Korean Job Discussion Forums

[shl82]

Hey guys. I have never taught Ajjumma( house wives) English.
Can you guys please share your experiences with this age group.
So far I have had diverse teaching experience except the house wives group. Is it any different. Also, my class is going to be a group lesson less than 8 people, but they might be at different level too. What kind of strategies and advice can you share with a first timer. Thank you all to those who reply.

[Xuanzang]

Depends on their level. You might just want to teach situational English or simple expressions.

[moosehead]

are you m or f?

it's not hard if you are f - just make small talk until you get to know each other; talk about childraising, schools, yourself, ask them if they've ever traveled, if so where, etc.

if you are m - it might be a little more difficult but basically the same thing - they want to learn E better to help their children probably - so don't get into anything too advanced too soon.

for writing practice I used customer service complaint letters, ltrs to the editor, ltrs to govt officials, those kinds of subjects as they can be done in a few paragraphs, cover a broad range and are age appropriate.

it can be fun if you let it.

[Chris_Dixon]

even easier if your male lol...they love to talk to men....walk in the park man, just pick a situation and get them to give you ideas for conversation,....have some conversation questions and go from there....talk alot about your own country and differences in culture...take some pictures in of cultural things, eg a fleamarket, bbq, ....and see if they can get it.

[ajuma]

If your school has the facilites, you may try some cooking lessons! Easy (for us!) things like spaghetti, cookies, mac and cheese. Then THEY can come up with things to teach YOU!

I absolutely LOVED the ajuma class that I taught. We went places on weekends, went shopping together, had dinner/lunch together...it was great! Granted, it was a high-level class and we did some in-class things, but (with the permission of my school) we went out and did things.

If they're low-level students, you might think about finding a few elementary, MS or HS text books and use them if they have kids in school. It'll make them feel that they're helping their kids.

[waynehead]

Ugh. Good luck. My PS made me do mom classes last year, and tho they weren't the worst teaching experience I've ever had, they were near the bottom.

I found that they weren't so much there to learn as to socialize, and english was just an excuse for their clique to get together. Eventually they kept wanting to take me out to dinner or for coffee or something, and it was hard to keep ducking their invitations (I'm male btw).

Smile a lot and KISS (keep it simple, stupid).

[sojusucks]

I had a teacher ask me to help her with her English. Not a bad experience. This individual wanted to learn.

Most adults only want fun without work. If that is the case, teach vocabulary related to something in real life and then go do it, such as buying ice cream. That seems to work better than an actual class with a proven methodology in this country, but that is another story (people trained in teaching often complain about this in South Korea and it may explain the low education ranking of this country internationally: http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200805/200805160015.html).

[poet13]

I have taught maybe 5 20 week ajjuma classes. They were very interested, had great attitudes, tried very hard, and learned almost nothing.

[ajuma]

[I'm no Picasso]

My mothers class is one of my favorite parts of my week. Everything everyone here has said is true, except I tried suggesting dumping the book and a few of my mothers objected -- they're a little nervous and shy and keeping the book around makes them feel more comfortable and as if they are really working toward something. So now I just try to keep a good mix of conversation and bring in other things to add to the book. We'll use the chapter to go over vocabulary and grammar and then spin off from there using the subject to generate conversation.

The best thing about ajjumma classes? No need to spend half the class trying to get people to sit down, put their slippers back on, stop singing/dancing or hitting other people. In most cases, anyway.

[losing_touch]