14

In the Financial Times article on educational achievement, the Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore is noted as claiming in a May 2015 speech that

South Korea has more institutions teaching German literature than Germany does: “How many German teachers do you need in Korea?” he asked, pointing out that Korean students with a degree in subjects such as German would face the same problem of youth unemployment as in many other countries.

Is this true (by any sensible way of counting 'institutions' teaching German literature)? What about the total number of students?

Andrew Grimm
  • 38,859
  • 36
  • 141
  • 342
user35609
  • 141
  • 2
  • 3
    To be fair, he was simply repeating a claim made to him by a Korean minister. "[A South Korean minister] told me Korea has more institutions which are teaching German literature than there are institutions teaching German literature in Germany. How many German teachers do you need in Korea?" [Transcript of that May 2015 speech.](https://www.mfa.gov.sg/content/mfa/overseasmission/geneva/press_statements_speeches/2015/201505/press_20150501.html) –  Sep 07 '16 at 06:07
  • 8
    Is he counting every single school in Germany as a "institution teaching German literature" or only institutions which *specifically* focus on teaching literature and not on providing a general education which *also* includes literature? – Philipp Sep 07 '16 at 10:57
  • 2
    @Philipp And even there, there are simple issues of consolidation. If Germany has just one institution with 2000 instructors, but S. Korea has ten with one instructor each, S. Korea still has more *institutions*. – Joshua Taylor Sep 08 '16 at 16:16
  • I only recall ever meeting 2 koreans who could speak german in the 3.5 years i lived there. i wonder if the south korean politician he quoted is the same who claimed its common for koreans read the jewish torah to their children. There was a hitler/nazi themed bar a few years back....does that count? – deek Sep 08 '16 at 16:51
  • Obviously the aim of the statement is to say that too many professionals are being trained in South Korea to teach German literature than in Germany. Even if it were measured in universities per million inhabitants, it would be an interesting claim to prove or disprove. – Pere Jul 10 '17 at 09:29

0 Answers0