Korean Job Discussion Forums

[crisdean]

Looks like there's a distinct possibility I'll be starting a teacher's class this semester for non-english teachers. I don't really have any experience with adults and I imagine it's considerably different from teaching kids and teenagers.

I've been at my school for about 8 months and very few teachers have made any attempt to talk with me to this point, so I'm thinking that the level of English probably isn't very high. I'm guessing the best way to go is select a conversation textbook and try and build lessons around it, anybody have recommendations for adult beginner-level conversation textbooks?

[Darkeru]

I'd hold off on the textbook until you meet the teachers. I'm teaching the same type of class and I both have a low number of students and of varying levels. None of the teachers talk to me, including those ones before the class started but one is near fluent, one is around elementary school level and the other two are inbetween.

[ThingsComeAround]

That's rough- I can understand your apprehension.

Sometimes you gotta approach them with a smile and annyeonghasaeyo

On the first day, don't get a book. Talk to them first, try to gauge their English level. Talk about yourself, ask them lots of questions, smile alot, get them comfortable. After that if you feel you need a book, then go get one- if not, then do some free talking.

But if you insist on getting a book, I have:
A Year In The Life Of An ESL Student *good for idioms*

Speak Out 잉크리싀 (my students requested we use it this time)

and my favorite Interchange
http://www.esl.net/interchange_third_edition.html

[Fishead soup]

I did this for two years in Pyeongteck at a teachers training Institute. Go out with them and get drunk try to wrestle with them for the bill. Otherwise you'll aways be the odd man out.

I found using Dear Ann Landers really worked they are really interested in things like plastic Surgery. Try to avoid topics that are critical of Korean culture.

Try to get them to talk about great Korean things go on field trips with them climb mountains and drink Dong Dong Ju. You would be surprised how many of them will lighten up when you take the teachers outside the classroom.

[Illysook]

I have a teacher's class each Monday before lunch. I get 1 to 4 teachers, so I sit them down and do my best to get a conversation going. It helps to have a handout. I borrow material from my favorite website that has an intro, a dialogue, and a few discussion questions. Last week, we started with that, discussed our favorite coffee shops and how we liked our coffee and then we moved on to food. That made us hungry and we headed down to the cafeteria. It seems that no matter what topic we start on, we always end up on food. Does this mean that I'm doing a good job?

[Junior]

[southernman]

I've just started a new one at my current school

I just turned up with a photocopied adults textbook and told the 4 teachers to choose one chapter each and they did.

They said it looked a bit hard but I said we'd take our time and I would explain all the hard sentences.

My main co-teacher sat in on our first class and said afterwards, "just treat them like our sixth grade students and play extra games and songs, they'll like that"

I have to send a detailed lesson plan to the Vice Principle and Principle but i think this is just to pass on to the MOE

[MalFSU1]

I made a semester lesson plan for my teachers class to give administration, but really we just meet in the English classroom and have coffee and fumble akwardly through a conversation. They seem to prefer this to a more formal class setting.