Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bithy75]

I've been teaching Korean adults in the USA and here in Korea for a total of about 2 years, and I think shyness is their biggest problem in learning English. They learn English for years and years, but are so absolutely afraid to use it. Of course, there are always a few people who are not afraid of making a mistake and they are much more successful because of it. However, it seems like the majority of people here are severely limited in their ability to learn because of their fear of speaking with native speakers. I really wish I knew of an effective way to help people overcome it. Encouragement and kindness doesn't even seem to help. Any thoughts?

[peppermint]

One thing that does help is to show them that you are trying to learn their language. If they think you understand where they are coming from, and won't laugh at them wehen they make a mistake they'll relax a little.

If they are absolute beginners teach them little jokes- things like "me too, me three" Understanding even a lame joke like that seems very empowering.

[the_beaver]

[TECO]

Read some of the 'Good Language Learner' studies. You can probably find info on them by doing a google.com search. Try to convince them to buy into the "10 Commandments" of the good language learner (Naimen, Rubin, Oxford, O'Malley, Chamot have written about learning strategies).

North East Asian students are well known for not being prepared to take risks in communicating. There are obviously cultural reasons for this - partly due to their beliefs of how students should behave in class and teacher/student relationships. They lack spontaneity and the whole idea of saving face is a huge factor.

I worked in Japan for several years and the passivity of the Japanese students almost drove me mental also! (laughing!).

Creating a relaxed classroom envirnment and being postiive and enthusiastic will go a long way.

[ajuma]

I agree with TECO. Creating a relaxed and informal classroom environment will help a lot! Really, my FAVORITE students to teach are the one's who have never had a native English teacher and are really shy and afraid. Getting them to forget their shyness (through games, jokes...anything!) is soul-satifying. I always tell them "You can do it!" And they can!

[Son Deureo!]

Interestingly, I am finding a similar barrier to learning Korean.

Koreans can be so brutal and/or condescending to people who speak their language less than perfectly that I find myself hesitant to use it when I don't need to, even though I'm studying it all the time.

I never had this problem with French or Spanish, though.

[Derrek]

The number one barrier is, in my opinion, the fact that this country would rather have a non-korean-speaking white boy like me than a bilingual and fluent korean-speaking gyopo (or korean speakers in general) teaching in the classroom.

Students have questions they want to ask, but can't if the speaker doesn't speak Korean. Asking questions and remembering the answer is a large part of learning. Too many questions go un-asked, and therefore, unanswered. Sure, there is the occasional (umm... uh... teacher... uhh...) student who will try to ask, but many more students just figure its not worth the effort.

When I studied German in University back home, the teacher had to be, as a requirement, bilingual in that language and mine. Duh. It's so obvious.

Do you think for a second that a Western school would hire a German who couldn't speak English to teach their German class? Heck no!

I might be out of a job if Korea "wised up" and starting hiring only bilingual people (ones who have a native English tongue).

The argument that some westerners make about how we should not put any Korean next to the vocabulary words is a total load of crap. At the lower levels, it's very important. This is how these foreigners rationalize their inadequacy in knowing Korean, and also rationalize that they are an uneducated teacher (uneducated in teaching, I must say).

I admit it -- I make money off of a backwards system even though I don't know Korean, and would likely be out of a job if Korea did what I thought should be done.

Koreans are SO OBSESSED with studying and school, hagwons, etc. Yet they waste a lot of time and energy studying English in the wrong ways. I'm definately not an expert in learning the right way, but I know enough to know that they could do things a lot more efficiently here!

[some waygug-in]

An interesting experience I'd like to share. I was teaching a class of junior high school students (boys) and was having trouble getting them to pay any attention to me or to even make an effort as far as learning was concerned. We were using a textbook that I thought was way too difficult for them, and they were totally uninterested in using it or anything else I would try to do.

So, just as an experiment, I took a bunch of the key vocabulary from the lesson and wrote out the Korean equivalents on the board. Not sentences, just 10 - 20 key words.

Suddenly they were interested and had the execise finished within 10 minutes!

What does this tell you?

Not that I think you should do this all the time, but once in a while it can be helpful.


As far as the shyness thing, just be patient, kind and friendly. It's really up to the student to decide when they are ready to start coming out of their shell. If they won't talk, just move on to another student. Don't stress them about it.

cheers

[jajdude]

It's nice to know some Korean and I think a bilingual teacher can do a better job. But maybe the kids just rely on the teacher's knowledge of Korean and won't even use English for simple things. They could be lazy and use Koreans words even when they know the English. We are hired as native speakers, not as speakers of Korean. If only bilingual teachers were getting these jobs I guess a lot of hagwons might close, or at least the majority of us would have to hit the road. A while ago we were using a book too hard and I could not explain things in Korean or translate much besides some vocabulary. I told the director how hard the material was. She suggested to continue using it and that the students have to learn the vocabulary themselves. But she was also teaching material too hard for her students in a class or two. The difference is that she could translate everything. Yet those kids in her class didn't learn more than the ones in mine since all they did was follow her translation! They still didn't understand the English! It's like watching an English movie but not understanding the English, just reading the Korean subtitles.

[chinook]

I think this isn't just a problem in Korea. I spent 10 years learning French in the Canadian educational system and never felt comfortable using it.
Some of the problems I had might have been solved by having a native speaker only at some point because it was when dealing with people speaking French at normal speed, not slowed down as the teachers did, and using slang etc that I couldn't cope.

[jajdude]

Certainly the language thing is everywhere, at least for anyone who has ever travelled, or otherwise met foreigners (like our students coping with us) . I'm monolingual anyway. Can't count my lousy inhibited Korean. Learning a new language? Wow. Seems like a large project to me. Include normal speed, slang, idioms... no wonder English is so tough. As an English speaker no doubt French, Spanish and other western languages are easier than these Asian languages.

[some waygug-in]