Korean Job Discussion Forums

[wanderkind]

I'm a big fan of game-ifying learning, as I find it keeps students engaged and helps lock in concepts.
(e.g. I came across Anomia the other day, I'm definitely going to make my own deck for Korean study, and try to track the real thing down for future English students)

But I'll hedge that by saying you need to feel out the students' preferences. Even among adults, in the same age group, 1 class might be really enthusiastic about games, while another thinks its immature or prefer book learnin'.

[Drew345]

I've noticed from studying Korean, and watching Koreans studying English together, that they typically spend 50-90% of time studying grammar, often just taking turns reading grammar-focused sentences from a textbook for hours on end. I'm not teaching now, but if I do again I really want to decrease any time I spend on grammar and up the conversation time (and reading / listening activities too). But I agree that conversion certainly needs a structured topic and target language to be more effective.
The OPs lesson plan outline looks great to me: bit of reading or listening followed by conversation with target language. I am not sure about the part of repeating the same questions two times, but if the results are good that way, then great.

[overq64]

It can be tempting to go the 'freetalking' route but I don't think it's necessary to do so. You can plan proper lessons and push through with them if you persevere and have some idea what you're doing. (many of those advocating freetalking do not have a clue IMHO).

A problem is perhaps the basic plan outlined in the OP is not great and will get old fast. You can still dust if off every so often but you need more variation.

In the end this is less work than freetalking for you and less mindnumbingly boring too. It is also much better for them. CELTA/TESOL methods WORK but are not easy to use in Korea. You may well get resistance from students and managers but if you persevere you will win through and your students will make real progress (unlike the students in your colleagues freetalking classes).

Koreans are scared of learning English and would rather have a non threatening situation rather than actually face a challenge. I sympathise but the teacher's job is to help them learn.

A large majority of people teaching English in South Korea are not serious about it at all and just take the money and run. (and pretty much all of the people employing them are just in it for the money).

But, in the end the OP should make the choice based on what kind of teacher they want to be. Don't let the students dictate to you.

I taught over 3 years in Korea - never went the freetalking route and my students respected me and were grateful for my efforts. I was also impressed by the effort they put in even when they found it difficult.

[hacheondo]

If you work at YBM adults, you'll be forced to follow their structure to the minute. If you don't follow the structure to the minute, you'll be in trouble and have to be observed again. YBM adults is the worst place I've ever worked for, and I've been teaching adults in Korea for over four years.

If you teach grammar indirectly, the students will enjoy it. The trick is to teach it without telling them you're teaching it.