Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bundangbabo]

I have been given two articles to 'look over' which were going to be published for the school newspaper - they are written in English and are of a decent standard for a Korean 14 year old. But that's not enough because the English teachers at my school want them to be of 'native English speaker' standard and can I correct the mistakes?

I told them if they wanted the articles to be of 'native speaker' standard then they need to be re-written. I was then told that this is important and that the stories in the article are up in competiton against other schools newspapers - could I help? I then said I would have to re-write the whole article myself and I'm not going to do that.

I got some pseudo guilt trip about the student will be disappointed because her name won't be in the paper! Idiots!

[Yu_Bum_suk]

Just re-write them using as much of the students' words as possible and make the students happy. Writing essays is incredibly difficult for Korean students and the fact that they made a decent attempt at it should be rewarded.

[bundangbabo]

I told them I would rewrite the whole paper in lieu of the two classes I would have had to do this afternoon. They didn't fancy that idea so the essays are not going to be printed in the newspaper, can't say I didn't give them a fair chance.

[Teachurrrr]

There have been times in the past when I felt the same way as you do bundangbabo about not editing. It's unpaid extra work that may or may not be appreciated. Other times, I have done what Yu_Bum_suk suggests and help out by editing articles. It just depends on 1) if I have time, and 2) am I in a "happy" place so I feel like being helpful or am I having a "you're not going to use me" day.

If you have the time and don't mind, help out with the editing. It has a few perks for all involved. They get a better newsletter to be proud of while you may get sincere colleague appreciation, thanks you's, little or big gifts from students/parents as well as a thank you dinner or two from the staff.

It can be a hassle trying to decipher garbled sentences, but it is worthwhile in my opinion as long as you are not being taken advantage of (at least too much). Since I returned in mid-June, I have helped with our school English Newsletter. For me, it has been a fun situation with much praise. Praise is good, yet if this ever develops into a full-time gig on top of a full-time gig, then all bets are off. That hasn't happened thus far.

I remember a horror story where a friend of mine (teaching at a university here in Korea for years) is one of the nicest people you will ever meet and simultaneously the proverbial doormat to his university. A few years ago, he was asked to help edit the works of a few colleagues. Being a nice person, of course he obliged. Then came students requests for editing their essays. Then, it became more than he could handle. The grammar became so bad he often wondered if it was even written in English. Another friend who is rather computer savvy suggested the university students are writing their reports in Korean, then (I do not understand the process) enter their papers into a website (or maybe it was software) that translates them into English horribly. Needless to say, if this was true, then the friendly professor got a Korean paper half-translated by some website/software with little or almost no effort by the students. This is his reward for spending 3 to 6 hours per paper on top of his regular job (without extra pay) trying to decipher and edit it. He used to full his hair out over this.

Pick and choose your battles. Sometimes it's great to build some friendships among colleagues and appreciation from students and parents, but definitely know when to say "Hell no!" while smiling of course.