Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Marcilla]

yo d00ds, I have to set up some sort of one hour class once a week for students' mothers to come in and I guess practice English, but I'm kinda clueless as to what to do

Do you have any suggestions? As far as I know they don't know any significant amount of English, and I can't really speak Korean at all yet

Maybe they'll be kewl with spending an hour a week helping me learn to pronounce ��,��,��, etc correctly..

[Ya-ta Boy]

I think I read that you are teaching kindy. How about using some of the same activities you use with the kids...what's wrong with teaching them the same vocabulary, so they can 'help' their kid at home?

[Marcilla]

Won't they get offended when I bust out the beginners english sounds book though?

I think what I need is some way to make them feel like they're sophisticated individuals who're expanding their horizons without pwning them at english

[Ya-ta Boy]

Are you only teaching sounds--no words?

How about this? Look up a couple of Ice Breaking activities (here on Dave's) and do them. Have a short session of Ask the Teacher. Then ask the mothers what kind of lessons they want. Hour over.

[Hotpants]

I often hate giving such supplementary classes to adults who quite frankly will never improve their level.

My suggestions:
Tell them to bring something in to discuss.
eg, Get them to cook some food at home, bring it in, ask them to explain how to make it.
Get some songs - biblical songs or Art & Garfunkel/Beatles usually go down well for the less trendy set. Actually, you should find that just about any mother will be a fine pianist - see if they can play some tunes.
Ask them to describe their kids - can incorporate physical and character descriptions.
For intellectual types - download the elementary sections off www.breakingnewsenglish.com and get them into discussing topical issues.
If they are techny-savvy - get them involved in a community website or news production team.
Finally, you can get some readers or extracts from novels or English magazines to work through for comprehension.

[schwa]

They'll know more english than you expect -- kindy moms will have studied english for years & relatively recently. Their initial productive ability will likely be very small though.

I'd guess they want chat. They'll be curious about you -- invite questions. Speak clearly, simply, & repetitively. Check for understanding & gauge your speaking accordingly. Ask simple leading questions about family, everyday activities, shopping, clothes, food, etc. One question at a time -- ask any evident class leader first, then ask all the others the same question. Dont sweat grammar too much. Be happy, friendly, & easy. Announce in your first class there will be no homework (unless they specifically ask for it), no tests, & no stress. They'll love that.

Choose one broad theme per week (ask for their input in choosing). Handouts with multiple simple pictures are a great starting point -- they can bring what they know to talking about them. Overall, look at your goal more as coaxing out what they already know as opposed to trying to teach them tons of new stuff. Strive to be intuitive & keep it light.

Think of it less as classes than "sessions." Done right, you'll really enjoy them too.

[paperbag princess]

conversation strategies-- by david and peggy kehe is great for adults of varying degrees.

[antoniothegreat]

start off with an extended vocabulary of sexual terms. they wont even know the korean versions...

[jacl]

Mothers. They're worse than kindergarten. About 60% will quit in the beginning because they'll have absolutely no idea what you're saying. You'll get a lot of blank, expressionless stares, and it will eventually fade out because they have no interest whatsoever in learning English.

[tomato]

I have always wanted to start a class for the students' mommies,
but I've never had the courage.

It seems ironic to me that the Koreans pour thousands of dollars into the English school industry but never practice English.
What would you say about a culture which poured thousands of dollars into piano schools but never practiced at home?

The first thing I would do is ask them what they say most often to their children.
Then I would teach them the Korean equivalents.

"�̸� ��" might be the best starting point.

[CaptainConjunction]

I've had to teach these kinds of classes before. Usually I do two different things. Firstly, you have to give them some kind of conversation class because they claim that they don't want to do 'real' study. Then you have to make the second half of the class bookwork or they will quit because the class appears to have no substance. For each part I would recommend structuring it something like this:

Speaking Part:

Each lesson, give the class a particular topic and a task to complete based on that topic. For example, the topic might be 'husbands' and the task might be to write a love letter in English to their husband. This will be accompanied by much gossiping about whose husband is better/worse(which is what they really come to the class for). The following lesson you could move on to 'children' It's a good idea to let them know the topic for next lesson so they can bring in photos etc.

Bookwork Part:

You should give them a written conversation about the topic to practice and memorize. They can then present it in pairs. GIVE them the conversation, don't ask them to make it. Unless you have a really good class, they will just stare at you dumbly. At the beginning of the next class, give them a review quiz about the last lesson's conversation. They can fill in the blanks for some of the phrases from the conversation they practiced last time.

Hope this helps!

[jacl]

Yeah, it's a "standing on the head" teaching job. If you can impress them enough, could mean some bucks.

[Marcilla]

ah man, this is gonna be so terrible

I dunno what any of their english levels are, but I anticipate that they just know a few random useless words and have absolutely no ability to put together sentences or converse about anything

and of course, koreans never practice actual english listening comprehension.. it's always just listening to a few words, which are then translated into korean for them

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oh well, at least if the class goes horribly poorly then I'll take the whole hagwon down with me.. :*0

[jacl]

I wouldn't worry too much about it.

[Richard Krainium]

The classs will be popular if it's taught by a handsome young man!

That being said, try using an easy conversation book, pair work and assign homework such as write down what you practiced in English with your child last night.