Korean Job Discussion Forums

[yingwenlaoshi]

What's up with that? I keep hearing it. Some student will change hagwons to go to one where there are no native English speakers to learn "grammar". It actually makes me angry. I mean, what grammar do they actually learn? I have no idea. What is it? What the hell are they studying? Is the teacher good in English. I have my doubts.

Or is it more to study at one of those hagwons that offer all subjects. At an age as early as first year middle school, is it to prepare them for English testing? What are those tests?

Is it good for them? Is it bad for them? Does it matter?

I'm confused.

[ontheway]

Ying asked:

"What's up with that? I keep hearing it. Some student will change hagwons to go to one where there are no native English speakers to learn "grammar". It actually makes me angry. I mean, what grammar do they actually learn? I have no idea. What is it? What the hell are they studying? Is the teacher good in English. I have my doubts."


The kids are preparing for their middle and high school grammar tests. They study bad Englishi grammar all in Korean with a Korean teacher who can't speak English. The books are full of mistakes. The tests are full of mistakes. They can only get a high score on the tests by answering the questions with the incorrect grammar they have memorized in Korean.

All of these grammar books and tests are filled with mistakes. They are supposedly reviewed by some "native" English speaker. Whoever is writing or editing these books should be fired and sent back to school.

Kids who stop studying real English at a good hogwan and go to these grammar mills actually end up with lower and lower English levels. Kids who were on their way to having good English, kids who could speak, read and write, are unable to funtion effectively in English after 3 or 4 years of these grammar mills. It doesn't matter whether it's all in school or in a grammar hogwan, they lose the English they had previously learned.

This is probably the greatest hinderance to the goal of the Korean government to raise the English levels in this country. Their own public education system erases the high English levels acquired prior to middle school, and replaces the good English with Konglishi and faulty grammar learned in Korean.

It is maddening to a real English teacher. I understand how this can upset you, Ying. This is also why so many Korean families (if they can afford it) try to get their kids out of Korea and into private middle schools and high schools, mostly in Canada and the US. They are desperate to escape the horrid Korean public schools.

[yingwenlaoshi]

Yeah, it p1sses me off. Everytime I hear the driver say, "Oh. Koreans want grammar" I want to haul off and punch him in the mouth. If I'm not teaching grammar, what the hell does he think I'm teaching? How can you not be teaching grammar?

Fkn unbelievable.

I'm going to cause I bit of a fuss in the lobby tomorrow. I can because it's not directed at anyone where I work. It will be a bit of a tirade, so to speak.

So yeah. It's a big goddamned joke. A girl, first-year middle schooler who I had been teaching for damn near 2 years, up and said to me, "Today is my last day." I kind of didn't respond and finally she brought it up again. "Yeah, I heard you. Why? Where are you going?" Apparently she's going to a school called Mo-mo or Moo-moo something or other. I asked if they had a native English teacher. No. So I poceeded to make fun of her new school by mooing like a cow and making the other students laugh. I asked her if she was going to be learning about farming, cow, pigs, and barns at this new school. Then I told her outright that Koreans don't know anything about learning English. She's quite a nationalist herself and this didn't rest with her too well. Oh well. Told her "Good luck. Nice to know you." Maybe not the right response, but how can you respond to something like that? What was she expecting me to say? Get out. Hurry up. Don't let the door hit yer arse on the way out. Christ.

Bunch of arseholes.

[mrsquirrel]

[yingwenlaoshi]

[sadsac]

A major portion of the grammar being taught is not only to help them with their tests but also for the myriad of high and middle schoolers that sit the TOEFL and TOEIC tests. I do who;e heartedly agree with many that are highly critical of the poor quality of materials used by Koreans to teach grammar. The likes of YBM-Sisa, Compass, Moonjin Media and such like should be put out of business for their piss poor ESL publications. You just have to live with the fact that, that's how it is in Korea.

[ChuckECheese]

I think it's good that they are teaching and learning Konglish grammar.

It means FTs' job security where Koreans will always need FTs to help them correct their Konglish grammar.

[dmbfan]

See the defenition of Grammer Translation Method in the bogglesworld glossary.


www.bogglesworldesl.com


I fully agree with it..........and it makes sense as to why Koreans love to hide behind it.


dmbfan

[bosintang]

In other words, we resent you. We don't like studying English from you, we don't like paying you to come here to teach English, but by god, we are going to study English from you and pay you anyways.

God bless.

[Saxiif]

Yup that's what my wife does all day. She's damn good at it, the kids ace all their tests. Of course they can't hold even a basic conversation in English

[VirginIslander]

After five years of teaching grammar at a private school and a year of dating me, she speaks English fairly well. Her students, who I sometimes privately teach, often tell her to teach English in public schools because their teachers are jokes.

For example, just last week my student was scolded by her public schoo teacher for telling her how to correctly pronounce "schedule."

But, since my girlfriend majored in Chemistry, she woud have to go back to education school for FOUR YEARS and take all those fucking tests.

Great Job Korea.

[yingwenlaoshi]

But I don't think they really do study grammar. They just practice to past tests. I really don't believe they, especially middle school, and even high school, don't know a damn thing about English grammatical terms. It equates almost to studying to pass an LSAT exam.

[The Hierophant]

[Saxiif]

[Adventurer]