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How do you teach American culture?
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afsjesse



Joined: 23 Sep 2007
Location: Kickin' it in 'Kato town.
PostPosted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 5:39 pm    Post subject: How do you teach American culture? Reply with quote
So i'm supposed to teach "american culture" What exactly does this entail? I'm from the UP of Michigan and I dont think they want hear about how much Pasties are DA BOMB eh?! So anyone have any suggestions?
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VanIslander



Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
PostPosted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 5:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
with a coke and a smile Very Happy

and if that doesn't work then use guns, drugs and t.v. reality shows

(freedom, crime and freedom of expression... seriously)
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Jacquie



Joined: 11 Dec 2006
Location: Chungnam
PostPosted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 6:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
One thing to look at is American holidays and customs - halloween, thanksgiving, christmas, etc. The way they celebrate these thing here are totally different.

I have also taught about how we do funerals (sounds morbid - but it came up, because over chuseok many students went and visited the graves of their relatives).

You could also look at typical meals - breakfast, lunch, dinner...

These are cheesy, but pretty basic all over America. The everyday life of a student in america could work too - ie. no hagwan, but soccer practice, part time jobs, etc.

Again - cheesy...but perhaps more what they are looking for??
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Bibbitybop



Joined: 22 Feb 2006
Location: Seoul
PostPosted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 6:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Get high, get a fake degree, get a young Korean lady from Hongdae by malicious methods, get AIDS and you'll pretty much fit the bill of how Americans are portrayed in the Korean media. Plus, it's really fun to teach high and with AIDS.
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Ed Provencher



Joined: 15 Oct 2006
PostPosted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 7:08 pm    Post subject: Re: How do you teach American culture? Reply with quote
afsjesse wrote:
So i'm supposed to teach "american culture" What exactly does this entail? I'm from the UP of Michigan and I dont think they want hear about how much Pasties are DA BOMB eh?! So anyone have any suggestions?


Sounds like you have a really nice opportunity to share a bit of the west with your students. Slang is certainly something I'd include.

Depending on how many hours of class time you have, you could divide your time as Jacquie suggested. Holidays, food, geography, slang, daily life of a student, all these sound good to me. Use visual aids if you can get some, starting with Old Glory. Play the national anthem. Give them some basic statistics on things like gun related deaths, crime in general, and poverty to show that America has problems.

Try explaining to your students that, in America, a 4th grader can talk to a 6th grader the same way the 6th grader can talk to the 4th grader. I did that once and my Korean students' jaws all hit the floor.
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oskinny1



Joined: 10 Nov 2006
Location: Right behind you!
PostPosted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 7:29 pm    Post subject: Re: How do you teach American culture? Reply with quote
Ed Provencher wrote:
Use visual aids if you can get some, starting with Old Glory. Play the national anthem.


Be careful with this, don't look like you are trying to indoctrinate them. But you could try to explain what the flag means and the words to the anthem. I told mine about how the words to the SSB came about from someone watching a battle from the deck of an enemy ship. They were amazed and it lasted for an entire lesson.
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Easter Clark



Joined: 18 Nov 2007
Location: Hiding from Yie Eun-woong
PostPosted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 8:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
It depends on who your students are--adults? kids? That makes a big difference as you'll need to teach aspects of the culture that are interesting for the age group of your students.

I like the textbook "American Ways," which I think is available at any large bookstore here. However, it's quite advanced and is more for adult learners.

Maybe teach culture in a kind of chronological fashion--from birth til death. Make notes about anything that comes up along the way; like our attitudes towards having babies and how they're cared for; nursery schools, all kinds of schools, birthday parties, etc. Just brainstorming here...how we view the elderly, driving, how we define success, attitudes of bosses and employees, teenagers driving and problems caused by that or how a car affects one's social status in high school, teenage pregnancy, etc...
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Cornfed



Joined: 14 Mar 2008
PostPosted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 8:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Just tell them about fat women popping prozac and scarfing down bon-bons until their underpants don't fit while watching Orca and I imagine you're halfway there.
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cj1976



Joined: 26 Oct 2005
PostPosted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 8:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Try walking into the classroom uninvited, then start physically asserting your dominance over everyone. Take all their resources and tell them that you were simply doing it to help them. As an additional task, feed them all coke and hamburgers until the obesity ratio reaches 1 in 3. Then leave.
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Faunaki



Joined: 15 Jun 2007
PostPosted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 9:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
history channel, youtube, simpsons, and lastly buy a simple history book that has korean in it.
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Easter Clark



Joined: 18 Nov 2007
Location: Hiding from Yie Eun-woong
PostPosted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 9:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
cj1976 wrote:
Try walking into the classroom uninvited, then start physically asserting your dominance over everyone. Take all their resources and tell them that you were simply doing it to help them. As an additional task, feed them all coke and hamburgers until the obesity ratio reaches 1 in 3. Then leave.


Laughing Laughing Laughing

Brilliant! Why teach them about our culture when they can experience it firsthand?
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