Korean Job Discussion Forums

mithridates · Posted: Sat Oct 30, 2004 9:33 am Post subject: The Cat in the Hat

The sun did not shine,
It was too wet to play,
So we sat in the house,
All that cold, cold, wet day.

The more I use this book for my classes the more I become convinced that this is the perfect textbook for low-level students, and especially for ajummas. it's impossible to read this book without getting the syllables right, otherwise the rhythm just goes out the window. I remember using it yesterday and getting to this part:

I sat there with Sally, we sat there we two,
And I said "How I wish we had something to do!"

In this part 'Sally' and 'something' are both two-syllable words, and every time she would try to pronounce them as one I would bring it back and say, no, it's Sal-ly. I-sat-there-with-Sal-ly....like that. There's only one way to read this book and that's the proper way, and every time they make a mistake in the reading it's obvious and must be corrected.
Has everybody also noticed that the rhythm is a 4/6 (so it goes 1,2,3,1,2,3 as opposed to 1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4) whereas Green Eggs and Ham is a straight up 4/4. Even one of the nice ajummas I'm teaching right now can't help but pick up the rhythm after doing this book for a few days.

Another thing, words like fish.

This is not a good game, said our fish as he lit.
Oh, I do not like it, not one little bit!

Koreans will try to pronounce this word 'fishy' or 'pishy' but if you do that it'll sound like:
this-is-not-a-good-game-said-our-fish-y-as-he
lit-oh...etc, and now 'lit', which should be on the end of the first line now goes to the second, and everything's screwed up.

and so on. Other Seuss books are good for more advanced students, but you often have to be careful for nonsense words. Too many of them and the students get confused.

And I knitted a thneed!

A what? Oh, a thneed. He just made up that word. Believe me.

But the students never believe the teacher, and all proceed to turn on their tiny electronic dictionaries and look up the word! What? My dictionary has a bajillion words and it doesn't have that one. That's when they start to get nervous. What's a thneed, and why don't I know it? Why won't the teacher tell me what this word really means, if he knows at all???

In case somebody here doesn't know, here's what a thneed looks like:

The sweatery-looking thing, not the little creature. (Floresiensis man???)

Yangkho · Joined: 22 Sep 2003 Location: Honam

manlyboy · Posted: Sat Oct 30, 2004 6:04 pm Post subject:

Cool. This puts Dr Zeuss in a new light for me. I had to teach Green Eggs and Ham to a group of beginners for 3 months, but after about 1 month I started running out of ideas. This OP supports a theory of mine that there is no such thing as "unusable material" - anything can be made into a good lesson if you dig deep enough.

MixtecaMike · Posted: Sat Oct 30, 2004 7:17 pm Post subject:

I sneak into into the library between classes to read Green Eggs and Ham.

schwa · Joined: 18 Jan 2003 Location: Yap

When I was teaching tykes it was my custom to begin each class with a storybook reading, & Dr Seuss books were consistently the most captivating & most requested.

Not surprising really -- I myself learned to read (& perhaps gained a taste for literature) at the hands of the good doctor, many moons ago. The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, On Beyond Zebra, etc. Green Eggs and Ham, incidentally, is the 3rd bestselling title in the english language.

It hadnt occurred to me to use his books with older students, but I see the potential -- thanks for the notion Mithridates.

By the way, books by Maurice Sendak have a similar enduring magic. I always got rapt attention from the kids when I brought Where the Wild Things Are or Into the Night Kitchen into class.

Wisco Kid · Joined: 07 Sep 2004 Location: Changwon

Dr. Suess rocks!

When I taught kindergarten he's about all I'd read (to the kids).

Today I was teaching some older kids, and the word "fish" came up. I spent a few minutes in a completely futile effort to convince them that "fish" and "PC" sound completely different when pronunced correctly. All I got were blank stares.

matthewwoodford · Joined: 01 Oct 2003 Location: Location, location, location.

Fantastic, teaches rhythm, intonation, is a good read, fun and authentic.

Has anyone seen Dr Seuss on sale in Seoul and if so where?

krats1976 · Joined: 14 May 2003

krats1976 · Joined: 14 May 2003

mithridates · Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2004 8:43 pm Post subject:

The Lorax book used to creep me out a bit when I was a kid...all the words I'd never seen before that don't really exist and the fact that everything gets destroyed left a bit of a strong impression on me.

My brother's favourite book was one about a giant who takes care of some kids in his garden, but one boy goes off into the middle of the forest with a girl who's a friend of his; they spend the night there and freeze to death. I seem to remember some messianic implications from the boy but I can't remember why...I don't suppose anybody knows that book? It was painted in all light blue.

I've seen Cat in the Hat complete with CD (some Bri'ish guy reading it) at Kyobo before.

mithridates · Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2004 8:46 pm Post subject:

BTW Krats, I remember some posts of yours that I liked before but I kept on thinking your name was Legolas...no...just that Legolas-looking guy with the different name, but with a number inside it...
Now that I've seen it again I hope I don't forget it again! kratskratskratskrats1976....okay, I think I've got it.

Dawn · Joined: 06 Mar 2004

matthewwoodford · Joined: 01 Oct 2003 Location: Location, location, location.

Thanks everyone for the tips.