Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Cherry Ripe]

Sometimes I wonder what Koreans really mean when they ask for 'free talking'. I think what it translates to is: "Stuff we do with a native speaker that is not related in any way to what the Korean English teachers teach us. We particularly don't want straight grammar." In any case it's a bit of a misnomer, firstly because talking in English to a native speaker usually isn't 'free' in any sense of the word ( ). Unless the Korean students are really good they will not be able to converse 'freely' - at middle school level they will be able to string together a few words to make simple sentences - if you're lucky! One suggestion: I'd bring in some pictures and get them talking about what they can see, what the people are doing etc. From that you can get the students into pairs; one student dictates, the other draws etc. I guess it's a matter of starting with a lot of support from you and gradually working their way to greater independence...

[Toby]

I have 45 minutes with 35 middle school girls.

I use photocopied sheets from Writing To Learn and also Exploring English. If you are a good teacher you can pad it out easily for 45 minutes, let alone 20....

[jajdude]

I think "free talking" is a way of saying,

"We are sick of the usual book stuff. We can read but cannot speak. Please perform magic."

[Ya-ta Boy]

I agree that free talking is not going to work.

Consider dialogs. Get dialogs for all sorts of situations: shopping, asking for favors, giving excuses, etc.

1. Hand out copies.
2. Do any vocab or pronunciation work with the whole class.
3. Practice in pairs.
4. Have a few pairs perform with their copies while you correct pronunciation, intonation.
5. Finish the 20 min. having pairs perform from memory.

[jajdude]