Korean Job Discussion Forums

[joe_doufu]

Does anybody use the almost-free-talking textbook Teen Talk (1 or 2)? I'm going to try them with my teenagers starting next week. How do you use them? Just read and ask the questions? What about the "sample opinions" section? And when do you use the "Dialogues" in the back of the book... with each chapter, or after the end?

[Hyalucent]

I was teaching students twice a week from that book. The first day we'd do the reading and answer the questions together. For homework, using the opinions in the book as guides, I'd get them to do a short writing exercise of their own opinion for the second class.

I tended to skip the "my dad's a drunk" portion of the book. I also avoided the chapter on dating which has the main speaker endorsing promiscuity.

I was teaching it to advanced grade 6'ers and moderately advanced 1st-year middle school students.

[joe_doufu]

[mindmetoo]

[I_Am_Wrong]

Yeah, those books are absolute crap and the ugly dude that writes them is a moron.

[Hyalucent]

I don't really remember dialogues in the version I had... I certainly didn't teach them.

And when the hagwon made their own illegal copies of the book to sell the kids (bindings and everything), there were no dialogues included.

The reading/questions/opinions took up two classes quite fully, and since the hagwon always started getting antsy to change text books every three months, we seldom got to do all the units anyway.

[Kimchieluver]

I have to teach "Teen Talk 1" to 6th graders. It's a pain in the ass and only a few students have a clue what's going on. What a way to ruin a day.

[Hyalucent]

Y'know. It was that book that made me want to get into the textbook publishing business, and hearing that so many people are using that pathetic text only makes me reconsider it.

I suspended the project when my publisher decided he only wanted to print conversation books (ie. script memorization) for adults-- basically drop it in the Kyopobookstore and see if it sells. That hardly sounded like much of a marketing push, so I stopped work on it. The money is in hagwons, with repeat sales, class after class. But my publisher didn't want to market to hagwons, basically acting like it was beneath him to sell books anywhere other than the Kyopobookstore.

I ended up doing a local community magazine back here instead and it kept me far too busy to complete the first textbook. It's half done though and sitting on my hard drive...

Hmmm.....

[Hans Blix]

[Hyalucent]

... I'm just trying to remember the name of the conversation book that had characters such as "Anita Lay" in it now...

[joe_doufu]

Why don't you guys like the book? I used another book in the series (Express Yourself 1) with my adult class and they loved it. I chose Teen Talk 1 because it's easier than the english level of my teen students, so I think it will encourage them to talk about the subjects. They're guided free-talking textbooks and I think they'll go over very well.

[Hyalucent]

Express Yourself would be suitable for adults.
My main problem with Teen Talk is that the material is not suitable for children. I find the talk of promiscuity and drugs to be completely uncalled for... and much of the tone of the book is rather preachy if you ask me.

Depending on the age level, Express Yourself could be better... but also: I was forced to teach it to low level middle schoolers in classes of about 30 students each. It went over like a lead Messerschmitt.

[joe_doufu]

I must say, I admire the author for being so brave as to put his ugly face on the book cover.

[Hans Blix]

[joe_doufu]