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Mr. Ya-ta is frustrated. So is Ya-ta Teacher.
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Ya-ta Boy



Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994

PostPosted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 4:10 pm    Post subject: Mr. Ya-ta is frustrated. So is Ya-ta Teacher. Reply with quote

I try and try to get students to call me Mr. Boy. It's proper English. Only Miss Daisey can get away with using a title with her first name. I may be many things, but I am not an elderly Southern lady.

Alternatively, I am not Ya-ta Teacher. Or Teacher. I want to be Mr. Boy to the students and Ya-ta to the teachers.

Short of getting the correct form of address tattooed to my forehead, is there a fool-proof way of getting this majorly minor point of English across?

This came up this week because my co-teacher introduced me as Ya-ta Teacher and I corrected her. Then she came late to class the second day. The boys asked, "Where is girl teacher?" After straightening out girl/woman, I asked what her name is. No one knew. She hadn't told them her name. I know kids don't call teachers by their name, but I was startled that she hadn't even told them her name.

It's just a quirky littly thing, but it does annoy me when called Mr. Ya-ta or Ya-ta Teacher. I'm Mr. Boy!!!
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TheUrbanMyth



Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: Retired

PostPosted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 6:54 pm    Post subject: Re: Mr. Ya-ta is frustrated. So is Ya-ta Teacher. Reply with quote

Ya-ta Boy wrote:
I try and try to get students to call me Mr. Boy. It's proper English. Only Miss Daisey can get away with using a title with her first name. I may be many things, but I am not an elderly Southern lady.

Alternatively, I am not Ya-ta Teacher. Or Teacher. I want to be Mr. Boy to the students and Ya-ta to the teachers.

Short of getting the correct form of address tattooed to my forehead, is there a fool-proof way of getting this majorly minor point of English across?

This came up this week because my co-teacher introduced me as Ya-ta Teacher and I corrected her. Then she came late to class the second day. The boys asked, "Where is girl teacher?" After straightening out girl/woman, I asked what her name is. No one knew. She hadn't told them her name. I know kids don't call teachers by their name, but I was startled that she hadn't even told them her name.

It's just a quirky littly thing, but it does annoy me when called Mr. Ya-ta or Ya-ta Teacher. I'm Mr. Boy!!!


I have a similar problem. The majority of my students (excepting kindy and 1st grade) address me as Mr. Myth (and so do a couple of teachers). But the rest of the teachers address me or talk about me as "Urban sonsangnim" This wouldn't annoy me so much except that they also address me as "Urban teacher" when co-teaching a class. This makes a few students automatically follow their lead. I don't want to correct my co-workers in front of the students and make them "lose face", but it's hard getting them alone to have a word with them.

You might try putting your name "Mr Boy" on the blackboard every day, and getting the students to say it until it's drilled into them. Works well with older students.
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schwa



Joined: 18 Jan 2003
Location: Yap

PostPosted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 7:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm odd. I prefer just plain schwa from one & all, young or old, & no I dont believe it has any effect on due respect. Many who have known me for years dont even know my family name.
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Ya-ta Boy



Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994

PostPosted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 8:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I agree that it doesn't have anything to do with respect. I know they are just thinking Korean, speaking English. What I really want them to understand is that in English-speaking countries, the title goes with the family name only, or the full name. Clearing it up now will eliminate one potential embarrassing situation later.

It came up because it's the beginning of the semester. I just have to do more drilling, like Mr. Myth Teacher (^^) said. (As for the teachers, I don't think anything will help.)
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peppermint



Joined: 13 May 2003
Location: traversing the minefields of caddishness.

PostPosted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 8:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I let the kids call me Miss Pepperming, just because they'd butcher my family name if they had the chance. I'm pretty insistent on the Miss part though- I just ignore kids who call me by my first name.

As for the teachers- the new co teacher is good about it, since I took her aside before the first class and explained. Now, if I could just get the other teachers onside.
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Son Deureo!



Joined: 30 Apr 2003

PostPosted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 9:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I agree with you your students calling you "Teacher" is a bad habit, and you're right to try to put a stop to it. They are trying to show you respect, however, so I hope you don't get too bent out of shape about it.

Here's how I handle it (but keep in mind that I don't teach children). During the first lesson of each new class, I tell them my name, and explain that I prefer to be called Son. If I were teaching high school in the U.S., my students would call me Mr. Deureo!, and so can they, but this isn't high school so that isn't necessary. If they cannot remember my name, they may call me "sir", but that will make me feel old. The one name I do not ever want to be called is "Teacher". If they ever call me Teacher after that I gently remind them, "Please call me Son." It seems to work.
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Kyrei



Joined: 22 Jan 2003

PostPosted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 10:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Why is calling us "Teacher" a bad habit? How is that different from calling a professor in class, "Professor" when trying to get their attention. I know I have done it. I admit that the 'professor' is a title and 'teacher' is not, but I think that is a cultural peculiarity that we can let slide. And, along with Ya-ta Boy, I must agree we should make an effort to stop the Mr. (First name).

I'm lucky though, since I only have one name, they are forced to call me Mr. Kyrei or Professor Kyrei. Kyrei Professor, Kyrei Teacher, or any other is ignored. They get the point when I start deducting marks on essays and e-mails really quick.
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pet lover



Joined: 02 Jan 2004
Location: not in Seoul

PostPosted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 11:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It was announced in a teacher's meeting a couple months ago that the "Pet Teacher" and "Free Teacher" and also "Hyun teacher", etc. had to stop. We were all to insist on Miss or Mr. and then either our first or last names.

I'm assuming that is out the window as the boss himself introduced a new teacher to the students as "Lee Teacher".

I don't mind being called "Pet Teacher". But my favorite way to reply is, "Yes, Ye-Rim Student?"

For many students, I'm just happy that they address me at all. So many are so shy.
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ajuma



Joined: 18 Feb 2003
Location: Anywere but Seoul!!

PostPosted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 7:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

If I could just get them to call me "ma'am" instead of "sir" I'd be happy!!! Laughing
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huffdaddy



Joined: 25 Nov 2005

PostPosted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 9:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Son Deureo! wrote:
If I were teaching high school in the U.S., my students would call me Mr. Deureo!, and so can they, but this isn't high school so that isn't necessary. If they cannot remember my name, they may call me "sir", but that will make me feel old. The one name I do not ever want to be called is "Teacher". If they ever call me Teacher after that I gently remind them, "Please call me Son." It seems to work.


Exactly. I prefer Mr. Bates. If not, Master is acceptable.
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Son Deureo!



Joined: 30 Apr 2003

PostPosted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 5:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Kyrei wrote:
I admit that the 'professor' is a title and 'teacher' is not


And that is why calling a teacher "Teacher" is incorrect. It's not a title, and shouldn't be used as such.

In the English language, relatively few jobs come with titles, and our students should be taught that.
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Zark



Joined: 12 May 2003
Location: Phuket, Thailand: Look into my eyes . . .

PostPosted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 5:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This is not unusual to Korea. It is a common issue through out Asia - and even the Middle East.

I worked with Arab Ph.Ds (in English) in Saudi Arabia who called themselves Dr. Omar or Dr. Anwar - in spite of the fact that they had been educated in the States and were providing instruction to students who were going to the States for advanced educations.

It is quite possible as English internationalizes (is that a word?) that this use of the first name will become perfectly okay in ten years or so.

Frankly, I enjoy being called "Mr. Teddy"!
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OiGirl



Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Location: Hoke-y-gun

PostPosted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 6:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ya-ta Boy wrote:
What I really want them to understand is that in English-speaking countries, the title goes with the family name only, or the full name. Clearing it up now will eliminate one potential embarrassing situation later.

It's not just "Miss Daisy," but in the southern US, it's common to call women in a relatively lower postion of authority over children "Miss" ("Ms." -- it all sounds the same in the South!) + first name. It's appropriate for daycare teachers and the like, but I've never heard it for a teacher proper...maybe a teaching assistant with a hard-to-pronounce last name. The only kids who were ever allowed to call me that were in my Girl Scout troop.

I would not say that the title goes with the last name only, but for a proper teacher, it should be title + last name. Then again, are foreign teachers in Korea proper teachers, or more an a par with daycare workers and scout leaders?
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OiGirl



Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Location: Hoke-y-gun

PostPosted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 6:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

ajuma wrote:
If I could just get them to call me "ma'am" instead of "sir" I'd be happy!!! Laughing

I have found that when I very pointedly examine my own chest area and skirt, that they eventually get the picture.


Last edited by OiGirl on Sat Mar 11, 2006 6:49 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Dan The Chainsawman



Joined: 05 May 2005

PostPosted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 6:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I am still working on the saluting part. Some of these kids have never seen any WW2 movies at all! How hard is it to learn a Nazi Salute?
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