Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Eazy_E]

I'm wondering if any waygook teachers actually use their workplace to practice speaking Korean. Lately I've been really motivated to learn the language. I've been studying at home and doing the Sogang courses on the net. Also I chit chat with people around town and have some Korean friends.

But I don't find this same enthusiasm extending to the workplace. My hagwon is a mom & pop type business: Mr. Kim can communicate in English quite well, and Mrs. K can say very simple requests to me. Also my one Korean co-worker speaks English really well as a result of two years in London. Also they never expect me to understand something said in Korean, they try to accommodate in English.

I feel like if I start practicing Korean now, I will just elicit giggles or will perhaps just be telling them: 'your broken English is too difficult for me to understand, I'd rather try to speak Korean to you'. But maybe this is my one chance to get really good at the language because otherwise I have just the evenings and weekends.

Anyone try to practice Korean in their workplace?

[Mr. Pink]

I don't.

As a teacher I feel it would put a wedge in the teacher/student relationship if they laugh when I try to speak Korean to them.

Also part of conversational English is listening...

If I want to use Korean, for example with vocabulary, I will write it on the board/handout sheet.

[lush72]

I do, but I don't work at a teaching job.

[Eazy_E]

Yeah, I should have specified that I work at a hagwon for children. Also I know that if I HAD to speak Korean I would sure as sh*t know more than I do now. It's more out of interest now, and also I want to understand what's going on and not just be the dumb waygook who never has a clue.

[Homer]

Sure thing.

I speak Korean everyday with my Korean co-workers.
I also speak it on a daily basis with my nieces and in-laws.

[Squid]

Of course!
Don't some of your students become embarrassed when they fluff a line or mispronounce a word?
Use the time you have to the fullest and use whatever means available to you to get the material across to your students, and that includes using your own limited vocabulary to cajole and have fun with them.

Ask them for the Korean translation of words and phrases you're teaching them, it'll not only benefit you, but keep them interested and give them more of a sense of participation in the learning process.

The more we demystify the subject for them the more they'll learn, and the more willing they'll be to learn.

Have fun with it!

Squid.

[peppermint]

In the classroom I'll use a word here and there with low level students, and if we go out for coffee, I make it a point to order the drinks in Korean. I think students are more comfortable with a teacher who they can relate to, but then I teach adults.

My new co-workers are pretty suprised at my level of Korean,( which is far from stellar), mainly because the other foreigners at my school have made little or no effort to learn the language or integrate in any form.

[bibimbap]

i've never gone in for the notion that i am somehow better than my students; or that they should be learning and i shouldn't. at first, i made a very strict rule of the class-room as being an English-only zone. now that i'm trying to learn a bit of korean, i allow bits and pieces and speak a little myself. esp. if we're just having fun - or i'm trying to explain a difficult concept.

i think a major problem with teachers (everywhere - not just in korea) is that they're so busy teaching they forget how to learn. they close off their mind to learning new things and their brains slowly begin to shrivel until having an ADULT conversation with a teacher is about as interesting as talking to a grapefruit.

i demand respect from my students, but we can laugh at each other's mistakes.

[Mr. Pink]

[waggo]

I used to think it was ok to use Korean .It just seemed to make it easier to get them to do things...it was quicker to snap out a Korean phrase and get an immediete response.

Now i think as a teacher who is being paid to teach English to the kids you should only use English.That includes giving instructions...problems found in English only classes are only short term and once the students have learnt the instruction in english you get the same result.

Multi-lingual classes would be impossible otherwise!!!

However once Ive mastered Korean up to a level the staff arent going to get any English out of me.

[Corporal]

[desultude]

waggo

[riverboy]

I think that excessive Korean will lose base with the whole English concept. I do however, use Korean. Sometime for laughter, I tink that is imortant for a class. I also don't mind using classtime as an opportunity to learn a little Korean.
I discourage outright conversations, but if a kid understand a concept I will allow them to explain it to others. I spend a good deal of time in my classes looking up the meaning of new vocabulary with my students.
As far as the younger kids, sometimes, you need to speak to them in Korean.

[kangnamdragon]

[Eazy_E]

I don't know how you would enforce English-only on kids. I can only see that working with adults, and only on fairly advanced levels at that. Some kids get shoved into my classes without knowing to say as much as "hello". Pretty tough to force them to speak English with no knowledge of it. I think that having a teacher who can understand some things in Korean makes them feel more relaxed.