“Discontinued, but 1,000 units sold per month… ‘Popular’ among mothers in Daechi-dong [이슈+]

Use of electronic dictionaries sold at Yongsan Electronic Market. /Photo=Reporter Kim Young-ri

“Has anyone bought an electronic dictionary for their child? My child always uses the Naver English dictionary app. I was trying to limit the time he spends on his mobile phone. manage…”

On the 13th of last month, a question with this content was posted on an online educational information community. Parents who said they recommended buying an electronic dictionary, saying, “I bought (my child) an electronic dictionary. If I keep my smartphone next to me, it interferes with my studies.” There was also a post that said, “Right now, we teach students to use paper dictionaries, but I’m wondering if I should buy an electronic dictionary.”

Electronic dictionaries, which had been on the decline since the popularity of smartphones around 2010, continue due to unexpected demand. The explanation is that parents buy them for their children’s learning purposes in school districts with a high level of commitment to education, or older students who are not used to using smartphones often visit them. While most electronic dictionary brands have gone out of business, one company that continues to distribute electronic dictionaries in Korea said that boarding school students and language learners who are prohibited from using smartphones while buying them. Up to 1,000 units are said to have been sold per month during peak seasons such as the holiday season. This is because demand is based on one product.

/Photo=Reporter Kim Young-ri An electronic dictionary is a small electronic device that performs the work of a dictionary. It looks like a miniaturized laptop. Dozens of thick paper dictionaries were packed into a notebook-style device that could be held in one hand, and it gained popularity until the late 2000s. Before the release of smartphones, no student in middle or high school classes was without an electronic dictionary. Until the early 2000s, iRiver sold about 200,000 electronic dictionaries each year.

Around lunch on the 5th, Yongsan Electronics Market, Yongsan-gu, Seoul. As it was a weekday, most were deserted, but electronic dictionaries were still available at a few stalls. Most of them were used goods. It was also possible to buy, and the purchase price was between 80,000 and 200,000 won. Before that, iRiver, a domestic brand, pulled out of the electronic dictionary business in 2015, and imports of Japanese brands such as Casio and Sharp also stopped around 2012.

Mr Park, in his 50s, who sells small household appliances on the first floor of an electronics centre, said, “It’s been 10 years since electronic dictionaries were discontinued. I’ve been in business here for 30 years, and the electronic dictionaries that used to sell hundreds of thousands of units a year have all but disappeared since the advent of smart phones.” “I couldn’t control my pulse,” he said. However, “There are occasional sales inquiries. Electronic dictionaries are sold about 1-2 times a month. I am also surprised, and when I ask them the reason for buying, I get questions from students boarding school who live in environments where they are to return their smartphones, people who plan to take language courses, etc. “Most of them are old people who will a ‘using flip phones,’ he said, expressing the sentiment.

On this day, I looked at about 20 small home appliance stores in Yongsan Electronics Market and found that only about 5 of them sold electronic dictionaries, including used ones. The electronic dictionary sold as a new product was an electronic dictionary from the Taiwanese brand ‘Vesta‘, and the buyers explained that it was “the only electronic dictionary brand still distributed in Korea.” The brand new products were being sold for around 200,000 to 300,000 won, which is more expensive than used products. Prices varied according to the number of built-in dictionaries.

Mr. A, in his 40s, who runs a nearby store, explained, “There is not much demand to come all the way to Yongsan to buy electronic dictionaries, but they sell well in shopping malls such as smart online stores. who are mostly parents looking for new products rather than used products.”

“Inconvenience is an advantage … In some cases, even 1,000 items per month”

Photo = News 1 An official from Samshin E&B, an import company that distributes Vesta electronic dictionaries in Korea, said, “After the launch of smartphones, the electronic dictionary market has almost disappeared, ” but he said, “However, our company is the only company. a company that officially distributes electronic dictionaries in Korea. However, he said, “However, the main products are not the company’s sales,” and “there is a big difference in the monthly sales number.”

Mr. Kim, a Daechi-dong parent in his 40s who recently bought an electronic dictionary from an online shopping mall for his child who will be a middle school student in 2025, said, “Compared to a smartphone or tablet PC, it’s very inconvenient to use,” but he said, “But that’s the advantage. He also said that parents around him are very interested in buying electronic dictionaries, and when he goes to the academy’s information sessions, English teachers sometimes recommend buying electronic dictionaries as a way of learning.

However, there was also an explanation that it is difficult to control the Internet because once a child enters high school, a tablet PC is needed to take Internet lectures. Mr. Lee, who is raising a child in the first year of high school in Daechi-dong, said, “I can take my cell phone away from the academy, but I can’t use my iPad. I worry that he will. play, but there is no other way.”

Park Eun-joo, who works as an education consultant in Daechi-dong, said, “Many students, especially middle and high school students in the area, still use electronic dictionaries. If they use dictionary apps on their smartphones, there is a high risk that they will use the smartphone for purposes other than learning.” He pointed that out

He continued, “There are many complaints among parents about the recent climate of allowing the use of smartphones, tablet PCs, and the Internet in school, including digital textbooks. Parents make it a rule not to leave cell phones in the room when they are studying. , even at home.” “There are a lot of them,” he said.

Kim Young-ri, Hankyung.com reporter smartkim@hankyung.com