Korean Job Discussion Forums

[myenglishisno]

I like most of my 50-odd students. Actually, there are only two that I don't like and of that two it's just one that really bugs me.

Anyway, I have two students that insisted on coming in at the middle of the day. I work a split shift so it's horribly annoying to go home at 11:00am and then have to come back for one 2:00pm class because the students paid a lot of extra money to my boss in order to make it possible (I work at one of the only adult hagwons around).

Both students are housewives who've never held down a job before. Their husbands or rolling in it so every class I get to see pictures of fancy restaurants on their phones that cost 300,000W per plate or some such amount.

It is a freetalking class and I am pretty strict about freetalking classes in order to make them useful, so I always throw up their mistakes on the board when they make one and if they have difficulty with grammar or vocab then I throw that up too. I usually explain it until both students understand, have them practice before returning to the text or have them practice at the end depending on how big the grammar point is.

However, when I try to explain something to them in the class that I know they don't understand, one student puts her hand in my face and says "yes, yes, I got it" wanting to move on despite neither student really understanding (I have no freaking clue how they got this far with English).

It always feels like they're talking down to me and using me for my language without respecting me as a teacher. If they weren't twice my age I would have put my foot down awhile ago but I feel like I'm walking on broken class as it is so I'm just going to vent here. My boss is not understanding to venting to him would be pointless.

Everytime we talk about some kind of social issue (comes up a lot in freetalking), they always seem to take the side that I'd expect an ardent Nazi to take had one been in the class.

For example: rich people are better people than the poor, looks and money are more important than anything (especially in a marriage), everyone should have plastic surgery, Korean _______ is always better than Western _______ and most insultingly, Korean girls are "high" and Westerners are "low" so they implied I didn't deserve to have a Korean girlfriend.

I try to get them as far away from those kinds of topics as possible but they keep gravitating towards them on their own.

</vent>

Any suggestions for dealing with them?

[Zyzyfer]

Pretty much everything you posted about is not really within your bounds to concern yourself with. Aw, your student is rich and thinks rich people are the bestest? Deal.

But the dismissal of your advice by the one student, that's an issue. You can either:

1) take note of corrections and set a designated time at the end of class to do a feedback session she won't care about
2) tell her to respect your authority as a teacher and get a complaint

May sound flippant but when you're dealing with an adult class of two, unless higher powers in the academy dictate the necessity of following a specific class structure, you tailor things just a bit to meet their needs...even if it kills you a little on the inside.

edit: That said, I'm all for vents.

[Feloria]

I've dealt with many situations similar to yours.
Basically, the old batalaxes are set in their ways, and from what you said, have a lot of pull with your boss.
Just do your best and put up with it; it's only an hour a day and you're getting paid whether they want to listen to you and improve, or not.
Good Luck!

[edwardcatflap]

[pkang0202]

Try your best OP. EVen if you are annoyed, try your best to be nice and courteous. They probably have negative opinions about foreigners to begin with, and anything you do to show your exasperation would only reinforce their stereotype.

How about having lessons outside of the Hagwon? If they have so much "pull" with the boss, then ask them if they would liek to have a lesson at a restaurant (on their dime). You can talk about food.

[myenglishisno]

[Stan Rogers]

You should maintain standards in your class. Tolerating rude behavior is not your job. You are the teacher and you are supposed to be in charge. If one or two dictator types want to control your class, suggest they change classes or get a private tutor. Tell them you are sorry that the class doesn't fit their expectations. Chances are they will simply stop attending and go elsewhere.

[myenglishisno]

[ThingsComeAround]

[Stan Rogers]

[YTMND]

[thegadfly]

They are rich, spoiled, and have a lot of pull with your director, and you think they don't like you? You got it all wrong -- they LOVE you, man! Seriously -- there is something about having you as a teacher that feeds a need in them.

I've had students that got off on upsetting and belittling their teachers...so I broke out my poker face. It isn't as fun to taunt someone who doesn't react. Think of them as oversized preschoolers that don't get enough attention at home, and so they act out when at school -- praise and respond to the positive things they do, generally ignore and minimize the negative things they do, and make them feel that their mighty winds do not touch you....

Either they'll quit taking lessons from you, since you "aren't any fun," or else they will actually grow to respect you to a certain degree. In my own experience, the former is a lot easier on the teacher -- the latter means that they will want even MORE classes with you....

[PigeonFart]

I understand your students position. I used to learn other foreign languages. I used to be in a high level discussion class. I just wanted to talk because i enjoyed it and didnt get many opportunities to speak to native speakers. Thankfully my converstation teachers rarely touched on grammar.

Maybe you are a Monoglot? If so, then that's why you don't know how enjoyable it is to have an interesting conversation in a foreign language.

If they've made it clear they don't want to learn grammar, and just want to talk, then forget about the grammar and just keep the conversation flowing.

I admit, it's late now and i didn't properly read your original post. So if they're being rude then fair enough. I'm tired so i'm just responding to what i think you said....you have a conversation class, and your students are rude when you try to teach them grammar. If i'm wrong, i appologise. I'm tired.

[myenglishisno]

No, they're not any more rude when I teach grammar. They're consistently rude in every way not to mention condescending and a wee bit racist (among many other things).

I do speak Korean at an intermediate level (whatever Seogang level 4 is) and while I'm not fluent, I do know what you're referring to. The problem is that conversation classes need structure or most students will just revert to what they already know and the class will be nothing more than "maintenance" whereby they never pass beyond their current level. I make corrections and teach them where they went wrong but do so in a way where it doesn't interrupt the flow of the conversation (I make notes and maintain eye contact).

Anyway, I see where you're coming from but these students are just nutters. After I wrote the original post I had a class with them where they flipped out on me because when they asked me if I had a religion and I said "no" (as they put it: "good teachers must be Christian! You need to go to church!" etc). THAT is what I have to listen to.

[Julius]