Translation and commentary of the Ahak chapter

Entering
Translation and commentary of Min Byeong-seok's preface
Translation and commentary of Ji Seok-yeong's preface
Korean translation and commentary
English translation and commentary
Copyright translation

The main text of Ahakpyeon

An English craze even hotter than today swept Joseon 110 years ago.

In 1882, Joseon became the first Western power to sign a Treaty of Amity and Commerce with the United States.
Starting with this, Westerners and Western civilization began to flood into Joseon, which had been tightly closed until then.

The need for English arose at a national level, and English eventually brought a wind of change to Joseon, which had been a strict class society.
Because if you were good at English, you could get a high position and make a lot of money.
English meant immediate success, and the craze for studying English was incomparable to that of today.


Some might despair, thinking, "Wow, even a century ago, English was a path to success!" But in Joseon, a strict class society, it's easy to imagine how much hope it gave to so many people that learning English offered a life-changing opportunity.


In any case, thanks to this craze, various English books were published, one of which was 『Ahakpyeon』.
This is a new edition of Jeong Yak-yong's Chinese character learning book for children, 『Ahakpyeon』, compiled by Ji Seok-yeong and Jeon Yong-gyu in 1908.

The deep-rooted evils of Japanese-style English education that still plague us today

However, with the Gyeongsul National Shame of 1910, the country's sovereignty was taken away by Japan, and the English craze in Joseon was put on hold.
This is because the pronunciation and conversation-focused education of native English-speaking teachers is changing to writing and grammar-focused education by Japanese teachers.
There is also an anecdote from 1920 where students at Boseong School refused to attend classes because their Japanese teacher had poor pronunciation.
(Why would that be?)
If education had focused on pronunciation and conversation before the Japanese colonial period, we might not be struggling so much with English today.
It's just a shame.

The 2,000 characters included in the 『Joseon Dynasty English Textbook Ahakpyeon』 may be a lot or a little.
Unlike today's sophisticated English textbooks, it may be rough and unfriendly.

But I hope this gets the message across.
I hope that through 『Joseon Dynasty English Textbook Ahakpyeon』, which has been republished after 110 years, you can feel the circumstances of the times that forced our ancestors to study English diligently, and the love for the people of Jeong Yak-yong, Ji Seok-yeong, and Jeon Yong-gyu.
It would be wonderful if you could experience, even for a moment, the excellence of our Korean language, which can express any pronunciation in an amazing way.