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| South Korean actress Lee Young-ae in Hong
Kong, May 21, 2005, to promote the Korean TV soap series - "Jewel in the
Palace." A Hong Kong school is using the heroine of the Korean soap opera
set in the 19th century to teach its pupils life skills. [File Photo:
AFP/Samantha Sin] |
A Hong Kong school is using the
heroine of a Korean soap opera set in the 19th century to teach its pupils life
skills, a teacher said Tuesday.
Yau Ma Tei Catholic School has adopted the hit
show "Jewel in the Palace" as a model for a series of classes in
which pupils recreate real-life situations and work out how the lead character
would tackle them.
"Dae Jang Geum embodies the sort of qualities and values that we would like
our children to have," said Patsy Leung, the school's head of civic education.
In the period drama, set in Korea's 19th-century Joseon Dynasty, Dae Jang
Geum is a servant girl who rises up to become the only female doctor in the
emperor's court.
The character's determination and indomitable spirit made her an instant
heroine among Asian TV viewers, garnering the show record audiences last year.
It was a major part of the so-called "Korean Wave" of popular culture that
swept briefly across Asia in recent years and made stars of Korean actors and
pop singers such as Rain.
"Dae Jang Geum is a strong character who never gives up, no matter how tough
the problem," said Leung. "She is also a good role model to girls, because she
fought against the male-dominated hierarchy
and sexism of her time."
In some of the classes, pupils role play situations as the TV heroine, even
dressing in her trademark traditional white Korean gowns.
The Korean television channel that made the show granted the school
permission to use five minutes of footage in classes.
"Our pupils play the parts of the characters in problem-solving situations
interspersed with real footage," said Leung.
"It allows us to use it as teaching material and is part of our movie-making
class too. We hope the pupils will also be able to take it home and pass on the
teachings and values of Dae Jang Geum to their family."
（Agencies）
Vocabulary:
hit show: 熱播劇
male-dominated
hierarchy：男權(quán)社會(huì)
（英語(yǔ)點(diǎn)津陳蓓編輯）
