Korean Job Discussion Forums

[laogaiguk]

[Snowkr]

I'm a SHE not a he.

I will stand by my original post and while I did sign a contract, I am not "stuck" doing anything in Korea. I am here because I want to be and in spite of the age discrepency, I recognize how lucky I am to be in a good hogwon... a bit rigid maybe in rules regarding children, but effective nonetheless.

Laogaiguk, I wasn't really looking to gain your sympathy or pity. I think my point was made pretty clear several times. Sorry if you didn't get it...

Thanks again to all for the comments!

[Snowkr]

double post

[Homer]

And why do you give aggressors a pat on the back on such a frequent basis? You sound like a so-called "pacifist" who greatly admires the regimes of North Korea and Iran to the point of wanting to live there and wear their uniforms because they're, like, at least not the big bad Western capitalist machine, duuuuude.

Sorry if you think that I was giving agressors a pat on the back here barking. I was not.

I was just saying one of the posters in here had a valid point. Then the OP clarified her position and I mentioned that too. How was I backing anyone here. I was discussing the topic not the person.

As for your comments about admiring dictatorships..I can only hope you are trying to be funny and are not that complete of a moron to actually beleive what you just wrote. You did mention it was an exageration and but sarcasm needs some work here..

As for bashing newbies...I don't. I will point out extremely stupid stuff however. By the way, not that you would know but I help as many newbies as I can. I do that through pm because thats where help becomes most effective as there is no chance of a thread devolving into one more bash fest. I also help newbies here in Busan with a monthly workshop (based on demand) and new teachers that come to my school. What do you do barking besides wage a bit a sarcasm around on here and call me an apologist?

You see...if you managed to read and comprehend what I write here, you would have noticed that I have a stand on certain issues and will debate on those issues. But, that seems to be too complicated as it is much easier for you to just tag me an apologist.

Quinella,, School...academy...semantics here.

However, you have a valid point and I should have made the distinction in my post.

To close the issue on this (as far as I am concerned anyway), some teachers are built to teach and take care of very young kids, some, like me, are not. The age thing is not as big an issue for me as it seems to be for the OP. I see the tiny ones in classes much like an educational daycare back home where parents often send their toddlers and young kids. My friend Andrew who works for a big company back in Canada and his wife who also works sent their two kids to the daycare when they were 6 and 9 months old respectively.

The problem here is that kids under a certain age should be sent to a specialized school or academy that hires teachers who are able to take care of little ones. The hakwon system all too often makes a mistake with this by putting the kids in the same school and not being careful enough about teacher selection.

[Barking Mad Lord Snapcase]

Your latest post is more eloquent than Jinju's or Lao's ... and that's the problem with this thread.

Their early responses to the OP were little above animalistic neanderthal grunts. Your initial response was to pat them on the back and say "well done". The problem with this attitude - even if your intentions are good and based on experience - is that you are setting the debating bar too low for posters of a certain ideological persuasion. Let me provide an example:

*******************DRAMATISATION ZONE*******************

OP: Well, a funny thing happened at my hagwon today. It all started when ................................................................................... Has anyone here had this experince before?

Ooga Mooga: Hey, whiner, what the **** is wrong with you!!??? If you don't like it here, why don't you pack the **** up and go back to your ****ing Mommy. Yeah, I know your hagwon owners lied to you, but SO ****ING WHAT!!!! It's their culture, moron!!! Boo bloody hoo hoo, b!tch!!!! You should have done your ****ing research!!! And no, I'm not talking about reading their contract and actually believing what is being written. I'm talking about READING THEIR ****ING MINDS FROM A DISTANCE OF 5000 KM IN ABSOLUTE UNAMBIGUOUS DETAIL!!!! If you can't work that one out, then get the **** out of my adopted country!!!! Your freaky Joker face (like mine, which I refuse to look at when I shave) is ruining my Korean experience!!!! I can't take it anymore!!!!

Homer: Great post, Ooga Mooga! Well done!
i agree. The OP's post was arrogant and crude. She should learn some manners and cultural sensitivity.

*****************************************************


This is the problem. It is not your ideology alone that is tarnishing your reputation. It is your cheerful show of support for some of the more extreme, kneejerk posts on this board ... regardless of the low standard of debate on display. In other words, you are saying *to others* that it's OK to stumble onto someone's thread like a drunken gutterdog and rubbish the OP without even a modicum of eloquence ... so long as the thug's ideology is sanctioned by you.

Once again, it is not your opinions alone that are the problem. Your standards are supposed to be higher than some of these other posters - the ones you are praising. Do you want others to believe that? Or have you given up trying?

[Snowkr]

OK then.
Are we all finished now? I know I am.
Thanks again for the input. I never meant to start an argument on the forum.

[The Bobster]

[jinju]

[peppermint]

[Barking Mad Lord Snapcase]

[tomato]

Hi, folks!

I just finished compiling an annotated bibliography which might help assure kindergarten ESL teachers that they aren't wasting their time after all:

Asher, J. and Garcia, G. 1969. The optimal age to learn a foreign language. Modern Language Journal 38: 334-341.

"Before puberty, a person has the highest probability of achieving a near-native pronunciation, but after puberty, the probability drops almost to zero no matter how many years an immigrant lives in the foreign country."

Ekstrand, L. 1976. Age and length of residence as variables related to the adjustment of migrant children, with special reference to second language learning. In Nickel, G., ed., Proceedings of the Fourth International Congress of Applied Linguistics 3: 179-198. Stuttgart: Hochschulverlag.

Found a difference in pronunciation in favor of younger children.

Fathman, A. 1975. The relationship between age and second language productive ability. Language Learning 25, 2: 245-253.

Found a difference in pronunciation in favor of younger children.

Johnson, J. & Newport, E. L. 1989. Critical period effects in second language learning: the influence of maturational state on the acquisition of esl. Cognitive Psychology 21: 60-99.

Tested Korean and Chinese immigrants who had arrived in the United States between the ages of 3 and 39 and had lived in the United States for at least 3 years. The researchers found "a negative correlation between the test scores and the subjects' age upon arrival up to puberty (age 15). Those who had arrived between 3-7 years old were indistinguishable from native-speakers."

Oyama, S. 1976. A sensitive period for the acquisition of a nonnative phonological system. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research 5: 261-285.

In a sample of Italian immigrants in the United States ranging in age from 6 to 20, it was found that "age at arrival was a strong predictor of degree of accent, while length of stay had very little effect."

Snow, C. & Hoefnagel-Hohle, M. 1977. Age differences and the pronunciation of foreign sounds. Language and Speech 20: 357-365.

Found a difference in rate of learning in favor of older subjects, but a difference in pronunciation in favor of younger children.

[jinju]

[JongnoGuru]

Can we call you Jinju-etta?

Please?

Or how about any of these?

Jinjulia?

Jinjuana?

Jinjer!!!

[Barking Mad Lord Snapcase]

[jinju]

I didnt sign a contract based on my inattention, now did I?