English language teaching is generally highly prioritized in Korea, since it’s the language of international business and science, and English competency is highly important for employment prospects, university admissions, and social status. The government systematically promotes high-quality English language teaching, and there have been suggestions by previous governments to make English the main language of instruction in schools. Private households, meanwhile, spend large sums of money on private English tutoring. Many Korean children now start learning English in kindergarten before entering elementary education. This craze for learning English has become so excessive, that the Korean government in 2018 banned the teaching of English prior to third grade, since it appeared to slow pupils’ proficiency in Korean. Officially, English is introduced as a subject in third grade at all Korean schools.