Korean Job Discussion Forums

[br_owen]

Ok - i'm a newbie with no teaching experience. I've had quite a few extra classes sprung on me, which is fine because i need the money, but I have just started a parents class (4 mothers) and i have no idea what to do with them. They are very limited speaking wise, but seem to understand a fair bit, and they have said they would prefer to have a conversational based lesson.

How do i fill 2 hours with 4 Korean mothers who speak very limited English. Please help!

Thanks in advance.

[yingwenlaoshi]

Ha, ha. I give it about T minus 10, 9, 8, ...

Seriously.

[br_owen]

i don't get it.

[Arthur Dent]

He means that adult classes are famous (read infamous) for lasting about as long as it takes to tie your shoes. There have been exceptions....

That being said:
Pick up a book on teaching adult conversation, there are many, the Jeremy Harmer (editor) book is probably a good one. There is one on teaching pronunciation too in that series. Find what you can use immediately, then work your way through the text gradually.

1) You can likely throw away what the school gave you to teach with.

2) Divide your class time into several time periods and stick to it. Design each section with a particular focus. i.e. pronunciation, eliminating bad habits you notice (very difficult, but at least make them aware of it), a particular grammar point, some modals (What do you have? I have a....) you can build some games around this, then have them practice.

3) Include a section where they have to practice dialogue. Role playing is good. Join in, then challenge them to act better. The goofier the better. Laughter is a great icebreaker.

4) Most challenging: Limit your talking time. Maximize theirs. Not easy here.

5) Include a cultural element, a fun idiom guessing game, and a practical language section. For this, ask them what they want to know how to say, spend a little time on it then move on. Make sure to leave time for casual conversation, no matter how stilted. You may have to spread this all out over four classes - keeps it interesting as well as gives them maximum exposure. Take a few minutes to ask about Korean culture, this is a familiar element for them so they will try harder to communicate.

6) After all this, you may find this one hard to swallow but; keep it simple - the language that is - and slow your speaking.

7) Limit stress, keep the atmosphere light, always smile, and bring a ton of patience.

Good Luck.

[Juregen]

[Faunaki]

Use The teacher's edition of A Conversation Book 1: English in Everyday Life. The book is simple, and basically teaches you how to do absolutely every single activity.

I've been teaching adults for a long time. Here's the basics:

1. vocab - pronunciation, match word to picture, practice using twenty questions, password.
2. Questionnarie - using the vocab students ask one another questions/do surveys. ex. What does your husband do?
3. Reading passage - practice reading out loud, answer questions about it together.
4. Writing - students use the above reading passage to create their own paragraph. When they finish they read their passage to each other or to the class.
5. Group discussion - talk about future trends/past trends of the vocab #1.
6. Homework - always give the vocab as homework for the next class so they can participate properly.

If you have a wide gap between mothers, get the highest level mother to translate into Korean things the low level moms don't understand. Be very patient and if students make a mistake in speaking, get them to repeat it until they say the sentence properly. Also provide dictionaries for them and if possible snacks or candies.

[br_owen]

thanks a lot guys - appreciate you all taking the time.

It's working out similar to how Juergen said with his. I pushed all the tables together and got coffee and stuff and just tried to make them feel comfortable. Now i'm having a steady increase of mothers each week, and they're even bringing in cookies!!

week 1: 4
week 2: 5
week 3: 6

They'll have to give me a bigger classroom soon!! haha

I'll definitely check out that book.

Thanks again

Ben

[Chris_Dixon]

[Chris_Dixon]

DAm didnt notice page 2 hehe, glad that its all going well mate