Korean Job Discussion Forums

[le-paul]

Ill ty and keep this concise...
I work for jungchul. Im teaching middle school conversation classes. They told me to do what I want in my class but are willing to buy a book for me.

Levels are mixed. Ive exhausted my own ideas and 2 'Jazz' books (which were reasonable books).
Im now looking for any ideas for books which people have used for conversation (lower level) classes and have found to be good/useful etc.

Thanks

[discostu333]

Sounds like you're in the same situation as me, and in fact every other person I know who teaches or has taught middle school has been told to 'get on with it'. I've been looking for a good conversation textbook for 3 months and have yet to find one that satisfies Korean middle school level.

I've tried using a number of books I got the school to buy for me;

Top Notch - Was ok for a bit, then the teachers told me there was too much grammar and not enough conversation activities in it (they are right).

Jazz English - Way too hard for most of my kids, despite having Korean translations of most terms.

Talk It Up (Pagoda) - Really poor book, hardly any speaking activities and very basic grammar. Kids hated it.

Tried a couple of other Korean published books that I found at the local ESL bookstore. They're either way too hard (uni level) or pretty dull with silly conversation models and boring activities. I refuse to give up though. Surely someone on here will have a good recommendation?

[Who's Your Daddy?]

I use a book called Start-Up English, published by Wit&Wisdom. It seems to be a Pagoda book, but it's the right level and content for middle schoolers:

http://english.gmarket.co.kr/challenge/neo_goods/goods.asp?goodscode=170541049&pos_shop_cd=EN&pos_class_cd=90000001&pos_class_kind=T

[Fishead soup]

I use powerpoints I downloaded from this site
http://eflclassroom.com

The powerpoints are from Side by Side. They are under Instructional Powerpoints. You will have to become a member which is well worth the time.The level is perfect for Middle school students. The site also has various powerpoint games such as Baam, Jeopardy, Fling the Teacher, What's the Wordle. Plus lots of great Kareoke material

One of the reasons I like working with the powerpoints is that textbooks get lost, stolen, foregotten at home. Or in some cases students claim to be too poor to buy them.

[antoniothegreat]

I have used Reading Pro by Happy House. It can be used for various levels, there are three levels of books. Each book has something like 16 reading passages, as it is a reading book, but of course any slightly creative teacher can turn those into a discussion topic. I has basic questions and vocab and workbooks for all the different types of activities you want to do. Give it a try.

[le-paul]

thanks for the suggestions. Ill go to kyobo and check them out.

[detourne_me]

Side By Side
Expressways
Smart Choice

Side By Side and Expressways are made by the same people and I think they are excellent for conversation dialogs.
Not too deep and simple grammar, that is easily explained.
Smart Choice is a bit more in-depth, but not as cut-and-dry as the SBS books.