Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Druzyek]

My boss asked me to teach some conversation classes and it is not going so well. Our other classes are split into three different levels and students from different levels are mixed in the conversation class. The higher level students are doing alright but some of the students just finished the first level where they learn the alphabet, colors, and numbers and pick up things like ball, house, dance, sing, eraser, etc along the way. The book we are using is called Side by Side and shows a series of pictures the kids have to talk about. Today, for example, they had to talk about the differences between two things such as a microscope and a telescope. Even when I ask questions like "Which . . . is . . . bigger? Bigger? This, bigger?" the younger students are totally lost. I think they simply have not learned enough English yet to make even small sentences without something in front of them to go off of. Some of the parents have called to complain and my boss asked me to go slower for the younger children but I don't think I can go much slower.

I've told my boss the kids are too young but she won't hear it. What can I do?

[jiberish]

I have had the same problems. I just had to go really basic. For every sentence question/answer thing I would give them most of the sentence and they fill in 1 or 2 blanks.

[nautilus]

[English Matt]

You said that you have a mixed level class....what's the level of the best student. Maybe they can help you....I teach mixed level classes at a high school and when the coteacher is not in the class I usually end up utilising the higher level students to act as ad hoc assistants when the lower level students cannot understand.

Another thing is to try and learn some Korean words and phrases related to the material you are teaching so you can help the lower level students to 'get' what it is you are covering in the lesson and what you are expecting them to say.

Flash cards would also be a great way to demonstrate things like bigger and smaller. Are they at te level where they understand grammatical terms in Korean? You can help guide their sentence formation with reference to these and you can also teach them the English versions of these words so you can switch to using these in the future.

[Chambertin]

Unfortunatly the owner wants nothing but what looks the best. The parents want what the owner sells them and the kids just want to be out in the playground. It's a tough situation.

Which SBS are you using? It sounds way up there.
A couple things I used to help me with a simmilar situation.
1. Teaching makes the best students:
If you have a couple advanced students you can work with them to help catch up the lowbies. Worked in a nice way no one loses face and the advanced students get to learn better as they teach others. Some Korean ability is highly reccomended, as if they teach wrong the students learn double wrong. Also dont let this be a crutch for yoru lessons, you are the teacher, they just assist when it all crumbles in on you.

2. Backtrack without them noticing. The SBS series has lots of pictures and lots of things that build on each other. Go back to the previous chapters and get the kids to use current lessons to describe old pictures.
This way they review old lessons, and slow students can asnwer simple questions and advanced can go into detail without the teleprompter under the picture.

3. Try to make some worksheets to go along with the book. Fill in the blank stuff to re-enforce what they should be learning. Its very easy to just read along, and although a good book it seems too fast and very simple. I see much better learning when I add my own outside materiels.


Good luck and remember there is no right answer, just the one that will work for you.

[Whitey Otez]

[lifeinkorea]

Side By Side is NOT for children. Let's Go series is more geared for children and you follow the same method. Looks like you are at a hagwon and someone just supplied you with beginner adult books.

For comparatives, I like to start with height (tallest, shortest). Get 2 students for -er and -est. Get 3 for -est. Stand them up and practice. You could do this as a simple warm up each day by picking 2 or 3 different students each day, "Who's the tallest today class?"

[Fishead soup]

Try " Word by Word" it's a good complimentary book for Side by Side. It's similar to the Oxford Picture Dictionary but with Hangeul added.
Go on EFL Classroom 2.0 and download all the powerpoints that go with Side by Side. If you can use the Pwerpoints with the book it will be much easier.

[Druzyek]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I mispoke when I said we use Side by Side. We used that for intensives in February. This time around it is only once a week and we use "Children's Talk." Sorry for the confusion. The book is literally a collection of pictures so the kids have very little to go off of. On the other hand it is very open ended.

The higher level kids are pretty decent but I have tried not to rely on them as my translaters too much but I see what you mean. I think I might have to get them to help me teach the younger ones if I am going to accomplish anything.

Also, the youngest students have absolutely no experience constructing sentences. They have had to fill in the blanks from time to time but I seriously doubt they could construct a whole sentence by themselves.

[Chambertin]

Most newer kids don�t have much experience constructing sentences and that's why making some fill in the blank worksheets are your best friend. If you can set the pattern then they can rely on that to start. Later they will gain the confidence to really talk.

Later you can go back and watch for who remembers how to use it. I make them pretty simple and try to use sentences that don�t need a/ that it/ those. I save that for the next time when they get the basic order.

Think of it as a ladder you are kicking them up. Each rung is based on the last but just a little higher.
Plus if you know what�s going into their head when they ask the advanced kids what�s going on its much easier to tell when they get off track and you need to shut down the Hangeul.

Sounds like you have a good book, but it also seems it will be completely on you to make worksheets to go along with them. Good luck.