Korean Job Discussion Forums

[My 2 Cent]

Hi ~

I have managed to land a sweet job teaching a large group of business people for an hour 5 days a week.

Unfortunatly i have never actually done adult groups before and don't know where to start ~ i lied to get the job obviously.

So what should i be doing exactly? should i just inviglate a group debate about a news/social topic of the day?
They are all engineers so i should i keep all conversation on the subject of their work?
Are books usually used in these type of classes?
Does anyone know some type of activities to make the hour go quickly?

Any advise or tips greatly appreciated!

[peppermint]

Okay, bring in a sheet of get to know you type questions ( here) on the first day. Sit back and listen carefully to their levels. As well, ask them what they'd like to do- if they're interested in current event type stuff, or just work related.

For high level students you can use articles from a newspaper, I liked USA today. Be prepared for tons of vocab questions though. There are books available for slightly lower levels, BNU put out some good ones I think.

Basically, you'll have a better idea after you've seen them for a class or two.

[chronicpride]

[My 2 Cent]

[mog]

I have the same classes coming up. Just got added. I believe the appearance of knowledge almost trumps actual knowledge in business, so I'm drilling pronunciation and articulation. Being gracious in one's speech is also a point I need to work on.

[Juggertha]

[My 2 Cent]

[Butterfly]

Get this book, you'll probably find it in Kyobo.

It's really loaded with business discussion topics, role plays.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0521448050/202-8037868-7083054

[rapier]

Teaching fussy adults is bad enough, never mind businessmen.
Businessmen: I've heard they like to know all about swearwords in English and soccer...just go with that.

[SarcasmKills]

Girls, Booze, Sex and Cultural Differences are always winners...

[prosodic]

[bellum99]

TRUST ME -----Do not teach grammer. I had some nice privates with LEGO Korea once and I got my buddy some work with them also. I told him not teach grammer and he killed my tutoring in one day. They may say" Let's study grammer" but if you do, then it will fail.

[Toby]

The newspaper - the korean Herald, has a 'Titbits' paragraph or two. Photocopy that. get them to read it, tell you what it is about and then go through all the vocab. One will last about 20 - 25 minutes, depending on how much vocab there is.

My students enjoy it and are happy because they feel like they are learning without using books.

Works for me.

[kylehawkins2000]

Start with a lesson about learning english in Korea. You can discuss the controversy of private education, as well as teaching ideologies, failures of ESL in Korea, etc. then move on to discuss how they would like the class to run and what parts of the language they would like to emphasize.

Usually they're interested in conversation mostly. Investing in one of those 'discussion topic' books could be useful. I use a variety of books such as "20 Korean Controversies", "Express Yourself", "Let's Argue", etc. Lis Korea publishes a number of text books for different levels for 'free talking'. If the material is too difficult I usually dumb it down by rewriting an article with some easier vocabulary.

I mix it up by doing lessons on Idioms and Slang, some Listening exercises and some screen english.

[Squid]

I'll go with Kylie on this one.

I teach only business english and have found a more relaxed attitude toward grammar is often the better way to go. Also mix your media in presentation. Newspaper, magazine, book, TV, Movie... give them variety they don't get day to day and you'll win.

politely decline invitations to go get shitfaced drunk with them too.