Korean Job Discussion Forums

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

http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?bicode=130000&biid=2004122246908

��I never thought it would survive this long. The crew was worried about the eccentric lectures.�� So says 40-year-old instructor Moon Dan-yeol of ��English Café�� that airs from Monday through Friday at 7:45 p.m., and which finally hit its 600th episode on December 22.

As early as August 26, 2002, when the first lecture aired, the only person sure of the success of instructor Moon��s teaching methods of singing and dancing to a band was Moon.

��Bloopers abounded. The stage director said it was ��too bizarre,�� and requested that I ��don��t overdo it�� a lot of the time. Nowadays the staff dances along with us while recording.��

Instructor Moon introduced his eccentric teaching style as ��Scene Reconstruction.��

��Scenes are composed of three Ss, like sound, structure, and situation. We train ��sound�� by moving to the rhythm of the music, learn ��structure�� with body movements, and ��situations�� through skits.��

Instructor Moon is a ��native�� English instructor who has never lived abroad. Starting his English education in the third grade of elementary school, he begun to teach elementary students conversational English by the time he reached his third year of junior high. Having majored in theology at Yonsei University, he spent 13 years as an institution instructor after his graduation before finally landing his job at EBS.

��The first time I spoke with an American was in middle school. I thought foreigners were different because we didn��t look alike, but the joy of communication at that moment��

Instructor Moon advised, ��Languages exist between relationships, so studying is effective when you imagine having a conversation with someone.��

As a special 600th episode, guest singer Choi Hun stars and learns English together. The instructor observed that singers had the best pronunciation out of all the entertainers, and that Choi Heon was not so bad himself.
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I've laughed at the seeming absurdity of this show before, but i do think they are onto something. My korean friends have had some success with the show and really enjoy it.

The guy makes some good points in the above article, I love the part about 'languages exist between relationships'. this would go someway to explain while TOEIC obsessed, conversation phobic korean students are often dismal failures english wise. i.e the english they 'learn' is so TOEIC/TOEFL centric and really has no context outside the textbook.

Daechidong Waygookin · Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2004 7:29 pm Post subject:

That guy, whats his name, Moon? Hes pretty good. He is a dead ringer for a priest that was really close with my family back home. DEAD RINGER, despite being Korean. I hate that little turd Matthew, but Lisa is damn cute.

jurassic5 · Joined: 02 Apr 2003 Location: PA

that's about 599 too many....

it hits me in the gut when i flick pass this show. if only all english speakers in the world would sing and chant random phrases like "where are you going...where are you going"...with the sounds of a guitar and drums in the background.....

My 2 Cent · Joined: 03 Jun 2003

I will pay a large sum of money for someone to neutralise that piece of *beep* matthew on englishcafe.

he has humilated himself and western men in general by mangaging to apear for hours a week on EBS. His voice rapping ('pooh che poo poo che') and retarded facial expressions are an affont to the basic principals of manhood.

He must be removed at once.

Please pm me so we can work on taking this fcuker out.

Daechidong Waygookin · Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2004 8:02 pm Post subject:

Ekuboko · Joined: 22 Dec 2004 Location: ex-Gyeonggi

yeah and that Lisa Kelley chick's voice can be heard whine-chanting above all others... REALLY irritating, like fingernails on blackboards

Daechidong Waygookin · Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2004 8:05 pm Post subject:

Chillin' Villain · Joined: 13 Mar 2003 Location: Goo Row

Cute, but the voice.... the voice.....

Really, all of the foreign talent's voices get to be a bit much. At least they get more people into studying I guess, but hooooo-eeee.... Annoying as fark when I gotta hear my gf watching lessons over my computer.

Aha... She also thinks Isaac is quite possibly the funniest thing to walk the earth... I no longer feel gratification when she laughs at my jokes. Confused

Daechidong Waygookin · Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2004 8:25 pm Post subject:

Chillin' Villain · Joined: 13 Mar 2003 Location: Goo Row

Yeah, her voice could probably be overlooked (? Confused

?)... It could possibly even sound cute in an ordinary everyday conversation, and not the crystal meth-fuelled maelstrom that is English Cafe....

Whenever Koreans ask me why I can't stand the overacting on the show, I try to explain it this way....

It's like if there was a Korean language program on at home (hypothetically), and if all the Korean actors on the program were blatant Asian sterotypes a la Charlie Chan, overacting and overpronouncing everything to the point of being insulting to the adult intelligence. I mean, I know learning should be fun sometimes, but that show can make Spongebob Squarepants look sophisticated!

That said, it must be doing some good. My girl has never attended any English classes beyond high school, and her English abilities are pretty impressive given her circumstances. Although she does a lot of self-study through textbooks, she says she gets a lot from the English Cafe program. I mean, it's for them and not us, anyways, right?

So keep on makin' those goofy-ass facial expressions Isaac and Matthew. Sing, dance, and bring the sweet sweet English to the masses!