This happened many times the first time we visited Korea together.

This happened a lot! Friends would boast on the phone how they could speak English but just stood there in stunned silence when they met me because they’d never actually spoken to a native English speaker before. I think it’s a combination of getting nervous and scared in the situation with a mistaken idea of what their English skills actually are.

I know the feeling though- I freeze when I’m supposed to speak in Korean.

Actually the reason why my husband is quite good at conversational English is because he didn’t learn in Korea. He went to The Phillipines and learnt English there and then improved it by speaking with native speakers.

I do a bit of tutoring and I’m always surprised at students who say they have intermediate English but cannot have a single conversation in English. I suspect when they are taught English in Korea there is not enough emphasis on speaking skills- perhaps anyone who has experience with the Korean school system can offer some insight on this?