Korean Job Discussion Forums

phaedrus · Joined: 13 Nov 2003 Location: I'm comin' to get ya.

Do you get asked this question by Koreans far too regularly?

I think they are hoping for some magic formula.

How the *beep* should I know?

What's a good start? Pay me and I'll teach you. Slow and steady.

Really I'm not telling because I'll have no more work. Jeez.

itaewonguy · Joined: 25 Mar 2003

The ole fashioned way..

get a foreigner boy friend/ or girlfriend and STUDY HARD...
thats the fastest id say..

Mashimaro · Joined: 31 Jan 2003 Location: location, location

The best way to learn english is to open your mouth and spurt it out. The great korean excuse is that they are too shy to speak english.. fine, wait 20 years to overcome your shyness, only then will you start to improve. You can't learn english from a textbook (half full of korean) unfortunately

thorin · Joined: 14 Apr 2003

I tell my students if they're really good, I'll give them the secret English pill that will have them speaking fluently when they wake up in the morning. About 100% of them believe that there really is a magic English pill.

just because · Joined: 01 Aug 2003 Location: Changwon - 4964

I tell them.......to move to an English speaking country plus speak nothing but English everyday in every situation.

They look at me in shock and usually just turn away into their TOEIC word lists plugging away the hard way.

ThePoet · Posted: Fri Nov 05, 2004 10:01 am Post subject:

Obviously, the BEST way to learn English is to be born to an English speaking couple and grow up with it being the only language spoken for the first 15 years of your life.

I don't know of any better.

Poet

ajuma · Joined: 18 Feb 2003 Location: Anywere but Seoul!!

Read, read, read!!! Especially novels. Grammar gets incorporated into the story, so it's "easier" than studying. Plus, "real" English is used as opposed to "book" English (fine, thank you, and you!!!).

Penguin and Oxford have some good "graded readers" which can really help!

phaedrus · Joined: 13 Nov 2003 Location: I'm comin' to get ya.

I normally tell them to do junk reading, listen to music after printing lyrics from the net, speak with their friends, and keep an English diary.

After I tell them that I always get the feeling that they are disappointed, and were hoping I could tell them some magical wonderful secret method that would have them fluent in a few weeks.

Lazy people. They don't realize you can't learn English the same way you can buy a cellphone or a new car, or as quckly as a high speed internet connection. Bali bali meets a difficult task. Boo hoo.

Butterfly · Joined: 02 Mar 2003 Location: Kuwait

Depends on their learner type.

phaedrus · Joined: 13 Nov 2003 Location: I'm comin' to get ya.

the saint · Joined: 09 Dec 2003 Location: not there yet...

dzeisons · Joined: 14 Oct 2004

the best way to learn english is the opposite to what koreans are doing now Laughing

there is no magic formula and there are no shortcuts although many koreans are in denial about this.

penny ur 1996 has a comprehensive list of chracteristics of a 'good' language learner and funnily enough it was the opposite of the archetypal korean language learner (althought there are exceptions).

Yangkho · Joined: 22 Sep 2003 Location: Honam

The best way to learn English is to stay away from my class.

Neil · Joined: 02 Jan 2004 Location: Tokyo

If I knew of some perfect method that worked for everybody I wouldn't be working in a Hogwon.

I'd have written a book detailing this method, everyone in Asia would buy a copy and I'd be living in a castle made out of gold.

the_beaver · Joined: 15 Jan 2003