

PerformanceApril 21, 2014

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Captain America continues to vanquish box office foes, triumphing in ticket sales for the third consecutive week and dominating over megastar Johnny Depp’s new movie.“Captain America: The Winter Soldier” added another $26 million to its coffers, according to studio estimates Sunday, while Depp’s sci-fi thriller, “Transcendence,” opened in fourth place with $11 million. Directed by longtime Christopher Nolan cinematographer Wally Pfister, the Warner Bros. film is Depp’s third c

FilmApril 21, 2014

A young man follows a middle-aged woman from a distance. She moves through a park in a wheelchair. Once she enters her apartment, she fastens the sturdy door lock tight, making a few blunt clicking sounds. She gets out of her wheelchair and finds a beam of sunlight shining directly into her eyes. The light is reflected off a window in the building across from her apartment block. Behind the window stands the man who was following her through the park. He is tilting the window to point the light

PerformanceApril 21, 2014

Korean-American rapper Snacky Chan, 33, has always been an independent artist. From his start in the Boston underground hip-hop scene in the late ’90s to his move to Korea in 2008 and up to today, he said he’s never been out to get signed. Instead, he relies solely on himself. “When I first started ― first debuted ― the whole system kind of changed. People were doing stuff independent and building their own fan base, getting on the radio without depending on your label’s backing,” he said in a r

PerformanceApril 21, 2014

The members of EXO-M, the Mandarin unit of popular K-pop band EXO, recently returned home to China, where they performed their newest single “Overdose” for the first time on CCTV’s “Global Chinese Music” live stage music ranking program on Sunday.EXO’s upcoming “Overdose” mini-album was originally set to be released on April 21, but has been officially postponed as the nation continues to mourn for the victims and missing passengers, mostly students, of the Sewol ferry sinking. Because of the tr

April 21, 2014

Andy, a member of K-pop band Shinhwa who has been lying low after having been caught gambling illegally late last year, will attend a fan meeting in China next month, his agency said Monday. “Yes, Andy is going to China on request from fans. But it is not a signal of his comeback to the stage or small screen here,” an official at TOP Media told The Herald Business, the sister paper of The Korea Herald.           OSENAccording to the agency, the 33-year-old singer will meet his Chinese fans in th

April 21, 2014

The man inside the Spider-Man suit in the recently released Hollywood blockbuster “The Amazing Spider Man 2” is not only Andrew Garfield, but also Korean-American Ilram Choi.According to Sony Pictures Releasing Walt Disney Studios Korea on Monday, “The Hollywood stuntman Ilram Choi has participated as one of Andrew Garfield’s stunt doubles in the recent Amazing Spider-Man movie series, as he did during the first movie.” (Director Marc Webb’s SNS)According to the motion picture distributor, Choi

PerformanceApril 21, 2014

In Bong Joon-ho’s 2006 film “The Host,” its gigantic, amphibious monster ― which emerges after an American military pathologist dumps bottles of formaldehyde into Seoul’s Han River ― does not move forward. The ferocious creature stays by the river, as if it is trapped, even after kidnapping a teenage girl. Scholar and filmmaker Kim So-young thinks director Bong’s monster is a symbol of South Korea’s geographically isolated condition ― the country is practically an island as its division with Nor

FilmApril 20, 2014

VIENNA (AFP) ― Tyres “burn” in a corner, gas masks and truncheons hang from the ceiling: as unrest rocks Ukraine, art from Kiev’s Maidan is already making its debut in a Vienna museum. The exhibit is titled “I Am a Drop in the Ocean” after a slogan used by the protesters on the Maidan, or Independence Square. Thrown together in just five weeks, the works by some 40 Ukrainian artists were inspired by or eerily prescient of the clashes that helped topple the government in February. Protesters with

PerformanceApril 20, 2014

As the Korean music market is beginning to receive more international recognition, the local band scene is looking to rise up and represent the next generation of Korean music. This is the eighth installment of a series of interviews with Korean rock, acoustic and alternative bands. ― Ed. Known mostly for their softly sung folk-rock jams and old-school vibe, the four members of 9 and the Numbers say they are looking to continue making music that has a contemporary yet classic folk feel that is s

April 20, 2014

Greenplugged Seoul 2014, an annual outdoor music festival originally scheduled for early May, has officially been postponed, as the nation continues to grieve for more than 240 people still missing from the Sewol ferry sinking.GPS announced on Friday that it has pushed back the event from May 3-4 to May 31-June 1. The venue, Seoul Nanji Hangang Park, will be unchanged.“A tragic event occurred just about two weeks ahead of the festival. We have been following the event closely with much sadness a

April 20, 2014

The most reclusive state on earth is paradoxically a country that draws great attention from the rest of the world when it is in the news ― usually for its nuclear threat, horrific human rights abuses and its unpredictable behavior.In fact, the world seems to hunger for information on North Korea. When Adam Johnson, a professor of creative writing at Stanford University, included a memoir by a North Korean defector in the syllabus for an undergraduate class in narrative technique in 2004, he cou

CultureApril 18, 2014

Classical musicZurich Tonhalle Orchestra: One of the two most prominent orchestras in Switzerland, Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra will hold its first performance in Korea on April 21 at Seoul Arts Center. David Zinman, its principal conductor since 1995, will take the baton, while famed violinist Gidon Kremer will join as soloist. The concert will open with two works by Beethoven: Overture to “The Creatures of Prometheus” Op. 43 and Violin Concerto in D Major Op. 61. It will close with Brahms’ Sympho

CultureApril 18, 2014

“How you doin’, baby?” Marlon Wayans said, leaning down to kiss a doll on the lips.The toy, a prop from Wayans’ latest movie, “A Haunted House 2,” was propped up in a chair across the table from the actor at a stuffy Beverly Hills restaurant. The doll, named Abigail, was meant to resemble a creepy figurine from 2013’s “The Conjuring”: Both shared dead green eyes, sooty peasant dress and pigtail braids.Wayans, 41, has long been known for his outrageous comic taste. He dressed as a Caucasian femal

FilmApril 18, 2014

10 Minutes (Korea)Opening April 24Drama. Directed by Lee Yong-seung.Ho-chan (Baek Jong-hwan) takes an internship position at a state-run agency, while dreaming of becoming a TV producer one day. He works hard as an intern, just as much as full-time workers, volunteering to work overtime and even giving up his weekends to attend his senior colleague’s social gatherings. He gets conflicted when he is asked to work as a stable full-time worker, as he doesn’t know if the job offer is worth giving up

FilmApril 18, 2014