Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Wrench]

My director was angry at me today because my 7 (6 in North America) year old children didn't memorize the following script after 4 days of practice (about 12 minutes each day).
I was told not to practice for 25 minutes because the kids got bored and complained to their parents. (Last open day I was forced to practice 25 minutes a day for 2 weeks)

This is the script.. (Passenger = kids) I didn't write this script.

Ticket Sales: May I help you?
Passenger: I need a ticket to America, please.
Ticket Sales: That will be $2000.
Do you have any bags?
Passenger: Yes, I have 2 bags. Here you are.
Ticket Salesperson: Thank you, have a safe trip.
Attendant: Ticket please.
Passenger: Here you are.
Attendant: Follow me.
This is your seat.
Have a safe trip.
Passenger: Thank you.
Pilot: This is your Pilot speaking.
Please fasten your seat belts and prepare for take off. Have a safe trip.
Attendant: Would you like any coffee, tea or juice?
Passenger: Yes, juice please.
Attendant: Would you like chicken or fish for dinner?
Passenger: I��ll have the fish.
Attendant: Here you are. Enjoy your meal.
Passenger: Thank you.

The director said that its not the kids fault but my fault that they didn't learn this.

Is it my fault?

[Paji eh Wong]

Having 6 year olds memorize a dialouge about buying airline tickets is, in clinical terms, retarded.

Ipso facto, I think it's your bosses fault.

[diablo3]

Sounds like a catch 22 where you lose either way.

How many students did not learn the script? If only one didn't, then it is definitely not your fault because the other students learnt with an equal chance.

If the majority did not learn, then it means the kids are not interested, and another approach is needed. After all, you were told not to overteach that specific script.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

And it's a four-person script on top of that - pretty well impossible to practice with first graders.

Why not suggest that a Korean get them to memorise it and you'll just work on the pronounciation?

[The Chewbacca Defense]

Look there is a very simple way to solve this problem.

1) Go to your local fish-mongers.

2) Buy a fairly large fish.....i dunno...maybe a yellow finned tuna...that's what I usually use.

3) Take it to work.

4) Have a meeting with your boss.

5) Take fish out of newspaper/shopping bag

6) Smack him upside the head with it.

7) If he makes any more retarded statements, just buy a bigger fish.

I hope this helps.

Yes I am drunk!

[MixtecaMike]

Tell the director that as they are only 6 years old they aren't permited to fly unaccompanied. Tell him (or her) you can also do them a way better price than 2 grand, but you will have accompany them.

[Privateer]

Blame Culture - is this your hagwon?

The students are not to blame. According to the typical Korean classroom teaching model, the teacher's job is to impart knowledge and the students' job is to passively absorb it. The teacher is responsible for presenting their wisdom in clear comprehensible form and any teacher worth their salt has complete control over their students. Therefore failures in the students reflect failings in the teacher.

You may not believe in this teaching model but the boss believes it and the mothers believe it. **

The boss is never to blame. If anything actually looks like the boss' fault you should be willing, as a good employee, to pretend nothing is wrong or, if that's really impossible (and you can get really good at pretending), to shift blame to an employee. There may be times when you have to assume the blame yourself. Disloyalty means you will soon be an ex-employee. Did the boss choose the materials? Then they are not to blame.

The mothers are never to blame. They have each produced a very special child with unique needs and/or abilities, they have honoured your hagwon with their trust, and you have a commensurate responsibility. Catering to their irrational and self- and mutually contradictory demands is just part of being a good teacher.

Someone is to blame. You may feel that pleasing all the students, and all the mothers, and the boss, all of the time, is an impossible goal, but this does not mean you escape blame. Even if the impossible is achieved and everything is running smoothly, it is considered good practice for the boss to yell at their employees from time to time just to keep them on their toes. An excuse to hand out blame will be found.

So someone is to blame and if you don't want it to be you there is only one way out. You must find a way to shift it to a fellow teacher or a member of the admin. staff. They're all busy doing the same thing of course, which is why so many hagwons are such congenial places to work in.

** Actually I don't really believe this. Students are easy to manipulate. If they are happy, the mothers are happy, which makes the boss happy, and when the boss says something ridiculous, just smile, nod, and carry on as normal. In other words humour the boss like the big spoilt brat he (mostly he's innit) usually is.

[Wrench]

This open day thing is a turning out to be a hellish day. 95% of the kids didn't learn the script. I have 67 kids, more then 60% have never taken any English before.

I have a sneaking suspicion that my director is a monktard.


Edit

My director is a Female. She has no children of her own. She is a spinster because she is over the magical 30 marker. She also has never taught a single day in her life. Oh and she doesn't speak English either.

[ddeubel]

This is really hilarious and I have the perfect solution (well maybe not solution)....

Tell (politely but don't ask) the director that he has 2 days to memorize the dialogue. If he doesn't succeed you get a raise and no more BS. If he succeeds, you will kiss ass.......

Make the deal over soju.

Good luck, bet you win!

DD

[The Chewbacca Defense]

All good advice....I still say though get yourself a nice big fish.....

[jajdude]

Wow,

And they had an SBS show about us "immoral" people.

That is stupidity. And darn if I haven't seen a bit of similar crap thrown in my face.

Open classes

I got fired because I refused to do one. And I will be fired again if anyone ever asks me to do one.

[joe_doufu]

Can't believe nobody has suggested this:
MAKE IT A MUSICAL.

If Britney Spears sang it, I could get six year olds to memorize the Declaration of Independence. Time for you to get out the xylophone and set this thing to music.

[plattwaz]

Isn't it ALWAYS the foreign teacher's fault?

Anyway, if you're looking for advice on how to get the kids to learn it quickly, I say Joe has some good words of wisdom...my students (Korean 5) can't remember "It's sunny today" but they can sing 3 verse English songs at the top of their lungs with perfect pronunciation, not miss a beat, and even take different "roles" in the song (boys sing daddy's part, etc).

If you have access to Tiny Talk, the cassettes all have a "Now it's your turn" part, that just has the music, with no lyrics...you could find a longer song, and put your script into that music, and the kids might remember it a bit better.

But then again, is your director REALLY that uptight about the whole script being perfectly memorized? I mean, does each student ACTUALLY have to order the "juice" from the flight attendant? If they understand the question, it should be not only reasonable, but encouraged, for the student to choose any beverage they know the name of, and order water, milk, cola, coffee or green tea as they choose. Again, as the majority of what the the students are doing in this role are simple requests and thank yous, there are various "prompts" that you can use to remind them.

You could print up dozens of small (pocket sized) flash cards that look like suitcases - each student randomly has 1, 2, 3 or 15 cards. When asked if they have any bags, the airline attendant can trigger a prompt by pointing to them (the "bags"). It's much more impressive if the student can say, "Yes, I have 4" and manage to get the correct number, than it is for every student to say "yes I have 2 bags." -- It would help you and your students look better, and maybe teach your idiotic director to leave you alone???

In fact, the same could be done with the request for juice and fish -- food and drink flash cards, and when the airline attendant is asking what the passenger wants, it triggers a response from the students much easier if they have a picture of a fish, some spaghetti, chicken, etc.

I'm sure the students are perfectly capable of having this "conversation" -- if only it wasn't all so abstract to them.

Just trying to help............GOOD LUCK.

[some waygug-in]

Your director needs to hear this message.


http://www.geocities.com/slphell/index2.html

Ask her to turn up the volume on the computer and listen to the introduction to this site. Just click and listen, then hit the refresh button to hear it again, and again, and again.

Repeat several thousand times until the desired effect is achieved.

[captain kirk]

How about wrestling with a live octopus you pitched at his (or her) head. Directors love that. And if it's small enough they'll try to cram the entire thing into their mouths while you stand by with kochu sauce. So get a big, lively one instead. Then watch them try to answer the phone.