Korean Job Discussion Forums

[NohopeSeriously]

There has been a handful of members here who said that my grammar sucks. One bombarded me with a borderline trollish insult today. I don't think my grammar sucks. I think I use a rather different way of expressing things that everybody could comprehend. They're not too different from the generic English speakers. I may born in Korea but I lived in the USA and Canada for 75% of my life. My first words were in English. I've thought English is my first language of my whole life. There were several times that I had to learn other languages and temporary ditch English.

Should I give up becoming a NET because of my poor grammar and a harsh decision made by few people about me? Or should I become an epic loser in the English-teaching scene?

This long-term insecurity from this peer pressure is unpleasant, I should say.

[northway]

Honest answer: you don't necessarily need perfect grammar to be an NET (depending on what level you're teaching), but if the above is representative of how you usually write, your written grammar is pretty bad.

[some waygug-in]

Don't let others get you down. My grammar sucked too when I first went to Korea. Not sure that it has improved much, esp. now that I quit teaching and am back in Canada, but I found lots of useful grammar books and resources to help me while I was there.

If a student stumps you with some grammar point, don't sweat it.

Just tell them to wait till next class and you will bring them the explanation.

You can then look it up in your Grammar in Use - Murphy or one of the many other good grammar resources available to you. Study it up and then think about ways of presenting it to your students that will make sense to them.

As for the grammar nazis on this board, don't get too offended by them.
If they offer sound advice take it, if they are just trying to insult you..

Well then you know that they aren't worth paying attention to.

Enjoy your time in Korea and don't let a few boneheads ruin it for you.

Cheers

[NohopeSeriously]

[Zanniati]

[NohopeSeriously]

[northway]

[jonpurdy]

[northway]

[iggyb]

Just don't go to a Korean high school.

I got my MA in teaching in a department in the US with several profs who were "anti-grammar". They drilled it into our heads that focusing overtly on grammar is a terrible way to teach literature and writing and other aspects of English language arts in secondary schools. The vast majority of us already agreed with them. Focusing on actually writing and reading will do wonders for improving grammar instead of a largely wasted time and effort in teaching grammar rules.

If you read around in TESOL books and journals, you'll also read about studies that have found a primary focus on grammar rules is an inefficient use of classroom time. Students learn the use of the language faster through other means, and by learning, I also mean they get better at making fewer mistakes.

Korean secondary teachers do not buy this at all. Many elementary teachers don't.

But high school, where they are obsessed with the Korean SAT, is where you'd get into trouble making frequent grammar mistakes. The Korean teachers and many of the students would decide you didn't know "real" English well enough or were a horrible teacher.

In elementary school, not so much.

[litebear]

[yoja]

Well, you probably (hopefully) won't be able to get a job teaching SAT test prep, editing anything, or essay writing, but if you're just teaching kindergarten or lower-level elementary school students, you'll probably be fine.

But honestly, just quickly reading through your first post, I would not have guessed that you are a native English speaker. Too many basic mistakes.

How's your reading comprehension? You may want to look for a job that emphasizes speaking or reading comprehension skills instead of writing.

There's a whole big range of opportunities out there. Find one that is a good fit with your particular skills and don't worry so much about feeling like an epic loser.
(BTW +2 points for not spelling it 'looser' like so many native speakers do)

[PatrickGHBusan]

Some people should learn to differentiate between a CASUAL online discussion board and a more FORMAL educational setting when judging a persons' grammar and spelling.

[yoja]

[PatrickGHBusan]