What is the ETA system?

ETA, Education Through Acting, refers to the process that participants go through to write a play script, rehearse and give a show of it via debate and/or discussion which is part of acting, and is a two-stage education system that affects participants through the process, and audience through the show artistic empathy.
(Debate basically improves skills for critical thinking, data research, logical composition and arrangement and enhances oral communication skills.)

The greater effectiveness of ETA is found in social education or re-education.
At the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center in Cebu, the Philippines, all inmates participate in the dance rehearsal for several months to give a public dance show. It is good to give chance to concentrate on something for those who spend boring days waiting for the day of being freed. In particular, if what they do must be achieved with others, a certain degree of re-education can be possible. However, this activity has a limit in that this is not an interaction but is required and followed. It is not self-development through interaction but they have to obey the instructor’s directions. This is not much different from cramming education.

How about preparing and giving a musical show instead of a dance?
10 inmates discuss for three hours a day and write a musical play script and composers, choreographers and designers from inmates can join them to complete a show. If they do this work for six months?
The discussion they do over six months can’t be simple. A simple discussion goes over after one or two meeting and after then an in-depth discussion continues. They will talk about what they already know, have heard from others or read from books. Furthermore, they have to do their best to create a new story, which is not easy work. Discussion can’t help but goes in-depth and the responsibility of creating an artistic work makes participants concentrate on what they do. They have to open themselves, look back and get to know themselves. After a long six months of artistic work, they will be reborn as social human beings. Other inmates or audiences who watch the show are also educated through artistic empathy.
ETA is an efficient social education or re-education system that can change both participants and the audience through the process of creating a high-quality show and appreciating it.

How the ETA system works?

ETA will be carried out in six stages below.
1st stage Choosing a theme
2nd stage Creating a story to express the theme
3rd stage Writing lines speaking as a role
4th stage Reading (Reading the script while sitting on the chair.)
5th stage Blocking (All rehearsing process after reading.)
6th stage Show.

The first three stages can be conducted through discussion of all participants and the second three stages, under the direction of the play director.
Part of the six stages can be applied depending on the duration of the session. The first stage can be done if it is a session of a week, the first and second stage if four weeks, etc.
A session can last 1 – 24 weeks with more than three days a week and more than two hours for a meeting.
The show or script that participants will complete must be of high quality with a long running time, not a short and childish skit.

The Categories of ETA system

ETA can be applied as follows and each ETA operates perfectly independently.
Effective foreign language practice, unlimited creative activities, hobbies, delivering the wisdom of seniors, resolving conflicts, social intergartion, effective social re-education, relieving stress, stress relieving in the Army, healing through excretion, collective intelligence, language classes and social education for immigrants…

ACETA – Artistic Creation Education Through Acting
FLETA – Foreign Language Education Through Acting
SZETA – Socialization Education Through Acting
RSETA – Re-Socialization Education Through Acting
SRETA – Senior Related Education Through Acting
TTETA – Theatrical Therapy Education Through Acting

ACETA – Artistic Creation Education Through Acting – Professional theatre company
The first step to preparing a show is choosing a play script, but it is not always easy because they must consider actors’ number, sex and age. It is almost impossible to find a script satisfying these factors. This can be resolved if all actors wanting to be on the stage participate in creating a script. There is another issue in choosing a script, which is copyright. Some playwrights don’t allow to change even a word from their script. This can restrict seriously the creation. If all members participate in creating a script, the freedom of creation can be guaranteed.

FLETA – Foreign Language Education Through Acting – Schools, Language institutions, Immigration centres
Currently, the most advanced foreign language education method is Educational Theatre. However, no correction, no in-depth progress, no effective process and no habituation are the problems. ETA can resolve them and TRAIN participants with much more effectiveness.

SZETA – Socialization Education Through Acting – Everywhere
SZETA means forming amateur play teams. Regardless of age and/or gender, teams can be formed. In a certain language or with a specific purpose, teams also can be formed. Everything depends on who organizes. Whatever the purpose, the principle is to give theatrical shows created those who want to do.
If there are several spaces and several play directors, multiple teams can be organized at the same time. Through these activities, social education or re-education, stress relief, community solidarity and/or intergenerational communication can be performed.
With ETA, everything that can happen in a community can be discussed and resolved. Furthermore, new projects based on a discussion of various community members can be undertaken.

RSETA – Re-Socialization Education Through Acting – Detention centers
Re-socialization education of inmates in detention centres is not easy work. The best is to be reborn as a responsible community member after realizing oneself on one’s own. ETA is the best way here because it educates without education.

SRETA – Senior Related Education Through Acting – Adult daycare centres
Many values that seniors have acquired throughout their lives will disappear with them. If their experiences can transfer to the next generations, future generations will go through less trial and error and intergenerational conflict will be reduced. In addition, participating in play preparation, seniors can overcome feelings of impotence accumulated aging and be more positive in their physical and mental health because they can pour more energy into what they do.

TTETA – Theatrical Therapy Education Through Acting – Psychiatric hospitals
There are psychodramas in some psychiatric hospitals. Or, the healing process can be applied through group discussion. However, these activities are not so effective because of its limit. In fact, one must completely out of oneself to look back on oneself, which is not easy for Psychodramas.

ETA can be an alternative. Here again, ETA doesn’t try to achieve cure patients, but it is the process of preparing a play, and patients can overcome themselves creating an artistic work. It cures without healing.

The strengths of ETA system

1 All of our teachers are native speakers and theatre experts.
Our English teachers live in either the US or the Philippines, our Korean teachers in Korea and our Chinese teachers in China. They are either actors or stage directors who can direct you to speak correctly. With our native theatre experts-teachers, we focus on strengthening speaking ability. Speaking is something that can’t be thought or learned. You have to compose sentences yourself and speak them.

2 Correction through 1:4
Each student can get corrections when needed because our teacher-student ratio is 1:4. Getting corrections in foreign language education is indispensable, and it should be done native speakers. Without corrections, it’s like sailing through a reef-filled night sea without any beacon.

3 More effective than 1:1
A 1:1 teaching method is not that effective in conversation classes because you cannot learn how to speak. You should speak yourself. Conversation can be done making it a habit. Lets’ say that you face your private teacher. What kind of subject you will talk about? You don’t have anything to talk about in-depth because you don’t share anything in common. Your teacher can’t teach you how you speak. However, our system asks you to create a new story. You have to invent a story and to invent it, you should be fully immersed in your thoughts. Once you’ve created a story, you will talk about it and listen to others talk about it, and then you will add a new story or modify it. This will make speaking your target language your habit. This process is much more effective than 1:1. An appropriate number of attendees for this kind of process may be around five because the burden will increase when the number is too small.

4 This is real Training to speak Korean
Our Korean language practice classes run for 50 minutes a day from Monday through Friday. At least, this much practice is needed to speak a language fluently. A native speaker class of 20 or 30 minutes a day, one or two hours a week. This doesn’t add up to what you’re trying to do. That doesn’t make you progress at all. It just allows you to waste time and money. Never, can a language be mastered that simple speaking. You must make speaking the language your habit. And think, how much time you need to make a habit. Don’t waste your time and money on those classes.

5 Self-development
Our teachers don’t teach you. It is the students themselves who have to think and think again to engage in discussion with other students in their class. Thinking-speaking-listening-thinking-speaking. This is the process of speaking for students. By thinking, the scope of thoughts will be widened or moved from one situation to another. Students repeat this process. It is not pivoting on itself but it’s like a wave that’s spreading. This process can give students improvements in speaking fluency.

6 No limit
In many language classes, they use scene studies. For example, today, let’s say we are going to a bank. Imagine and describe what you would do there. Students think a little and talk about what they can do in a bank. This method looks effective. Our system looks similar to this. However, our imagination and description are not limited to just today, this bank and this time. We develop. Let’s see how we use this situation of a bank. What we do is principally to create a story. As we usually do in a bank, we add more stories. For example, Mr. A goes to a bank to have funds for his business. When he begins talking, he recognizes the bank teller as his first love. 30 years ago, they could not be engaged because of, I don’t know, some reasons even though they loved so much. However, they could not continue speaking in the bank. So, later they meet again in a restaurant. What they can speak about and after what kind of story you can add. This is basically a development of a story. A story was not given, but it is students who should create one and write the lines. If the time is not enough today, you can continue for tomorrow, and the next day, etc. This is our method. What kind of story can be created? How much they can be TRAINED? Speak Korean fluently through our TRAINING!

7 Fun
The core of our method is that students don’t care about the language. They just think and speak. Of course, the teachers guide and correct their students. Studying a foreign language, isn’t it just annoying sometimes? Instead, we create a new life (character) in the target language, and they just live this character’s life. Doesn’t this sound like fun?

8 Being an artist
There is no REAL teacher and no REAL student in our classes. They are all artists. The teacher becomes a director and students become authors of new lives and play them. When you are a student, you are supposed to lean on others, but with us, you stand yourself.

9 You can even earn money
In all Korean language practice classes, students create new stories. If somebody is interested in any of the stories created in our classes, they can buy them and use them. In this case, all attendees of the class that created it can have a dividend.

10 Affordable
How much you should pay? Just $45 USD. Lets’ compare this to 1:1 online English classes in Korea. For a class lasting for 25 minutes a day, Monday through Friday, you pay $30 a week. Just for 25 minutes a day! Our system is much more affordable, innovative and effective.