Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Summer Wine]

I got notified today that a negative evaluation has been made about me by the other english teachers.

The complaint is that when I teach 4 to 5 english teachers in a workshop I speak at a reasonable speed. Though when I teach the 30+ High School students I speak slower.

They feel that I am speaking slower for the high school students than for them and that I should speak faster.

My first thought was "go figure", my first answer was the "I'll try". Now I am not sure if it was communcative problems that don't fully explain what they want me to know or whether they just have unsual expectations.

This is a class where I am supposed to teach communication lessons to students who are range from Kindergarten level to elementary level english. Where even the most basic lesson I try to teach is stated as being too difficult.

What are your thoughts and ideas?

[passport220]

It does seem a bit unusual. Just speak at a faster rate. If it is too fast students will let you know on the spot (at least mine do) �Teacher � fast too muchee�.

[pkang0202]

The first problem is that you are thinking too much. Less thinking more doing.

Just do what they say. Talk faster. If someone writes a complaint that you talk too fast then point at the first complaint and say "Look, I'm doing what they told me. If you got a problem with me talking too fast, then go talk to this guy (point at the first complaint about talking too slow).

Problem persists then you say "Why don't YOU show me just how fast I'm suppose to talk. No stuttering and no stopping."

[ED209]

You should always speak at a speed that sounds natural not stunted or broken with stress and intonation all over the place. Listen to some CDs that come with good(none of that TOEIC nonsense, I haven't a clue what they are saying most of the time) English books, how fast do they speak? Also keep it simple but not condescending. But most importantly find out if this is a legit complaint by asking the students if you're talking too fast or using language they don't understand, maybe do a quick anonymous questionnaire next time you see them.

[Fishead soup]

Consider yourself lucky to be getting at least some feedback. Other schools give you no feedback and talk behind your back in Korean.
Take some complaints with a grain of salt. No matter how good you get there will always be some people who are unhappy.

Its very important to get the students to give you feedback in the class during the lesson. Otherwise they'll go home to mom and dad and complain.

By the way this includes" Teacher teacher speak slower"
Not "Teacher Teacher we want game

[Summer Wine]

Thanks for your advice I believe I will follow it.

[Jizzo T. Clown]

Everyone's advice is good re: speaking speed.

I'll add that for each lesson, start off as basic as possible. For example, in one of my classes we were doing rooms of the house with questions: "Is there a sofa in your living room?" etc. I quickly discovered that teaching them vocab for more than one room at a time was counterproductive. So I was happy if they could just ask simple questions about one room and answer "Yes there is / No there isn't" by lesson's end, and it took the whole class to get this out of them.

Another thing that I've mentioned is that when I'm planning a lesson (now), I'll try to learn the material in Korean beforehand in order to get a feel for how difficult it will be for the students. Their English is a bit better than my Korean, but I'm catching them pretty fast!

[PRagic]

Time to put the ol', 'I'll try my best'-line to work. Take what they tell you with feigned sincerity, and just drive on. Don't sweat the little stuff. It goes like this:

1) You need to speak faster!
2) Great advice, thanks!
3) I'll really try my best!
4) Now let's go out for some food and booze.
5) Continue doing it your way or make some minimal changes. Again, don't sweat it.


Problem solved. Nobody loses face.