Korean Job Discussion Forums

[PGF]

My hagwon owner taught our elementary school and middle school kids that most foreign teachers here are unqualified to teach English.

I had to explain to them (the kids) that my degree is in English and that I've taught English at a university level.

I added that MOST public school Korean English teachers can not speak English and that that is why we (FTs) are here. I then asked them to ask the Korean teachers here at the crapwon what their degrees are in. One has a degree in hotel management.

I think he did it because he can not find a replacement.

[RACETRAITOR]

In my university the English faculty was more about English literature than English language. I took a fourth-year honours course with several English majors who still didn't know how to use the apostrophe. There are other programs that would certainly be more useful than English for training teachers.

I'm not disagreeing with you all the way though. Korean kids could learn a lot more English from teachers like you rather than Korean teachers who don't know any English. However, the goal for studying English is not to become fluent, but to get high TOEIC or TOEFL or whatever scores, and those Korean teachers are most likely better prepared to train kids in that than you, sadly.

[Rock]

This is just the duplicity of being a so-called 'English teacher' here. Don't let it affect you, though it sounds like you have the credentials. The teacher who'd said this is probably right, though. Most of us aren't qualified, in a literal sense, but certainly over-qualified to teach the rudiments of conversational English that these hagwons expect from us. Tell him to allow you to really teach, and see what he thinks. This is one thing that upset me about teaching at hagwons. You couldn't teach seriously enough.

But I even refrain from calling myself a teacher anymore, and refuse the highschoolers calling me Teacher Rock. It allows for the native teachers to take responsibility, not me. With responsibility comes accountability, and a lot of psychological factors come into play when a foreigner is usurping authority in another's native country.

Some schools even downplay this fact over here in Taiwan. HESS Language School calls you a NST(Native Speaker Teacher, or something like this,) not an official teacher, of sorts. You'll find this dilemna a lot over here. It's as if the fact your speaking English doesn't really have any bearing, which is inherently the reason for us being here, something they find to be of little consequence to their self-dignity. You're still not a teacher or up to their level.

I disagree, though, that TOEIC and TOEFL tests are the only reason we're needed, or why they have foreigners teaching English. It's basically to get them to speak English. Just try teaching a little grammar at your school and hear them say We've already been taught this.

[nateium]

[makemischief]

[genezorm]

i wasn't aware "foreign teachers" as a group are now a race

[Rapacious Mr. Batstove]

[PGF]

[RACETRAITOR]

[makemischief]