Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Big_Bird]

Strolling around Itaewon or the Coex, one is often accosted by EFL students doing little homework projects which involve interacting with foreigners.

What's the rationale for doing this?

Do you do it? Why/why not?

What are the pros?

What are the cons?

It seems a good idea on the surface, and I know many teachers do this. I wondered about other teachers' views and experiences. Cheers.

[ED209]

Whoever is sending these students out could you at least tell them to buy me coffee for soaking up my ever valuable time.

[nomad-ish]

[philipjames]

It's the questions they ask that make me annoyed.

1. Do you think Kreans are kind?
2. Do you think Korean food is spicy?
3. In Korea we are kind to our families. In your country are people kind to their families?
etc.

And the atrocious written English on the forms they want you to check....

Annoying.

[reactionary]

makes sense for foreign students in another country.

an absolute joke here though.

can you imagine doing the same in america?

german 101 teacher: ok, your homework is to go to the zoo. if you see anyone who looks european, approach them and ask them questions in german.

i mean it's stupid. english speakers here are overwhelmingly soldiers or english teachers - that's not really a representative sample of the population so it's not going to truly indicate "what westerners think" about anything.

save it for when they study abroad.

[Atavistic]

I do not assign the interviews. I do answer them however, and so far they've always had "anyone else you want to say?"

I say AND WRITE "Please tell your teacher this is a horrible assignment. It goes against Korean social norms and makes most foreigners feel like monkeys in a zoo."

The last interview, I was with my boyfriend, and the middle school girl was with her mom. Her mom was mostly interviewing me. When I got to that sentence she looked very confused and my boyfriend translated what I'd said. The mom looked horrified, the daughter told me her Korean teacher had assigned it.

If teachers want to assign it then THEY (the teachers) should provide the foreigners.

[SeoulShakin]

When I was in Bangkok, just a few streets away from Khao San Road, I had a Thai student ask me to answer a similar questionnaire. I obliged, of course. But the questions she asked were the same ones the Korean students here asked, but of course had the country's name substituted.

[Big_Bird]

If you give your students this homework, but feel uncomfortable about answering my questions here, please feel free to pm me. I am very interested, and NOT judgemental.

[ddeubel]

No one here has addressed the rationale.

That being -- getting students to speak authentic English for a purpose. Also for students to view language as something incredibly useful/purposeful and not just for regurgitation or exam value.

I suggest those who are asked and are "put off", just hold their tongue and say politely, "Sorry, I"m busy".

I admire the teachers who do this and encourage this but with the caution that it should be age and level appropriate. Forcing a student who knows practically zero English to do this is just foolish. So is asking a younger student, often intimidated by adults.....

DD

[reactionary]

I understand the rationale and purpose. I just think the setting and characters (their homogeneous home country where most of the english-speaking population they see just finished teaching English for the day) are all entirely wrong.

Along with that, when a Korean talks to me in English on the street, it isn't at all natural. I know who I am talking to, and I speak to them the same way as I do to my students: as an English teacher to a Korean student. That means if someone asks me what my favorite food in Korea is, I don't say "fried pork cutlet," I say "don kas seu" because I know ahead of time they're going to give me a confused look if I say the former.

Or if someone asks my living situation, I will tell them I live in an "officetel." That's not really English, but I know my audience and it saves me from "teaching" during these encounters.

Completely unnatural.

[Atavistic]

Exactly. I understand the rationale and purpose, too, but I don't think it needs to be done with strangers.

My Spanish teacher used to bring in native speakers for us to interview. We could also get extra credit for visiting a Spanish church service, reading a newspaper article in Spanish, doing interviews, etc. BUT we were never forced to walk up to a random stranger to just speak Spanish.

When I was visiting a friend in Sweden, I went to her mother's remedial English class and spoke with them for some time. They weren't expecting me, so their questions were made up on the spot and interesting. It was a really organic talk.

If the teacher brought in foreigners for small group interviews (and not everyone in the group needs the same questions!) or said, "Look, a large group will be at X cafe at Y time, go interview them" then that would be another thing. The foreigners would have agreed to it.

Also, I've never seen students have a choice over the questions. Maybe they do, but really, a REAL conversation usually isn't so scripted.

[reactionary]

Well, I am not entirely against ADULTS approaching strangers to ask questions (middle school? yikes! Entirely inappropriate), but I think it should be done in a country where that language is spoken.

In America, often times most of the people interviewed tend to be senior citizens - which I think is mutually a great thing both for student and the elderly. The old folks are often lonely and happy to talk to someone and are less likely to be in a hurry to get somewhere.

When done in a foreign country, especially one like Korea, I think it's just a bizarro scavenger hunt more than anything else. I also think Atavistic and others are right by the very scripted, possibly teacher assigned, questions as being rather useless.

"Aha! A foreign book store! Maybe we will find English speakers there!"
"Yes! There's one! And he's talking to us!"
"Do you like kimchi? No? *scribble*"
"Do you think Korea is dynamic? No? *scrible*"
"OK finishee!"

[patongpanda]

I did this with students from Yala (troubled South of Thailand). They came to Patong (a hive of villainy) and were duly sent off to interview tourists.

It was a fantastic experience for them and I'm sure the tourists were interested to meet the students too.

They are not timeshare salesmen, if you don't want to talk to them just say no.

I know the questions are a bit dull: Do you like Thailand? Do you like food spicy? Do you like Thai lady? but that's what they come up with every time.

Also, it's the first time these students may have seen a white devil so maybe be nice to them?

[bacasper]

[Big_Bird]