[GulliverSwift]

just damn ping

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[Fifth Business]

fleaky.

[Free Trapper]

Female's in some places have plastic surgery to get "round" eyes,for the "American" look.

[pa_dweller]

Learning English is a national fixation in South Korea, where a hot-line has been set up for people to report errors of English spelling or grammar on signs.

If things keep going the way they are we'll need one of those numbers here.

[fourdeuce82d]

make the tongue longer and supposedly nimbler

guess it would make one a more...ummm... "astute" or "sly" linguist...

wonder if that procedure is offered here....

[muawiyah]

Thereby improving the chance for their children to pass the special English language test administered in New Zealand which was designed to keep out Americans.

Ya' just never know.

[Batrachian]

It's a bit early for April Fool's Day, isn't it? This story has to be total BS.

[Trickyguy]

These parents are a bunch of plicks!

[Zeppo]

Speaking fluent English, the language of choice in global business, is regarded as a prerequisite for getting ahead.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if more Americans felt the same way...

[radiohead]

This has never made sense to me. I know a bunch of people of Korean heritage, some born here, some who came over as kids. They all speak English perfectly. If it was a genetic issue particular to Koreans, they too would have problems speaking English.

Practice, hearing native speakers, and mo' practice.

[Geritol]

One third of my children here in the USA needed this procedure. The oldest daughter could not touch the roof of her mouth with the tip of her tongue. She could not lick her lips. The strap between the mid-line of the bottom of the tongue and the gums behind the lower middle teeth was very short and literally tied the tongue tip to the base of the teeth. This caused slurring of Ts, Ns, etc. The first doc botched it and it grew back together in a few weeks. Had to do it all over again. Not very pleasant at the time, but she now assures me that she would do it all over again. She can almost touch her nose with the tip of the tongue now. Fortunately she can not quite pull the famous Stitch maneuver.

I think this is the same procedure that the article is about, but I am not positive. If so, IIHO, this is much less painful, and definitely less painful in the long term, than braces for imperfect teeth. On the other hand, is it worth it just for the Korean child to excel at the nonnative English language? I am unqualified to respond to that.

[Ruth A.]

It is simple to prove how nonsensical this is. Track a Korean baby who was sent to Britian or the US for adoption. All babies learn the language in which they are raised. Simple linguistics. Parents want to give their babies a step up--they should learn perfect English. One parent could speak Korean all day and the other English. The kids may mishmash the languages for a couple of years, but it will smooth out and they will be bilingual.

[KarlInOhio]

where a hot-line has been set up for people to report errors of English spelling or grammar on signs

The folks at engrish.com aren't going to like that.