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Captain Corea
Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Seoul
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 Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 8:59 pm Post subject: Learning English - a letter from a Korean mom |
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I thought this was pretty interesting:
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200710/200710120007.html
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Teaching Children 'Konglish'
I have just returned from the U.S. after finishing a one-year observation and training program there. I took my son to the U.S. around this time last year when he was a second grader. He studied English very hard. A year on, he was able to watch films such as the "Harry Potter" series without subtitles and chat with American kids over the phone for 20 to 30 minutes.
After we returned to Seoul, I took my son to a private tutoring institute with a relatively good reputation in the neighborhood. A kind female teacher brought a test sheet and an optical mark read (OMR) sheet to test his proficiency. Questions required him to match pictures with the right explanations or choose "correct" or "incorrect" answers after listening to recorded English sentences. The questions on the test sheet looked similar to those of a TOEIC test.
It was the first time he had ever seen an OMR card. He didn't understand what the instruction "Choose incorrect answers" meant. The teacher turned on a record player and left the room. She allowed me to stay with him, so I watched him fill out the OMR card clumsily. He looked embarrassed and started marking wrong answers from Question 2. Unable to bear it, I corrected him.
After he finished filling out the OMR card, I asked him if he understood well what the recorded voice instructed. He said, "Yes, I could understand almost everything. But I don't think I marked the blanks as well as I should." He got about 60 points out of a possible 100 ? but if I hadn�t intervened he would probably have gotten zero.
The teacher said he �needs a different kind of study." She said, "If you want to learn English in Korea, you have to take this kind of level test at any private tutoring institute. With his current level of English proficiency, he will be placed in low-level classes at any institute." She meant that the technique for filling out OMR cards correctly and quickly and the ability to find catch questions about grammar fast are very important yardsticks for evaluating children's English skill. It struck me then that what Korean children need is not English but "Konglish", or a Korean-style English for various tests.
In the U.S., the English teacher in a private institute asked my son questions such as "What's your name?" and "Do you like your school?" to test his proficiency. The only test the American teacher gave my child was to count one through 20. I asked him why he conducted the test that way, and he said, "A child at this age is normally supposed to learn language on his own through listening and speaking in a natural way. He can learn grammar and writing after learning how to listen and speak first."
So many people in Korea get high marks on the TOEIC or TOEFL tests even though they can barely make themselves understood in English. Corporate executives have often complained to me, saying they felt cheated by recruits in their companies. They explained that some brand-new employees don't seem to understand a word when handling telephone calls from foreign countries, even though they had gotten top marks on the TOEIC. There are so many Konglish prodigies who can solve English grammar questions with ease but can�t make themselves understood in the language.
Before the experience with my son, I believed that the prevalence of Konglish was the fault of outdated classroom education but that contemporary Korean children were learning "real English." But I realized I had misunderstood the reality. Korean children must first of all, learn Konglish techniques of choosing the right answer on tests to survive an educational environment where everybody feels relieved when all abilities are converted into points or marks. I became worried wondering how children who get such training will react when they have to speak real English. And I wondered whether they will be as unsure how to speak English properly as our own generation is today. |
I'm not sure if I'd call it Konglish exactly, but I think the point about learning 'test taking skills' rather than English Skills, is a good one. |
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itaewonguy
Joined: 25 Mar 2003
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| Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 9:04 pm Post subject: |
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| RETARDS! thats what I call it!! Korean teachers = a joke! |
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cubanlord
Joined: 08 Jul 2005
Location: In Japan!
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| Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 9:09 pm Post subject: |
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| itaewonguy wrote: |
| RETARDS! thats what I call it!! Korean teachers = a joke! |
Not all of them. C'mon now.... |
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Captain Corea
Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 9:13 pm Post subject: |
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| cubanlord wrote: |
| itaewonguy wrote: |
| RETARDS! thats what I call it!! Korean teachers = a joke! |
Not all of them. C'mon now.... |
Agreed. I think this letter points out a flawed system, not necessarily a bunch of flawed K-Teachers. I have a feeling that many ofthosesame teachers would flourish in a better designed system. |
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Santiago
Joined: 26 Sep 2007
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| Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 9:25 pm Post subject: |
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I agree that the problem with English in Korea is not necessarily the people (meaning teachers and students) but the instruction they receive and the standards they are held to.
It seems to me that in Korea they treat English as just another school subject to be memorized when they should really treat it as a language to be interacted with.
The emphasis is placed on the memorization of rules rather than competency in expressing thoughts or ideas. |
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RACETRAITOR
Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul, South Korea
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| Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 9:33 pm Post subject: |
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Okay, first impression is: what kind of shady academy allows a kid to take an exam with his mom supervising him?
Otherwise, this mom is obviously right on the ball about English education. It's an education in filling in circles, not learning English. |
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SPINOZA
Joined: 10 Jun 2005
Location: $eoul
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| Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 9:42 pm Post subject: |
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I've got a new Korean co-teacher and she cannot speak any English. Today, classes have been 40 minutes long as opposed to the usual 45. She couldn't remember the word for minutes.
Because I'm such a w@nker, especially on Mondays, I gave her some little tests to do. I love giving Koreans little tests. I asked her slowly, politely, simply to fix the brightness on the screen because it was too dark. I knew fully how to do it myself, but I wanted her to do it, to see if she understood simple instructions in English.
Didn't have a clue. |
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jdog2050
Joined: 17 Dec 2006
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| Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 9:45 pm Post subject: |
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| Santiago wrote: |
I agree that the problem with English in Korea is not necessarily the people (meaning teachers and students) but the instruction they receive and the standards they are held to.
It seems to me that in Korea they treat English as just another school subject to be memorized when they should really treat it as a language to be interacted with.
The emphasis is placed on the memorization of rules rather than competency in expressing thoughts or ideas. |
I think we had this discussion with the whole "kids who yell hello to me randomly" thread from a week or so back. English isn't taken seriously because we aren't real people to them.
And if you think things are improving--I'm in the english program that the Seoul Edu-ministry supports, and there was this big meeting for Seocho teachers last week. They wanted our "opinions" on their big plans...basically, to build a bunch of crap like English cafe/libraries, "cultural centers", english parks, etc. Mind you, they want to do all this BS while acknowledging that things like English Villages are unmitigated failures.
I actually went up to one of the planners and flat out told him it was a waste of money. As long as english speaking is taught as though english speakers live in a zoo, only to be spoken to whilst ordering hot dogs or getting packages delivered. |
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jdog2050
Joined: 17 Dec 2006
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| Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 9:46 pm Post subject: |
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| jdog2050 wrote: |
| Santiago wrote: |
I agree that the problem with English in Korea is not necessarily the people (meaning teachers and students) but the instruction they receive and the standards they are held to.
It seems to me that in Korea they treat English as just another school subject to be memorized when they should really treat it as a language to be interacted with.
The emphasis is placed on the memorization of rules rather than competency in expressing thoughts or ideas. |
I think we had this discussion with the whole "kids who yell hello to me randomly" thread from a week or so back. English isn't taken seriously because we aren't real people to them.
And if you think things are improving--I'm in the english program that the Seoul Edu-ministry supports, and there was this big meeting for Seocho teachers last week. They wanted our "opinions" on their big plans...basically, to build a bunch of crap like English cafe/libraries, "cultural centers", english parks, etc. Mind you, they want to do all this BS while acknowledging that things like English Villages are unmitigated failures.
I actually went up to one of the planners and flat out told him it was a waste of money, as long as english speaking is taught as though english speakers live in a zoo, only to be spoken to whilst ordering hot dogs or getting packages delivered. |
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normalcyispasse
Joined: 27 Oct 2006
Location: Yeosu until the end of February WOOOOOOOO
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| Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 10:52 pm Post subject: |
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| Who is this mom? I want to give her a hug. |
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Alyallen
Joined: 29 Mar 2004
Location: The 4th Greatest Place on Earth = Jeonju!!!
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| Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 11:06 pm Post subject: |
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| normalcyispasse wrote: |
| Who is this mom? I want to give her a hug. |
A mom who actually thinks instead of following the herd. I commend her. |
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Boodleheimer
Joined: 10 Mar 2006
Location: working undercover for the Man
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| Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 11:08 pm Post subject: |
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| normalcyispasse wrote: |
| Who is this mom? I want to give her a hug. |
it will be a group hug. i want in, too. |
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happeningthang
Joined: 26 Apr 2003
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| Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2007 12:07 am Post subject: |
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| SPINOZA wrote: |
I've got a new Korean co-teacher and she cannot speak any English. Today, classes have been 40 minutes long as opposed to the usual 45. She couldn't remember the word for minutes.
Because I'm such a w@nker, especially on Mondays, I gave her some little tests to do. I love giving Koreans little tests. I asked her slowly, politely, simply to fix the brightness on the screen because it was too dark. I knew fully how to do it myself, but I wanted her to do it, to see if she understood simple instructions in English.
Didn't have a clue. |
I know more than a few people with English as a first language, who wouldn't have a clue how to do that as well. |
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Roch
Joined: 24 Apr 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2007 2:18 am Post subject: |
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| itaewonguy wrote: |
| RETARDS! thats what I call it!! Korean teachers = a joke! |
Word!! |
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Roch
Joined: 24 Apr 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2007 2:19 am Post subject: |
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| Alyallen wrote: |
| normalcyispasse wrote: |
| Who is this mom? I want to give her a hug. |
A mom who actually thinks instead of following the herd. I commend her. |
Word!! |
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