Korean Job Discussion Forums

Auslegung · Joined: 14 Jan 2009 Location: MB, SC

After 8 months, I've come to the conclusion that Korean students are virtually incapable of improving in their English ability at any but the most paltry of paces. If all the languages of the world were laid out on a spectrum, I imagine English would be at the far left end, and Korean at the far right. They're too different in grammatical structure, vocabulary and pronunciation.

There are, of course, exceptions, but the only ones I've seen are those that have spent a significant amount of time, early in life, in an English-speaking country, or went to English kindergarten or international school. But even then, as soon as they stop that activity, their improvement nearly halts. My hagwon has levels from phonics to fluent, but those fluent students are usually foreign-born whose Korean is worse than their English.

Am I the only one seeing this? Is anyone else hopelessly unsatisfied at teaching students who think that Konglish is an acceptable language? Is anyone else borderline depressed because all your hours of work go in one ear and come out the other as jumbled, mixed-tensed sentences? And before I'm flamed for being insensitive, I don't blame the students. If there's blame to be placed, it's merely on the system.

On a related note, I don't know Korean very well but I'm beginning to get the feeling that it's too simple. I know Se Jong created it for easy acquisition, and I feel this has stunted it. Directly translating it to English, as you all know, makes people sound mentally challenged. This is the main reason I feel it's overly simple, yet I know that a direct translation isn't a good way to judge a language, that's why I ask what your opinions are.

cruisemonkey · Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 10:42 am Post subject:

King Sejong did not invent the Korean language, he invented the Hangul alphabet.

Olivencia · Joined: 08 Mar 2009

Hey no problem...it just pretty much guarantees the job market for "native English teachers" is always going to be there. Just go with the flow knowing that future generations (our kids, grandkids, etc) will be able to have this opportunity if they so desire for whatever reason(s) Smile

andrewchon · Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 12:49 pm Post subject:

Well, I don't think Korean kids can learn any other language, either. Nor did kids in my home country learn foreign language with any degree of success.
Exception was, as usual, the kids who went to Hebrew schools .
Anyway, I agree that the Korean nationalism does play a part in prevention of learning non-Korean language.
I often over-hear my students tell younger-ones "I told you not to speak English near me!" (in Korean, of course). This can be one of two things:
1. Pride in Korean language
2. Older kid embarrassed of not understanding what was said.
The latter kind of behavior is everywhere in Korea and is seen as patriotic thing and not as something that holds Korea back.
When ajosshi or hal-abeuji do it, they include threats of corporal punishment with it.
Students need motivation and a safe environment to study (amongst other things). Korean students are undermined of their study everyday.
Did the Jewish students get support they need to learn Hebrew? I think so.
So, OP, don't beat up yourself or Korean students about it. You are managing a team in American League that isn't New York Yankees.
Your team exists because Yankees need other teams to beat.

maingman · Joined: 26 Jan 2008 Location: left Korea

^^

Students need motivation and a safe environment to study (amongst other things). Confused

bassexpander · Joined: 13 Sep 2007 Location: Someplace you'd rather be.

Some of them really crack down and get serious in their latter university days. That's when you see the most gains (especially if they spend time overseas, of course).

I see it every year.

Meenam · Joined: 16 Sep 2009

I would say the biggest factor affecting the kids is that they have little to no opportunites to really use it. Yeah, they learn it in class and study from the time they are young, but only because they are forced to. The few I've seen who actually enjoy learning english, are usually the best at it. It's just like in the states with their junior high/high school language programs. You learn for a really long time, and you might be able to spout off a few sentences, but when it comes right down to it, if you actually went to the country of the language you were learning, you'd sink rather than swim. Not only that, as those people after a year or more of not using it how much they remember, bet those few sentences are down to one or two.
Also, for the record, korean is said to be the 2nd hardest language for english speakers to learn. I've been studying it for 7 years now, teach it now as well, and trust me it's no walk in the park. Alphabet, cake. Actually getting to a point where you can carry on a half-way decent conversation, at least 2 years spent in Korea using it on a daily basis. And even then, 1st graders will speak circles around you.

andrewchon · Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 4:06 pm Post subject:

I hope English is No 1 in your list of hard languages.

BoholDiver · Joined: 03 Oct 2009 Location: Canada

Agreed, English study stops outside the English classroom. Done well, homework is very helpful. A few hours after going home, it can work as a memory refresher. Most of the time, however, my students can be seen scribbling down their homework 5 minutes before class, and doing it at such a breakneck speed, it is sloppy and full of mistakes. Devoid of any effort at all.

CentralCali · Joined: 17 May 2007

You're confusing a societal problem with a linguistic issue. All natural languages are equal in difficulty; however, languages of the same language family are more similar than those from different language families.

The societal issue here is two-fold: 1) the motivation of the students to actually learn or even wish to use the target language. Given the institutionalized prejudice against all things and people "not Korean," it's kind of obvious how the percentage of students who don't care about English is rather large. 2) The method of education in this country doesn't seem to be productive for language learning. There is a lot to be said for rote memorization but learning vocabulary lists alone doesn't cut it for actual communication.

OculisOrbis · Joined: 17 Jul 2006

Fox · Joined: 04 Mar 2009

There is one and only one thing stopping Korean students from learning English quickly and effectively: a total lack of motivation. If they put effort into it, and supplemented their class studies with work done outside the classroom, they'd learn very quickly.

I have some students which remember their lessons fairly well and try to use them with me outside of class. I have others who have a hard enough time repeating a few words I spoke literally seconds ago. The difference between these students is interest level.

carpetdope · Joined: 13 Oct 2008

winterfall · Joined: 21 May 2009

I don't quite agree with that. I think its the learning model in place here. Sheer memorization doesn't work. Don't know if your schools are different. But, my students don't understand meanings. If you take words out of the context they learned em in. They just stare at you blankly.

Like 'Turn Up'

Turn up does not just mean turn up the heat.

You can also use it in turn up the volume. etc etc etc

Education needs a major overhaul here.

halfmanhalfbiscuit · Joined: 13 Oct 2007 Location: Seoul

They get mixed messages

1, Structured, passive rote-learning in Korean

2, No-curriculum, no assessment classes where they're suddenly expected to be active.

Add to this:

1, Konglish which they don't know is Konglish everywhere

2, Facetime with the foreigner who speaks a language they've never heard, with sounds that often don't correlate to Korean and will more than likely never use.

Add to this:

1, Isaac Durst

2, "Serious Teacher"

Cue wide-eyed gaze and bovine howl.