Korean Job Discussion Forums

[poet13]

Yup, I'm sure there are going to be a bunch of unhappy parents out there, but my boys came in heavy lidded, beat down, and sweated out from the heat today. I burped by accident, and magically heads raised, eyes popped open, smiles split their filthy little faces. So I went with what works...

[VanIslander]

As long as they at least learned the word! had to guess the spelling and left with one more word under their belt.

Bonus points as a teacher if you morphed into a minilesson/review about "excuse me", "pardon me" and the like.

Perfect learning opportunity.

Like when a student brought a kitten into class today, and when I said "classtime" simply tried stuffing it into his backpack! After the director's wife refused to have it in the office due in large part to her deathly fear of it, I decided there was nothing else to do but make a lesson out of it. And it was great. Learning can be fun!

[pet lover]

I tried to teach my kindy kids how to burp yesterday. They need more practice. My co-teacher was horrified. I already taught them how to make a loud farting noise by blowing onto their arms. They LOVE that.

[VanIslander]

see jaderedux below

post of the week!

[Ya-ta Boy]

My sister mortified our sister-in-law by teaching the niece and nephew to burp. I thought it was a kind of rite-of-passage in childhood.

If some anal retentive types think this means it's time for a vacation, I think maybe the poster should look in the mirror and discuss some vacation plans of his own...unless the other posters had burping as their lesson plan of the day.

[jaderedux]

Okay I am one of the most serious teachers around but I also teach teenage boys.

1. Had lesson on the planets in one of my afterschool classes. Of course "Uranus" came up and being tired I sort of giggled when the students were saying the planets. They thought I was giggling at them so I explained it a bit to them in as delicate of terms as I could. For months afterward I would hear boys saying in various levels of English. "You are Uranus" "Uranus is ugly" "You big Uranus" or just randomly screaming at each other. My bad.

2. I actually have incorporated street pizza in to my lesson plan that talks about idioms and one that talks about words from other countries. Korean teachers hate it. Boys love it. They ask each other "What is your favorite street pizza" Boys are so easy sometimes.

3. Zombies my fave. Every student I teach knows that a proper Zombie really prefers human brains. They can speak quite intelligently about Zombies and know most of the X-men characters also. (All in english)

4. My third year text has the most boring section on plants an flowers...boys groan. So I showed them "killer plants" and described how they dissolve flesh and cause horrible deaths. They like this section now. They also have to lay out a garden. (using directions like Northwest, center etc.) Many have fields of Venus flytraps and Pitcher plants. But at least they do the lesson.

So a quick lesson on burping. Oh what the hell they are tired and you might be surprised where that can lead you. Do a science lesson. I have a great book called "Gross body facts" . It is ESL book one of my favorite content lesson resources. Nothing like talk of vomit, farting and burping. It explains why and has great pics and questions.

I SAY GO FOR IT....DON'T BE A AN OLD UGLY URANUS!

Jade (I have been teaching boys too long)

[pet lover]

Vannie dear, I was reading them a story book about manners and the word burp came up. They wanted to know what it was. I could have explained it, sure, but having your teacher DEMONSTRATE it is more likely to make the word stick in your head. Plus, I read with sound effects and so when character has farted, well, I'm happy to say that I cannot fart on command so I make do with blowing on my arm. The kids were in awe and I told them to try it themselves.

My kids LOVE storytime.

[riley]

I teach at an elementary school and at the beginning of this month the sixth graders had a huge test for most of the day. I came in after lunch to teach the class and quickly realized that it was a no go. They were too tired, too wound up, etc. So I pulled out and had the students watch an episode of Malcolm in the Middle where the boys on the show play the circle game. (One boy gets the other boy to look at a circle he makes with his fingers and then gets to punch the second boy.) The show had a good explanation of it also. Of course that meant that the kids (boys and girls) were playing that game during and after class for quite awhile. Oh well, I thought it was fun for them.

[mindmetoo]

I like to teach them how to a) catch a stack of 100 won coins balanced on their elbow b) how to make a popping sound with their mouth and index finger.

[tiger fancini]

Burp Tennis is a great game that a friend and I used to play when we were in high school. Basically you make a hitting-a-tennis-ball motion, and burp at the same time. To return, your opponent must do the same. If you fail, its 15-love.

[jaderedux]

[Jeff's Academy]

Rarely do I post here, but I think a line has to be drawn.

I've been teaching Korea's youngsters for a good many years, the last handful of which have been at a school owned and operated by my wife and I.

We encourage creative approaches to teaching. We realize that language can be learned while the students focus on something else (cooking, science, music, art...).

We also have children of our own. They spend a bit of time a week in 'institutes' learning things, maybe piano or taekwondo.

We fully expect that they are getting what we pay for, an honest hour of education in the particular field.

Now I read about English teachers teaching the art of belching to kids in English hagwons.

Belching in school.

And now Burp Tennis.

If my son were to know that such a thing were happening...


...he'd be first in line to join the class. I've been able to burp on command since about 4th grade, and my son is currently in 3rd. I've spent countless 'tutoring' sessions trying to teach him, but just can't seem to get beyond a kind of forced gag with spittle...

I consider myself a pretty good teacher of most things, but the burp...
throw me a bone, here, poet. How did you express to the kids the process needed to burp?

No language barrier with my son (and daughter...yeah, she wants to too...), but we can't seem to do it.

If you can give some tips we'll set up the 1st annual Jeju Burp Tennis Invitational...



classic stuff, love it

[MantisBot]

[poet13]

"...throw me a bone, here, poet. How did you express to the kids the process needed to burp?"

Well, to be honest, most of the kids at least had an idea of the mechanics involved. What they lacked was a developed sense of the artistry involved. More on that in a bit. The two boys who didnt know how watched how my throat moved over and over again. In the "breath intake" portion, rather that opening the upper throat, it remains closed. So what I told them was, "its like snorting back a big booger without swallowing, except that instead of snorting back with your nose, do it lower in the back of your mouth. You will feel like you have a bubble in the top of your throat. Push that bubble out like you're trying to puke." (The grosser the description the better) They tried, the other boys explained a best they could, as low and behold, one of the two managed the tiniest of burps. He, now being an expert as only children can be, explained it to his thusfar unsuccessful (sp?) mate.
Now, back to the art. What they didnt have was any concept of pitch, duration, tonal modulation, volume control, or depth of sound. After thirty minutes of practice, most of them could say their name, a few could produce an astonishlingly loud burp (though without the duration that a practised artist such as myself can manage), a couple could vary their pitch up and down through a few notes, and one little prodigy, bless his heart, could; after sucking back about fifteen "burp breaths", say, "My name is Tae Young Lee, I am pleased to meet you."
I hope that helps.

[xtchr]

Sadly, I cannot participate in the fun, but my younger brother and sister can 'burp the Alphabet', and it's turned into an annual competition after dinner on Christmas Day.