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otopo
Joined: 31 Aug 2006
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 Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 3:08 am Post subject: Crappiest English text EVER half written in Korean... |
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I have recently acquired my high school student�s English textbook I am to teach from for this semester. It is from a series simply titled "English" there is also an English I and English II textbook in this series for subsequent years. The publisher I believe is: 주지학사 (Jo Ji Hak Sa).
The teacher's guide is written completely in Korean, so that is no help. Is there anyone else out there using this textbook? What are you supplementing the text with...it is really boring for the students. I have no idea what principals the book is trying to teach.
I am teaching a high school level English course with this text (10th/11th graders) and am supposed to cover all of the basic elements of English i.e. basic grammar, listening, reading, writing, speaking etc.
Any help would be appreciated. Does anyone out there have a similar experience teaching with a text half written in Korean? What did you do (besides complain)? This is killing me!
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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 5:12 am Post subject: |
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| The "Get Ready" series by Joseph Christopher Carmichael is the worst series. There's an error in every section ("hear" instead of "here" for example, articles missing in sentences, boys with a girl's name...). It's like no one bothered to edit it. I'm amazed Mr. Joseph Christopher Carmichael didn't have the decency to have his name removed from the cover. I would have. I used it a couple years ago and now I'm using it again and in 2 years they've not bothered to correct a single thing. Ah, pride. |
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Percy Nickets
Joined: 18 May 2006
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| Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 5:38 am Post subject: Re: Crappiest English text EVER half written in Korean... |
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| otopo wrote: |
I have no idea what principals the book is trying to teach.
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I am teaching a high school level English course with this text (10th/11th graders)
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The real shocker is that they're putting high schoolers in charge of entire schools. That should really be left up to people with at least a college education. |
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otopo
Joined: 31 Aug 2006
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| Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 6:14 am Post subject: Re: Crappiest English text EVER half written in Korean... |
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| Percy Nickets wrote: |
| otopo wrote: |
I have no idea what principals the book is trying to teach.
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I am teaching a high school level English course with this text (10th/11th graders)
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The real shocker is that they're putting high schoolers in charge of entire schools. That should really be left up to people with at least a college education. |
Thanks for your help, obviously you are fluent in Korean and wouldn't have a problem trying to teach from a book with all of the instructional references in Korean.
Also, if you were familiar with the book you would know that the books strategies are all over the place. |
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wylies99
Joined: 13 May 2006
Location: I'm one cool cat!
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| Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 7:07 am Post subject: |
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| I have seen AMAZING mistakes in some textbooks. |
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Yu_Bum_suk
Joined: 25 Dec 2004
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| Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 3:16 pm Post subject: |
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| Does it have a university-aged couple, the girl on a moped, the guy on a mountain bike, on the front cover? If so, I'm very familiar with it, and it's far from the crappiest HS text book out there. |
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huffdaddy
Joined: 25 Nov 2005
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| Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 3:33 pm Post subject: Re: Crappiest English text EVER half written in Korean... |
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| otopo wrote: |
| Percy Nickets wrote: |
| otopo wrote: |
I have no idea what principals the book is trying to teach.
..
I am teaching a high school level English course with this text (10th/11th graders)
|
The real shocker is that they're putting high schoolers in charge of entire schools. That should really be left up to people with at least a college education. |
Thanks for your help, obviously you are fluent in Korean and wouldn't have a problem trying to teach from a book with all of the instructional references in Korean.
Also, if you were familiar with the book you would know that the books strategies are all over the place. |
I think he/she is trying to flame you for using "principals". |
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formerflautist
Joined: 30 May 2006
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| Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 4:25 pm Post subject: |
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| At my old hogwan we had books produced by the school. One of our conversation books had a nice conversation about constipation. This was in the lowest level class. It went on to talk about how eating fiber would help with that. My favorite one was about the flowered shirt. "I don't want to wear that flowered shirt, Don, because I don't want to appear as the gay." Good stuff. |
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kimchi_pizza
Joined: 24 Jul 2006
Location: "Get back on the bus! Here it comes!"
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| Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 5:11 pm Post subject: |
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That's it! We need a politically incorrect, situationally odd text full of Engrish Speling and Grammars mistakes.
I'll start:
Setting: Truck stop and got the runs.
Adam: Excuse me, where's the john?
Jane: John? My boyfriend? He is in car.
Adam: No, where's the water closet?
Jane: Waht's a "water closet"?
Adam: Look! Where...is...the....header?!
Jane: I don't do that! John!!!!
Adam: Ah crap. |
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otopo
Joined: 31 Aug 2006
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| Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2006 12:56 am Post subject: |
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| Yu_Bum_suk wrote: |
| Does it have a university-aged couple, the girl on a moped, the guy on a mountain bike, on the front cover? If so, I'm very familiar with it, and it's far from the crappiest HS text book out there. |
YES! This is the book! Okay, probably not the crappiest- I have seen worse. However, I thought the post�s title would force interest in checking the post.
I am bitter I guess, because at high school age, you would think they wouldn�t need Korean instructions �listen and respond to the correct picture��I think this should be written in English!
So...did you have this textbook? What the hell did you do with it? I am thinking of supplementing it with some �side by side� for conversation practice, maybe some extra stuff in relation to the topics. Right now we are in the "Animals at your service" chapter. I had the students for writing tell me why it would be difficult to be blind...some pretty interesting answers. I guess I am just not sure how to approach the book as I am not sure what exactly it is trying to achieve.
One problem is that my students can handle the book, but cannot create anything original or sensible outside of the text (which is my job to encourage...). I have a feeling they don�t even understand a lot of the language though.
I have a very open school, I can do �anything I want� (literally). So any ideas? |
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Real Reality
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2006 2:35 am Post subject: Re: Crappiest English text EVER half written in Korean... |
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| otopo wrote: |
| The teacher's guide is written completely in Korean, so that is no help. Is there anyone else out there using this textbook? What are you supplementing the text with...it is really boring for the students. I have no idea what principals the book is trying to teach. I am teaching a high school level English course with this text (10th/11th graders) and am supposed to cover all of the basic elements of English i.e. basic grammar, listening, reading, writing, speaking etc. Any help would be appreciated. Does anyone out there have a similar experience teaching with a text half written in Korean? What did you do (besides complain)? This is killing me! |
School English Classes: Quality of Teaching Appears to Be Diminishing
English teaching at primary and secondary schools here appears to be diminishing. According to a recent survey, a growing number of Korean teachers of English conduct their classes in Korean only, contrary to efforts in creating an environment in which students can be better immersed in English.
Editorial, Korea Times (June 7, 2006)
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/opinion/200606/kt2006060717004354050.htm
According to ETS, the organizer of Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), South Korea ranks 93rd out of 226 countries in the world for TOEFL score and 16th among Asian nations though the country has the largest number of TOEFL exam takers. In the test of spoken English, however, Korea placed 105th out of 108 countries.
Lawmaker Urges Stricter English Teacher Evaluation Program
by Jung Sung-ki, Korea Times (August 28, 2006)
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200608/kt2006082817051811990.htm |
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otopo
Joined: 31 Aug 2006
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| Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2006 4:04 am Post subject: |
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| great, I give up then! We can practice in class phrases like "Is it delicious" and "Oh my God!" and "so-so" ...oh and Konglish, why not. |
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wylies99
Joined: 13 May 2006
Location: I'm one cool cat!
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| Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2006 7:03 am Post subject: |
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At a former hogwan I had a textbook (can't remember the name) with a running story about an evil scientist who was trying to kidnap Michael Jackson, (named changed to protect the innocent  ), and hold him ransom for $2,000. The evil scientist invented a formula to turn Michael Jackson invisible and somehow that was supposed to make him easier to kidnap.
A couple of young kids  helped him escape.
There was nothing educational about book or the accompanying tape (kids would listen in a state of shock). |
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Peter Jackson
Joined: 23 Apr 2006
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| Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2006 7:36 am Post subject: High School |
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| Yes my school uses the same series but luckily I only have to teach from it once a semester...when I have my rehearsed open class. Pretty hard to use on its own, even with the CD, and even the Korean teachers don't like it. |
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Yu_Bum_suk
Joined: 25 Dec 2004
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| Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2006 3:50 pm Post subject: |
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| otopo wrote: |
| Yu_Bum_suk wrote: |
| Does it have a university-aged couple, the girl on a moped, the guy on a mountain bike, on the front cover? If so, I'm very familiar with it, and it's far from the crappiest HS text book out there. |
YES! This is the book! Okay, probably not the crappiest- I have seen worse. However, I thought the post�s title would force interest in checking the post.
I am bitter I guess, because at high school age, you would think they wouldn�t need Korean instructions �listen and respond to the correct picture��I think this should be written in English!
So...did you have this textbook? What the hell did you do with it? I am thinking of supplementing it with some �side by side� for conversation practice, maybe some extra stuff in relation to the topics. Right now we are in the "Animals at your service" chapter. I had the students for writing tell me why it would be difficult to be blind...some pretty interesting answers. I guess I am just not sure how to approach the book as I am not sure what exactly it is trying to achieve.
One problem is that my students can handle the book, but cannot create anything original or sensible outside of the text (which is my job to encourage...). I have a feeling they don�t even understand a lot of the language though.
I have a very open school, I can do �anything I want� (literally). So any ideas? |
So I take it you're teaching HS students at an advanced academy after school? And do you have grade 1s and 2s together in the same class? Do the kids all go to the same school or different ones? If the latter, they may all be using different textbooks and the one you got is just a guide.
Yes, 'Animals at your service', 'South Africa and its Freedom Fighters' - I've done them all. It's mid-October, past the first round of mid-terms, and the kids are probably at 'The Stairs to Romance' or 'Thinking about your Future Career' by now if they're using the text in school. You might want to check with them and your director to see if you shouldn't jump ahead a bit. The book is most definitely *not* too simple for many HS students, especially vocational or technical students who should be doing something more remedial. If your students are more advanced, well, use the lesson themes and do something more advanced.
As an approach I'd suggest you focus on what the Korean teachers can't do. For 'Animals at your Service', start at pages 148-149 and go over the 잠고 and dialogues. Try changing them around with different words. Bring in a couple pics of Canada and Australia for Dialgues B. If you want to work on reading and pronunciation, do the story pp. 152-155 having each student read a sentence in turn. Suppliment the 'Further Work' segment on pp. 163-164 by testing them to see if they really know when to use an infinitive vs. participle. And don't forget the parts that relate to the lesson in the back of the book - the dialogues and vocab. Use the vocab list, pp. 302-307 as a base for creating word games.
In short, there's still a hell of a lot you can do with this book even if it is really crappy in a few respects. |
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