Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Qinella]

The policy at my hagwon is no Korean in class, from the teachers or students. However, we (the teachers) use it sparingly for quick explanations if the kids just aren't getting it, and for vocabulary.

For those of you that use 100% English in class, I'm sure you know what I mean when I say that it requires a lot of effort from the kids. Also, there are some kids who try really hard to understand, but just don't quite get it. When the students nod their heads and pretend to or think they understand, you may feel all proud of yourself saying, "Wow, I'm such a great teacher!" but meanwhile you don't even know that the students misunderstood your point. A lot of kids won't let on when they don't understand something. Imo, it's sometimes better to just give a quick explanation in Korean if possible, and then you can spend more time practicing, which is the goal.

Now, when it comes to translating for vocabulary, I agree with ontheway that translation is very often insufficient. I see the vocabulary sheets my students memorize, and my Korean isn't very good, but it's enough to realize that there are a lot of mistranslations. The problem isn't with erroneous translations, per se, but with the fact that some concepts are simply not interchangeable between Korean and English. So when I see the word "wiggle" with 흔들다 written next to it, that's just not right.

However, there are some words which are pretty easily translated (mostly with nouns) and I'll sometimes use a translation to help the students understand, but only after I've gotten them to understand in English. Like, a reflection isn't 반사, it's the thing you see in the mirror or in a lake. Orbit isn't 궤도, it's what the moon does around Earth. So what I do is try to elicit the Korean through English explanation, to verify that they understand.

I never translate whole sentences, and definitely don't allow the better students to translate what I say into Korean for the slower students. I typically don't speak Korean at all for the kids that are above a certain level (usually E6 or M1). They will just laugh their asses off at me, anyway, because I'm bound to make grammatical mistakes when I speak.

Q.


P.S. What's with the Korean on Dave's being converted into some kind of code? Type some Korean, hit "preview", then look back at what you typed.

[bosintang]

[Qinella]

[bosintang]

[Demophobe]

[bosintang]

[Qinella]

[Demophobe]

[bosintang]

Look, I'm just having a discussion for discussion' sake. I don't want to come across as if I'm being authoritative. I don't want this to be personal and I expect people are going to disagree with me.

[bosintang]

[Demophobe]

[ontheway]

We have our students look up the words in dictionaries, too. It's just that we use English only dictionaries. The kids need to learn to understand the meanings of English words as explained in English. This is what a native speaker does. We all learn new words in our native language without reference to some other language. If the material being taught is at the appropriate level, gradually increasing in difficulty, the kids should "get it".

The Korean/English dictionaries are so bad that we have advised the students and parents to throw them away. It's especially bad when they use them in writing classes.

Using L1 as an aid to aquire L2 is reasonable in the abstract. In Korea, however, due to the bad dictionaries, errors in translation, Korean teachers who teach translations that are just wrong, Konglish, and cultural differences that result in words in both languages with no equivalents, it is best for the students to learn English in English only.

It would take a dedicated, experienced and wise Native English speaking teacher to use a little Korean when teaching Englsh. You would have to make an effort to verify, word by word, that the meanings are correct. Qinella seems like the kind of teacher who could do this, perhaps a few others, but for most of us, it's best to stick to "English only" in the classroom. (Other than some friendly banter in Korean to show that you care, cultural ice-breaking in the classroom is indeed useful.)

I just wish the Korean teachers would give up using translation to teach. They are completely clueless as to the errors they are teaching.

[jacl]

Yes, you have to be careful of what you translate. If what I want is not there, I look at the students and say, "Bad dictionary". They get a laugh out of that. Using a computer is great for this because it saves on time. If I'm not sure if the students know a word, I ask them what it is in Korean. I say, "I don't know. Let's take a look" and type it in. Sometimes the dictionary matches what they say, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes the student is right, sometimes the dictionary is right. Sometimes we work out the correct definition. If not, I have to move on or try to explain using synonyms, examples, etc.

The dictionary is not your bible, but it can definitely be your friend. I find book dictionaries a pain in the butt because they're not as quick as the computer.

I'm always in doubt when I see the translation. You have to make sure.

Other ways of using Korean are very effective. Like teaching younger students conversation exercises such as "How do you go to school?" or teaching comparatives and superlatives (the list goes on). If you know how to say it in Korean then by all means provide the translation and practice it.

It all comes down to practicing what they've been taught. With a closed book. But let's face it, we are not teaching in English immersion progams here. If the longest you see your students is 150 minutes a week then some use of Korean is going to be beneficial.

[Qinella]

[Demophobe]