Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Karabeara]

I interviewed for a university this week, and things look good. They, however, are searching for teachers to teach grammar and writing classes, in addition to conversation, to their higher-level students. The thing is, I HATE grammar, and am by no means an expert. Maybe I am just ordinary at it. No special training. I have also taught writing at the middle/high school level, and found it didn't go well because the students were too lazy to do the work (ungraded extra classes). I didn't want to mention this during the interview, but it sort of made me worry.

Am debating just telling them "no" if they do offer me the job. I have some recently-graduated co-workers who ask me grammar questions sometimes, and I just throw up my hands trying to explain it, or refer to Google for help.

Should I even bother with this job if they offer it, or will the textbooks usually used to teach grammar at universities in Korea be something I can just study hard/prepare on before the class, so I'm not such a dead duck?

[deessell]

No-one knows everything about grammar. If you are using a textbook, a lesson should be focused around a particular grammar point. That's why it's called prep - you prepare for the lesson. This means reviewing the grammar point. I bet that you will not be teaching advanced classes, they will probably be pre intermediate. The grammar is relatively easy. Don't fear it. Use this as an opportunity to learn yourself. How can you teach something that you don't understand yourself?

[bluelake]

I wouldn't worry about it too greatly; as Deessell said, you do prep and get ready for it, lesson by lesson. At my university, we teach completely academic English, with an emphasis on grammar; I don't consider myself expert at it, but with prep I can do pretty well. I had the same misgivings as you, when I first started, but I found it actually kind of fun. Get yourself some of the more interesting grammar books, such as Grammar for Dummies; many contain lots of material that is useful for both self-learning and as a class supplement.


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