IDEA Visits the Daegu American Corner

On May 28, IDEA visited the American Corner in Daegu, Korea to conduct a debate training for any interested community members. The American Corner program is an initiative of the US State Department and gives educational outreach and resources in English to people around the world. In addition to the Daegu American Corner, the US Embassy in Korea sponsors one in Busan and one in Gwangju.

Ranging from university-aged to 77 years old, the group was certainly an enthusiastic and eclectic one! In addition to discussing the concept of debate and what sorts of things make for a good debate, each participant crafted a public speech on a topic of their choosing. Each person's initial argument was deconstructed by fellow participants and returned to him/her, which enabled each speaker to respond effectively to criticisms of his/her beliefs.

Topics discussed ranged from President Lee Myung Bak's plan to construct a large canal across Korea to methods of English education to whether pets should be allowed to live with people in apartments to the merits of test-taking. Most people in the group wanted to share their speeches in the supportive and engaged environment of the Daegu American Corner. IDEA looks forward to working with US Embassy education programs in the future!