Korean Job Discussion Forums

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Hi!

I'm a newbie and so is my friend/flatmate. I have been working at an academy in Korea for 1 month, my friend for 3 and we feel stuck and slightly confused and would really appreciate your help.

Our director has recently decided to make us teach TOEIC and TOEFL to some of the higher classes - my flatmate does TOEFL - trying to teach kids how to write essays and I do TOEIC - listening comprehension and all that.

The problem is, that the books we have been supplied with are Korean. So all I know how to do, is give them the exercises (without knowing what I am actually teaching them) and then check in the answer book to see if they have the correct answer (since the multiple choice questions are also in Korean).

My friend is still not sure what he has to do - the director keeps on telling him to learn the books and prepare, but since the book is in Korean, it really is not...um...possible.

We also heard that if one wants to teach TOEFL or TOEIC, one needs to have done a course and have a certificate. Is that true? My flatmate has done a TEFL course and I am still busy doing mine on the net. But no TOEFL and TOEIC.

I feel like I am not doing a proper job - I don't know what I am teaching, I cannot prepare classes properly and I don't think that the students are learning much because of this.

Trying to speak to the director is impossible (trust me, we have tried!!) - because ANYTHING we have a problem with is not the fault of the academy or the system, but ours. And this is a man who is paying us 17 million Won (yes, I know - bad idea!) for 35 hours a week (excluding prep time - an hour or two a day) and then still get lectured every day that we should do more preperation at home.

Is all that right? Should we be teaching TOEFL and TOEIC? And is it fair to have to use Korean books? Or are we just moaning and being ungrateful for what we have? We would really appreciate all your help and advice!

Thanks.

[robot]

you don't need certification to teach TOEFL or TOEIC.

however, these classes cannot be effectively taught without the instructor having a deep understanding of the testing points, answering strategies, commonly asked questions, et cetera. as well, you'll need an organized system in place to track and report student scores to ensure everyone is making progress in the class.

for a newbie, that probably means hours of studying for the first bit. maybe more work than you're being paid for, though i don't know what you mean by 17 million won. a year? 1.7 a month? many people absolutely love this kind of teaching, though -- if you're one of them, stick with it!

the first step would of course be to go to the bookstore and buy one of the many TOEFL books available in english (on the school's tab, of course), and go from there.

ROBT.

[Hotpants]

Your director must be wacko. What's the point of employing foreigners to teach from Korean textbooks? Whether you speak Korean or not, there is little common sense in the idea.

The only thing I could recommend is purchasing for example the Longman guide to TOEFL and using that in class as a structured course, and using the Korean text book (if it must be used) as a homework exercise book or intermittent testing exercises. I also would hope that any decent student of yours will appreciate the impracticality of you teaching from a Korean text.

Stand firm and beep the boss!

[LGB]

You're gonna need some new books. Compass Publishing does a great series of TOEFL books that are entirely in English. Separate books for reading, writing, listening, with 3 skill levels for each. I teach these, as well as some other TOEFL books which are heavy on the Korean - the difference is night and day. You don't need any special certification to teach TOEFL effectively, just keep yourself prepared and you can swing it.