Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mateomiguel]

I have a student that I'm teaching English to now. She's about 13, smart, already witty, and speaks almost perfect English. In fact I have a sneaking suspicion that the mistakes she does make are just to be cute. She even uses the word 'like' entirely too often. Incessantly. In short, I have nothing to teach her. She sounds just like a normal, 13 year old American girl.

So, whats the next level? I've thought about buying a book of 20th century literature and getting into literary structure and style. Perhaps even buy a poetry book and teach her to be a snob. Any suggestions on what to do next? Anybody encountered this situation?

[Buff]

Get that girl thinking. Hand her a pile of novels and short stories. She might not quite be ready for literary criticism, but definitely challenge her. Reading is one of the best ways to improve on the discourse level.

Or you could teach her how to make her writing better. Not more grammatically correct, but more interesting (using subordinate clauses, transitions, supporting her ideas, atc.)

Then again, you'll have to keep in mind that she is 13. I have practically fluent 17 year olds who have a hard time with literary stuff (too bad I teach literature).

[Muramasa blade]

Before you start handing out Milton, Onizuka, Descarte or something over her head, you should re-examine your position. Find out what she wants to be, do or whatever. Then you can specialize, teach her business english, classical english, etc.

You should also check to see if she can use english, as opposed to simply understanding it. Try logic and lateral thinking puzzles. Try to get her to put forth her own opinions and ideas. You can also encourage this through writing. Essays, opinion pieces, debate topics, etc can be useful for encouraging thought.

Of course, this may all be overkill. She is just a thirteen year old after all. It's hard to keep a good balance, and not make things too dry. The worst thing to do would be to kill her interest by going overboard.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

In terms of academics she could probably use the most help with writing and research for essay writing. Otherwise what she might need most is just a native-speaker to talk to so that her English does't start to slip as she bogged down in hours and hours of low-yeild schoolwork.

[ddeubel]

Wow! Sounds like she'd like the book , Sophie's world. Great book for that age and for kids who are curious. About philosophy but very readable.

Another book and movie (documentary) you might try and which fascinated my Grade 7/8 ers (as well as grade 4 too) back home is Hana's Suitcase. True story about the Holocaust and the life of a young girl. Fascinating.

DD

[ChopChaeJoe]

Teach her calculus.

[Missile Command Kid]

A bright, bilingual 13 year old who's fluent in both? Rudimentary translation theory, the practical stuff. Jimoondang Publishing out of Seoul has a series (33? 34?) on short works of famous Korean literature translated into English. 5000W each. Get her a couple, find the originals in Korean, and have her think about how texts are translated from one language to another. Why did the translator use this particular English word from that Korean word? What connotations does this Korean word have in the original language that are lost in the translation? Work up from there, going from language unit to language unit, until you're looking at the big picture: what's the fundamental differences in meaning between the Korean version and this particular English translation? A good way to intro this idea to see if she's even interested is Kim So-Wol's "Chindaleygo," translated into "Azaleas" in English. There are many different English translations available online, it's a short poem, and Maya popularised it a few years ago so she's likely even heard of it (if she hasn't already studied it in school). If she's interested in the Kim So-Wol project, maybe she'd be interested in literature in translation. She might be too young or not interested, so this would be a good tease. You can do so much with a unit like this, and it would definitely help with grammatical knowledge of English and vocabulary, as well as exposing her to works of literature in her own language that she'll study later in her academic career - in Korean.

I'm looking at this from an academic point of view and would love to see somebody interested in comparative literature (a PhD in which would get her a tenure track position in any university around the world), but it would also help to prepare for a career in translation or diplomacy. I did a unit on Kim So-Wol a few weeks ago with my higher level middle school kids, and while they're not fluent, they still loved it. PM me if you're interested in lesson plan ideas.

[VanIslander]

[swetepete]

My favorite book to give to really bright, nice kids is "the Animal Famiy" by Randall Jarrell. It's really sad in places, but beautiful too, and very well written. Jarrell was a really fine poet, but he wrote a couple of kid's books too. My pops read it to us when we were little, but it's suitable for pretty much any age upwards of eight, I'd say.

It's hard to find in Korea, but you can order it through online booksellers or get Kyobo or whatthebook to order it for you.

[swetepete]

Oops, typo--meant to write 'the animal family.'