韓国を英語で紹介しよう！
Let's Speak About Korea！
僕は今の職場で去年から高校生を対象に「英語プレゼンテーション」の講師をしています。去年度の終盤には英語で韓国を紹介しようというテーマで決められた内容を発表するという試みを行いました。
今日はそのときにモデルとして生徒に見せたスライドを動画にしたものをご紹介します。
Let's Speak About Korea！
音声はオンラインの翻訳・読み上げサイトを利用してます。高校生向けなので聞きやすく、シャドーイングしやすいようにスローテンポにしました。
本文を掲載します。読解に挑戦してね！
Let's Speak About Korea!
Geography Korea is a small peninsula on the far east side of Asia. It is between China and Japan. It is connected to mainland Asia in the North. It is separated from China and Russia by the Amnok River and the Tuman River. Between Korea and Japan is the East Sea. To the West between Korea and China is the Yellow Sea.
The size of Korea is roughly 1,000 kilometers in length.
Korea is a divided country. At the End of World War II in 1948, Korea was divided at the 38th parallel. This resulted in North Korea and South Korea. North Korea became communist, while South Korea did not.
North Korea is slightly larger in physical size, while South Korea's population size is about twice as large as North Korea's.
Language The Korean language is shared between both North and South Korea and is part of the Altaic language family. There are various dialects but the language is generally understood everywhere. 65 million people speak the Language, with 45 million speaking it in South Korea.
The language is considered one of the best and most well planned languages in history. Hangul is the name of the Korean Alphabet. It was created by King Sejong in 1446. It is extremely easy to learn, which gives Korea one of the highest literacy rates in the World.
Many Koreans also study English. It is taught from very early on in school. Many signs will be in both Korean and English.
Major Cities Seoul is the capital and most important city of South Korea. It is very city-like and could be compared to New York City. There is plenty to do there, especially at night. Shopping stands are open during the night and it isn't a quiet place at night either! There is always something to do anytime of the day.
There are also five other major cities; Busan, Inchon, Gwangju, Daejon, and Daegu.
Seoul is a highly populated city with 11 million people. Within a very small area near Seoul and surrounding cities, there are approximately 20 million people.
Traditional Korean Society Although South Korea is modernizing extremely fast, it still holds on to many traditional values and the old way of life. Where there are not highly populated cities, there are rural areas which are still relatively poor, and still follow traditional ways of life.In cities, millions of people live in apartments, but in the rural areas you will find traditional housing.
Also, even though the cities are headed toward very modern times, people still hold onto some traditional values. One thing that guarantees this is the language. The language has traditional values of social status and respect built directly into it. Words change depending on who you are speaking with. This will keep traditional values always present.
Religion 
Buddhism Buddhism is one of the older religions in South Korea. It comes from the Mahayana branch of Buddhism, similar to China and Japan. Its influence in society has declined recently, but there are still many Koreans that practice Buddhism. There are various temples that the followers visit.
Christianity Christianity has become more and more popular in recent years in South Korea. Christianity was introduced by the Chinese Christians.
Catholics spread very quickly, but were persecuted by the King who perceived it as a threat.
Protestants began to enter Korea in the late 19th century. Some of the world's largest churches will be found in Korea.
Holidays 
New Year’s Day Korean people celebrate the Lunar New Years. It is usually around February. People wear the traditional clothes called Hanbok. It also is a day relatives may get together. People will exchange gifts, and the children will definitely be happy because they are usually given money on Lunar New Years.
The main idea behind it is to wish everyone a happy new year, good luck in the new year, same as everywhere else in the world, as well as pay respect to those who have passed away.
Independence Day The Korean Independence Day represents when Koreans declared themselves independent from Japanese rule. It is on March 1st every year, and began in 1919 when they declared themselves independent from Japanese rule.
Japan had taken over Korea in 1910. For the next 35 years, Koreans would live a hard life under Japanese control. Since they declared independence, every year they proudly stand for their independence from all foreign rule.
Chuseok It takes place on the 15th day of the 8th month going by the lunar calendar. It is a day where the full moon appears larger and may look orange. This holiday is celebrated in many Asian countries.
Christmas Since Christianity took hold in Korea, Christmas has been a growing holiday there as well. It is a little different than in the west, though. Many young people will use Christmas as a day to go out and party and then will spend New Years with their family, which is just the opposite of many Western families.
Hangul Day Hangul Day, also known as Hangul Proclamation Day and Korean Alphabet Day, is on October 9th in South Korea and January 15th in North Korea. It is just a day to celebrate the creation of the Korean Alphabet by King Sejong in 1446!
Valentine's Day, White Day, and Black Day Valentine's Day is on February 14th, as it is here. On Valentine's Day, girls will give chocolates and other gifts to the guys. It is similar to our Valentine's Day but is more one-sided.So, what should be done? White Day was created.
On White Day, one month later on March 14th, guys will give more expensive chocolates and gifts to the girls. These chocolates come in white boxes. This way it isn't so one-sided!
But what about the people who feel left out on those days because they have nobody to give chocolates to? That is what Black Day is for! On Black Day, another month later on April 14th, people who have nobody all get together with their friends and eat JaJang Noodles, which are black in color.