Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Yu_Bum_suk]

I find this programme so amusing to watch. A whole episode would be a bit much, but five or ten minutes when flipping through channels is always entertaining. What makes it so informative to the wannabe educator in Korea is that it's a programme specifically about speaking English, which, next to writing English, is the biggest deficiency and the reason most of us are here.

What ESL Cafe teaches us about English education in Korea:

1. When teaching English conversation, it's important to waste as many resources as possible. There are four caste members- the head Korean teacher of not quite certain ethnicity, the Gyopo princess, Isaac, and his sidekick - who would each be perfectly capable of hosting their own show teaching solo. But no, this is English speaking so a ratio of teachers to audience students of 1 : 1 is about right. But wait, that's not all. There's also the band, just to add a little umph.

2. Speaking English is silly. It really is. Trying to understand people speaking English, trying to utter a few variations of the same phrase - what a silly thing to do. It's inherently associated with things such as silly props, silly costumes, silly wigs, silly accessories, and silly games. Because, after all, speaking English is a silly thing to do.

3. White people are very impressive trimmings but essentially disposable and superfluous to learning English. They're there to show off what an impressive display of English speakers the programme has and catch the audience's attention; but if Isaac and his sidekick couldn't show up one week the show could still go on. Perhaps they could make a cartoon to replace them. There's probably some fan loyalty but then there's also the caste novelty factor and if Isaac and sidekick became disagreeable they could be easily replaced. White people also validate what Koreans teach by demonstrating that white people can follow the script that a Korean wrote. Never mind the fact that the head teacher and Gyopo princess have basically accentless English, having white people say it shows it's the right way.

4. Koreans teach and white people entertain. Explaining things in any depth is the head teacher's job, because after all, only he could know best. White people's job is to keep the audience going when it gets mind-numbingly repetitive. If the audience isn't into it, it must be because the white people aren't doing their job. They don't even have to be particularly talented, just very enthusiastic. The Gyopo princess can do entertaining things if it's cute, but the head teacher should stray away from very silly clothes and leave it to swinging his arms a bit at the end when they're saying goodbye. White people should never provide much explanation. Even if Isaac could explain something in Korean when conversing with an audience student who doesn't quite follow, that's not his place.

5. Learning must be repetitive. Now, there's something to be said for repetition and the show does a good job of showing how various expressions can be rephrased to mean different things, teaching in a way that increases mnemonic value. But having two white people dance and sing a song that repeats ten different questions beginning with 'could you __________________?' Really, why not move on to something else? I guess that they have to make the most of the 30 minutes they have to get the students to remember since none of them are ever taking notes.


There's a lot that can be said about the type of audience they have but that's another story. I should try to tape the programme to show it to some ESL teachers back home the next time I'm in Canada.

[rothkowitz]

What does Isaacs' side-kick do again?Does "it" speak?Or just do a little jig and moon about for the camera?

All I've ever seen him doing is standing there with his purple wig on.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

[bellum99]

Isaac should be ashamed everytime he looks in the mirror. We are all language whores but he goes way overboard. I am sad for him sometimes when I see him on the show.
Really he actually died and they put strings on him like a puppet and they just move him around when they need him. The money can't be worth this much indignity. Get up off your knees Isaac, get up.

[Mashimaro]

[Privateer]

[bosintang]

http://theyangpa.wordpress.com/2006/10/06/isaac-durst-escapes-from-his-cage/

[ilovebdt]

I can't bear to watch the whole of Englihs cafe either.

They could do so much with that show, but they don't.

The sentences and vocabulary they use make no sense. In my opinion, they aren't really handy everyday phrases nor are they useful for students.

ilovebdt

[tiger fancini]

[rothkowitz]

My HS principal told she me I should look at it,and try to use it in class.

Use freaking what?The show makes no sense.They just pick out funny sentences,devoid of context or naturalness,and go over variations of them.

"I'm off for the ski resort".

Has anyone ever made such a sentence before?

One thing though,the people making these shows are making a killing.That's kinda the real purpose.

[Mashimaro]

Ever see the episode where the sentence of the day was "who farted?"
that was funny

[Lao Wai]

Hey,

Unfortunately, idiocy and ESL teaching are not confined to Korea. I went to a university in New Brunwick, Canada for my Ed. degree. I decided to take an ESL course as part of my degree. It was offered by the director of the English Language Program at the university adjacent to mine. Anyway, this lady was nice, but went SO over the top. She would walk into our class (all pre-service teachers) and would yell GOOD EVENING!!! (very exaggerated), we would reply with a normal 'good evening'. If we didn't do it over the top like her, she would make us repeat it over and over again. I'm all for being enthusiastic, but...She also told us that we had to drop our 'cool shields' that were preventing us from getting into it. There were some useful nuggets in the class, but I was quite disappointed.

The program is quite successful, but very strict on students speaking their native tongues. If they do, they get kicked out of the program. Many students from Quebec drove to New Brunswick. They were not allowed to use their cars because they were part of their 'old lives'. There was some controversy a few years back because they didn't admit a blind French student because he had a see and eye(?) dog and would have to speak his commands to his dog in French. They said the dog could learn English in the program just like him!

I talked to some of the students in the program. They felt like they were learning, but also felt like they were being treated like babies and that many of the activities were just plain silly.

I've taken French courses at university. The instructor or students don't have to act like idiots in the classroom to learn a new language. In my classes, we did a lot of powerpoint presentations and computer assisted language learning.

[ilovebdt]

[quote="Lao Wai"] There was some controversy a few years back because they didn't admit a blind French student because he had a see and eye(?) dog and would have to speak his commands to his dog in French. They said the dog could learn English in the program just like him!quote]

That's just ridiculous!!!!!!!!!

ilovebdt

[tiger fancini]

[Lao Wai]

Oh, it's true!

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2004/07/06/guidedog_040706.html


http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2004/07/07/french_dog040707.html