Korean Job Discussion Forums

[nero]

[ESL Milk "Everyday]

[shostahoosier]

[Hyeon Een]

If they're studying for the college entrance exam.. I don't know much about it and haven't heard of any major changes.

If they're studying for TOEIC or TOEFL then the listening portions involve a range of accents including Scottish, Irish, English, Australian and so on. They should learn to understand more than 'standard' American.

If the 'big picture' is getting the students a good score on TOEIC or TOEFL they should listen to a range of accents. If the 'big picture' is giving them real language skills then they should be listening to Japanese English, Chinese English, Indian English and perhaps a touch of American or British to round it out.

If they want to get their kids into a good university.. they'd probably be better off teaching their kids a gentlemanly British accent then send them for interviews at Harvard or Yale or somewhere. A good British accent goes much further in the US than it does in the UK. (Speaking from personal experience)

[Murakano]

[aq8knyus]

As Hyeon Een said if these kids end up using English in the future they are more than likely going to be speaking with English speakers outside of America.

That being said if they are going to use English accents for their English tests it would be better to include them on the CD � ROM they use in class.

Going slightly off topic I would say that in the UK we are more used to hearing a multitude of different accents thanks to the mass of regional accents in the UK and Ireland, our proximity to Europe and Aussie and US entertainment. So much so that it seems we have a better ear for English than the average yank.

It always surprises me how so many yanks are incapable of joining the dots in their head to understand a different accent. In that respect it�s hard to class them as fluent speakers.

[Wangja]

American English was fine when the only expected destination was America.

Over the years, I have worked with many English-speaking Koreans who have never visited America but have worked in many other countries. They have bemoaned the fact that the only spoken English they had heard when learning was American English and that when they arrived in India, Thailand, Taiwan, Germany, Libya, Middle East or wherever they found the common English hard to understand.

If the only place they will visit is America - no problem. If they visit almost anywhere outside America it is not American English that they will hear. What they will hear is French English, African English, Arab English - all like them speaking a second language.

And by the way, the higher up the educational food chain one goes, the less the difference between British and American English. Teaching Koreans the current idioms and slang of Louisiana or Harvard or Yorkshire or Cambridge seems to serve no worthwhile purpose.

[West Coast Tatterdemalion]

I'm looking forward to the day that a school director wants me to talk in a British accent.

[Squire]

In English exams will a spelling be considered wrong if it is the English-English spelling as opposed to the American-English version? Last week I wrote 'favourite' on the board and explained the meaning and there was a moment of confusion. When they wrote it down some used 'favourite' and some 'favorite'. I told them both are fine. It would be so unfair if they are expected to only use one of those

So do the Koreans consider one of the two spellings to be the 'correct' one?

[Poker]

this is no big deal. kids adapt quickly, they will get used to it.

[ESL Milk "Everyday]

[ESL Milk "Everyday]

[Squire]

[isitts]

[ESL Milk "Everyday]