Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Gatsby]

I've been at my middle school long enough now to feel comfortable making some suggestions for the library.

They are always buying boxes of new books, but they don't have hardly any books in English, despite having several English teachers, and the ones they do have are college level reading.

I checked at the nearest public library, and their collection of English books comes to zero. I thought Korea wanted their kids to learn English so much. You would think they would make sure every library had books in English for kids.

I know what I read in elementary school and middle school, but I am not sure what is at the appropriate level for Korean middle schoolers, and would interest them.

Most of them have a pretty wide vocabulary for their level, and perhaps a quarter of each class seem to have ambitions of mastering English. It's those ones I guess the books should be aimed for. But if we could provide books that might interest the wider audience and get them more interested in English, that would be good, too.

I figure there should be fiction aimed at girls, at boys, and that would appeal to both, plus some non-fiction.

I don't know whether I will be able to convince the school to buy the books. When I have mentioned the idea in the past to my co-teachers, they didn't seem enthusiastic. Perhaps Koreans don't like to rock the boat? I don't mind. I don't even know if I will be around in a few months, given these bizarre new visa rules. If it comes down to it, I will buy some books for the library myself, if they will put them on the shelves. Might be a good going away present.

Suggestions, anyone?

[tzechuk]

Get in touch with Scholastic - they have graded readers.

That, or OUP...

[paquebot]

Three years ago I tutored a Korean middle school boy in the United States and bought him "Charlotte's Web" and the first book from The Hardy Boys Series as birthday presents. He later told me that he really liked both books, so maybe something like The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, or The Three Investigators might work for reading directed at either boys or girls at your school. They have enough action and mystery to them that they might feel like a comic book without the pictures, and there's also mention of topics like romance (first crushes) and helping others.

A good place to find recommendations is through checking out the listings of your public library back home (if they have a website). The Newbery Medal and Newbery Honor awards are given to the best children's novel in the United States each year, and could be another place to start. My library back home has several lists for for 'Teens' and 'Kids' books that might also help:

http://www.trlib.org/great-reads-bl-awards.htm#teens

Plus:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newbery_Medal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newbery_Honor

Edit: Finding books by Korean-American authors (or Koreans living in other English-speaking countries) might also be a good choice. Linda Sue Park has several that fit this category, although the only one I've read is When My Name Was Keoko. (Amazon link: http://tinyurl.com/3crm9 ) An interesting read, although I'm not sure what reaction it will draw from younger Korean readers.

[ddeubel]

Yes, a very sore point at the majority of school's in the public system!

If you have a good printer - thousands of leveled books at EFL Classroom 2.0
http://eflclassroom.ning.com

also, I once made my own classroom library and we had over 300 books by year's end. I simply got a letter sent home in Korean asking the parents to send English books to class, for our library. Students who brought books were allowed to take out as many as they had lent the class. All students could take out at least one book. Each class had a librarian and a sign out sheet. Worked very well and I'd recommend it as an option.

But those libraries need some English material!

DD