Korean Job Discussion Forums

[I-am-me]

After 3 years in Korea, it seems like teaching english to the natives is pointless. I have yet to meet kids who know or speak anything past the simpe whats your name, where are you from, and how old are you? These kids have been studying english in hagwons and private academies for years yet have nothing to show for it in speaking skills. Are we as english teachers inept or are the koreans just hard headed? Something is very wrong in this country when it comes to english education.

[kigolo1881]

Speak for yourself, my students are learning and improving on their English in my classes.

[Treefarmer]

i think the problem is that normal hagwons the kids or owners don't really care about english

as well as these, you get higher quality hagwons with waiting lists where the kids actually want to be there and they speak good english

the hagwon system is pretty pointless for most kids yeah, it's only a tiny minority who would get to use their english even if they spoke it well anyways...

[I-am-me]

Yes, I agree. Only a small minority will ever use their english skills. The problem in korea is that english is seen as a test skill and not a communication skill. Maybe english should be just made to be studied at the high school and college level. Even as far as taking it out as being requiered for their college entrance tests. Any views?

[merkurix]

[kigolo1881]

Teaching another language in HS or College is too late for them to grasp the concept. It's not entirely impossible, but being exposed to another language early on makes it easier.

This said, there are people who can and there ppl who can't pick up new languages.

I can understand your frustration.

[Unposter]

It is not entirely pointless. A lot depends on the motivation of your students. For a lot of Koreans, they cannot see much of any motivation to speak a language that is not their native tounge. You will hear things like I'm Korean so why shouldn't I speak Korean or English is really hard. When you hear these kinds of things, you work is really cut out for you.

But there are some very highly motivated students here in Korea, I've seen many in Seoul, who do learn and do speak and even write English at a very proficient level. From my vantage point, which is not scientific at all, most of these highly motivated and proficient students come from wealthy families with highly educated parents. These students are either pushed hard by their parents to be as successful or more than their parents or they can see first hand the value of learning the langauge. They also tend to have started learning young and have had overseas experience, mostly traveling, some studying. I have met some kids who come from some pretty poor families that have strong English skills and interestingly enough (again far from scientific) these kids come from religious families. They are motivated to learn English through their church and even get lessons there.

Now, how do you motivate students who do not have such upbringings. Well, the usual rule of thumb, is make classes as interesting as possible. The second is to remind them of the value of learning which rarely works on young learners. The third is to maintain proper discipline and structure to your classes.

Of course, all of these strategies will be that much tougher if you are dealing with students who have negative feelings about FT's.

So, next time someone asks you why you are playing a game just tell them that motivation is the key to success at learning a language - just make sure its objectives coincide with your lessons and you frame it in real life/conversational context.

[IncognitoHFX]

Hm. I've been in Korea for one week and have taught five days.

So far, the word I've been stressing with one class in particular is the word "communication", as its not a word they are familiar with.

Today I approached one of my youngest (around eight years old) students in the hallway and asked them what they were doing, and when she turned around, cell phone in her hand, she said:

"I'm communicating with my friend"

...I've only been teaching five days.

Maybe you just suck?

[bgreenster]

Icognito, just wait. I'm still kind of a newbie, since I've only been here about 5 months, but I know that my first couple weeks I REALLY felt like I had already started reaching the kids. I was soooo happy that I could actually "cut it" as a teacher.

Fast forward about a month later, when the kids could not even remember an easy vocabulary word that I had emphasized over and over again the previous week.

Unfortunately, it is just a matter of the kids being motivated. Think of how many people back at home go through high school, and even university-required foreign language classes, yet cannot speak a word of the language the semester after they complete their requirements.

Granted, I don't fully understand why Koreans aren't more motivated- it's not as if Korean is that global of a language, and the benefits of knowing English are huge, even if it's just for traveling purposes.

Anyhow, I think we all go through these phases of, "I can make a difference with these kids" to "This is pointless" and then to "I really don't give a shit if they learn it... at least I'm being paid." I tend just to console myself with knowing that a few of my kids ARE getting better, ARE motivated, and WILL probably be fluent one of these days. Sucks for the rest of them.

[Satori]

If you find teaching pointless then maybe it is pointless for you, maybe you are not cut out for it.

I see improvement in my kids from month to month. But I use a flashcard based system with tons of question and answer and not so much time with head in a book. Lots and lots of speaking time, thats how I structure my classes.

[yingwenlaoshi]

[denistron]

I know what you mean OP. Some days it feels like nothing is working. Hang in there

[yingwenlaoshi]

I think, OP, that you are looking at it all in the wrong way. Sure, it would be nice if they spoke more English. Some can get to that point. But I don't think it's really a realistic goal for the most part. To be able to communicate at a higher level. Or a much higher level. All the knowledge they gain is stored. If there ever came a time where they had to use it (like moving to an English-speaking country), they would acquire the speaking skills more quickly due to all that stored knowledge.

Look at it that way.

Even French immersion anglophone students in Canada have a hard time communicating in French. It's overwhelming.

[cuckoo for kimchi]

[cuckoo for kimchi]