Korean Job Discussion Forums

Binch Lover · Joined: 25 Jul 2005

I've started teaching a lady who has been an English academy teacher for high school kids for over ten years. Her grammar is quite good due to preparing the students for the university exam. However, her speaking and listening are terrible. I mean really embarrassingly bad. I reckon this is due to a lack of practice and just teaching to the test through Korean.

The university entrance test is going to change soon so she wants to improve her speaking and listening skills. Can anyone recommend something suitable? Preferably something not too grammar based obviously.

I was thinking of Jazz English, but I'm not sure. Does anyone have any good ideas?

Also, she wants to be assigned lots of homework. What can I do in that regard?

iggyb · Joined: 29 Oct 2003

The first thing I'd check on is if I could find any online English language lab that she could use for free in her free time.

The U. Indiana has such a lab connected to the Korean language series Integrated Korean.
http://languagelab.bh.indiana.edu/korean101.html
If I found a set up like that, that would be the book I'd use.

Moldy Rutabaga · Joined: 01 Jul 2003 Location: Ansan, Korea

I've had good luck teaching adult conversation with Interchange 3, as it has practical situations such as fixing things, talking about your job, marriage, etc., and isn't too grammar-heavy.

Your student wants homework. I think that is part of the problem in that she can only understand learning conversational English as something you learn from a book. If she insists on homework, try some online labs as the previous poster suggested, or assign her a conversation partner, or perhaps some Youtube videos or English movies where the English isn't too difficult or there are subtitles. She needs to train her ear and voice, not her eyes.

Ken:>

Binch Lover · Joined: 25 Jul 2005

Thanks a lot for the advice. I'll check out Interchange 3. I've seen it but never used it (I don't have that much experience teaching adults).

I completely agree with Moldy Rutabaga. What I already suggested to her was to join an English conversation group with other Koreans. We'll see if that works.

iggyb · Joined: 29 Oct 2003

On homework, she can keep a journal where she imagines conversations between people and writes them out and gives the journal to you periodically to check.

She can also look for movie scrips and contemporary plays online and read them for the dialog.