Korean Job Discussion Forums

[worldtraveler]

I am totally new to teaching and I plan on heading to SK sometime next month. I have zero teaching experience so the idea of any somebody with a 4-year degree being able to do this job perplexes me. However, I am willing to dive in head first and take a stab at it�but the one thing I am most nervous and confused about is the very first day. All I can picture is me standing in front of a room of young faces staring back at me blankly as I rattle on in English and they understand zilch.

For those of you who began with little teaching experience, I would love to hear some stories about your very first day teaching on your very first contract. How did you make it through your first day? Your first week? Month? Where did you begin? Did the students understand any English? Did you learn their names, did they learn yours? Were you given textbooks to follow? Curriculum? Any orientation before you began teaching? How long did it take for you to feel comfortable in the classroom? Any funny stories about you having absolutely no clue what you were doing???

Any advice and guidance would be much appreciated!!!

[Yu_Bum_suk]

I could give you a very typical description but I'd rather forget my first job here entirely. If you're Canadian, go to your MP's office and get a big bag of little Canada flag pins to give to each of your new students. And when you get there don't suppose for a moment that any of the Koreans or even foreigners will know anything about actually teaching English.

At what sort of institute will you be working?

[SeoulShakin]

I remember being just as nervous as you were.

I arrived over winter break at my hagwon, so I had about a week in Korea to realize exactly how few people spoke English well, to properly scare me for my first day.

I spent about 4 days shadowing the other foreign teacher at the school. The first day the kids saw me, there was lots of giggles and excited pointing, and then running to the other teacher saying "I see her, I see her!". I guess they had been anticipating my arrival for quite some time.

The first day consisted of "does anyone have any questions they would like to ask SeoulShakin?" - I got what is your name, how old are you, are you married, do you have a boyfriend, do you like kimchi, do you like hamburgers, do you like ice cream, do you like pizza, etc etc. Basically anything you could think of, these kids were eager to ask. I had taught dance to ages 3-16 back in Canada, so I was used to teaching kids, but never English. Textbooks and curriculum were provided for me, and it was actually a lot easier to get into the swing of things than I'd imagined in my head. I pictured blank stares, and no responses, but it was quite the opposite.

So long as you are outgoing and have an open mind you'll do fine. If the kids don't understand something, you can draw lots of pictures on the board, do some charrades (sp?), pull a kid up to the front with you and act out what you are trying to explain. The kids enjoy the guessing games, and you can literally see comprehension dawn on their faces all at once. If your director allows it, lots of games and activities related to class material keep it interesting for them, and keeps them learning at the same time. Don't expect perfection from them, but always expect improvement from where they first began. Slowly you will start to see big differences in how they speak and write.

Hope this was helpful. If anyone suggests further on this board, I suspect you'll be good and prepared to arrive here

Good luck!

[oldfatfarang]

First day: arrived on a freezing winter's day. The Director picked me up from local airport, dumped me in a bleak, cold, dark and tiny apartment, and after 1 hours 'rest' I was taken to the school.

My 1st days training consisted of: "Have you taught kids before?" and "make noisy or they go quiet." I was then put in front of little Elementary kids for first time in my life (I had no previous training as a teacher). The kids were really excited and were jumping out of their seats to show they could read Engrish (they had been primed by the Director).

My Director evaluated my first day's training with these really helpful comments: "your smile is too wide" (you are talking/laughing too loud), and "sometimes you have to make angry" (the kids are out of control).

I've been here nearly 2 years now and haven't received any more training or comments on my teaching. Basically, dress like a teacher, smile and bow, and you'll be just fine. And don't worry because nobody here knows anything about teaching when they arrive. And, sometimes you do have to 'make angry' - but not with the kids. They are delightful. It's the Director who 'speaks with forked tongue' that you sometimes have to be angry with. Good luck. This is a very rewarding experience.

[Missile Command Kid]

Heh, well, my experience is a bit different inasmuch as I came over here with two small children and a wife, but here goes:

The flight from Seattle to Daegu was thirteen hours of hell. In between a grumpy two-year-old who just could not get comfortable and an eight-month-old who decided that her mission in life was to scream for as long as possible, my wife and I thought we were losing our minds. We finally arrived at Daegu International and were greeted by two teachers from my school, both holding up a huge sign that said, "Welcome Missile Command Kid's family!" We felt incredibly welcomed! On the way to our school (now, remember, this was a 13 hour flight), shortly after 9 P.M., the teachers stopped to get us something to drink from the local convenience store. We arrived at the school and met the director, who almost literally welcomed us with open arms - he certainly met our children with open arms - and quickly showed us around the school.

We made our way to our two bedroom apartment and were pleasantly surprised by how roomy it was. They had brought over an extra bed for me and my wife (we later learned that it was the director's wife's bed) and plied us with necessities such as food, water, toilet paper, and everything else we needed to survive the next couple of days. I was given two days to relax and was expected to teach on the third day.

I taught five 50-minute classes that day, starting off with the most sullen and unresponsive teenagers on the planet. Well into that first class, I was dreading the rest of my tenure at the school, but the next four classes were pleasantly talkative and relatively cheerful, so not all was bad. I had them introduce themselves on paper, then read what they had written to the class; this let me gauge their written and oral English, and helped me to plan for the weeks to come. I then let them ask me one question about myself, which was fun.

It was extremely exhausting, and facing kids who just don't want to be there can be demoralising at first, but keep at it and all will be well. I'm very fortunate that my director and K-teachers have all been very supportive and helpful (so far - first month down!), so your mileage may vary.

[CabbageTownRoyals]

Chaos

[jajdude]

Yeah. My first day was not fun. Had no idea what I was doing. It took a while to let it sink in that the people truly spoke very little English, and that a lot of kids didn't give a fiddler's fart about learning it or listening to someone speaking it. I thought I had made a big mistake. Years later, I realized, yes, I have made a mistake.

(Also, when I first came to Korea I had the Newfie accent... poor students.)








Not really, I have had some good experiences with a lot of nice students.

[Hyeon Een]

Although my first job wasn't bad I was thrown in at the deep end.

I was under the impression that I'd get taken to my apartment for a rest, then perhaps the next day I'd get some training, then maybe a day or two after I'd start teaching. I was wrong.

What actually happened is that after 3 flights I was picked up by my new boss, who played loud Korean dance/nightclub music in the car for a 60 minute drive whilst he told me that I'd be teaching the next day and that he was taking me to my apartment.

I had partaked liberally from the free booze on the airplane and was somewhat drunk. My new boss seemed cool, what with his music and stories and all. He took me to the hagwan and told me his brother would take me to my apartment in 30 minutes.

30 minutes later he changed his mind, and told me "Oh, but you should teach a class first". This was straight off the airplane into the hagwan, no apartment stop first.

Luckily for him I was drunk so I said "OK!" (If I was sober I woulda said "hell no, where's my day of rest then day or two of training"). I asked for the book I'd be teaching out of. He said "Oh sorry, the other teacher has it, you will get it in a minute"

So, I got pushed into the elevator to go 2 floors up, and I got given the book and the page number at the same time and was told to "teach this". Obviously, my prep was somwhat lacking, especially since my 10 second elevator ride of prep was ruined by the fact that I had to meet 4 new other teachers at the same time.

I literally went into my first class jetlagged, drunk and unprepared.

I "struck out" as the Americans say. They were a class of students who were capable of free talking with me for the entire 40 minutes. It was in fact a great warm-up.. I imagined all classes would be like that (boy was I wrong) I felt confident as hell after that introduction to 'teaching'.

My advice is expect the unexpected, and don't be surprised if you get the expected. Or something.

[Grotto]

It was:

Here are your books

There is your classroom

These are your students

Go teach

That was my first day/first class

I spent each class introducing myself and telling my students a little about myself and answering any questions they had.

[ella]

Would anyone care to share a first-day experience teaching adults?

[VanIslander]

I first taught kiddies in a hagwon, still do, but back then they were almost all my classes:

CLASS 1: Postcards and family pictures for the first class. Easy.

CLASS 2: A ton of questions of the students in getting to know them in the second class, reviewing how to do introduction dialogues, adding some variety into their robotic responses.

CLASSES 2-10: Candy from my home country, lots of candy, going first to those who win the review "game"/competition quiz at the end of class.

Easy as pie.

But don't get me started on the horrors of teaching my two daily adult classes. They were a different kettle of fish. Took a loooooooong time to connect with them.

[butlerian]

Teaching adults is variable...sometimes you'll get a great class of enthusiastic, talkative Koreans, and next class you'll have people who only want to sit down and seem to want to criticise your teaching style. University students are hit or miss - you need a couple of lively students to wake the other ones up, otherwise it's a very long hour or two...

[moptop]

My first experience with Korea was waiting for 1 1/2 hours for the office manager to pick me up at arrivals. He had the wrong gate number and was waiting in a different area (so he said!). I was sweating bullets by this time, imagining being stranded in a foreign country! He said we were taking a limousine to the school, and I was very impressed thinking I was going to ride in style. Then we got on a bus. It was spacious, though!

We rode to Yeouido, and this tiny little man was trying to lug around my giant suitcase, while I struggled with the other one. (Again sweating like crazy even though it was freezing out) we reached the school floor and I was introduced to everyone. They had not prepared my schedule or books, so I had no idea of what level adult students I would be teaching. But I was a professional teacher, so of course it would come to me naturally...

He took me to my house in a taxi, me gawking the whole way, and we dropped off my bags into an empty room. It had a bed with broken springs, a thin duvet, a small sit down table, an that was it. My villa was down a confusing warren of alleyways that I always got lost at. It was at the back of the building and rife with mold. There were bulges under the wallpaper that MOVED. When I finally convinced my boss they had to move me, I needed to wash every item of clothing I had. They smelled that bad of mold.

We went for dinner around the corner, but there were few visible restaurants. It was a strangely empty neighborhood. I had galbi and tofu and seaweed. Most of it was really good, but I found out I was allergic to tofu that day. Nice experience with hives. He brought me back to my villa and dropped me off saying he'd see me on the tuesday. No Info on how to get to work or what bus to take. No informing me it was a holiday weekend (March 3rd) and all the banks were closed so no money for me, and no telling me where the closest supermarket was so I could buy TOILETPAPER!!!!!!! I had to search through my pockets for airline napkins. sigh. I'm still bitter about that!!!!

I had the number of the teacher I contacted and we arranged to meet on the sunday, but it was friday night and I was abandoned. I had 50, 000 won in my pocket, and a korean phrase book. I decided to try out my adventurous new life and go looking for supplies. I all but marked my way out of "villa land" with chalk and learned my first valuable lesson about navigating in Korea. Always watch for the landmarks. But never use flyers on the walls as landmarks because someone will rip them down or paste over them and you are up poop creek then...It took me awhile to find the supermarket, and I all but stumbled over boxes before I realized what it was. There was almost no english on the food labels and I just had to take a stab from the pictures. This was complicated ny the fact I have some pretty severe allergies, especially to shellfish so you see why this was a bit of a minefield. I ended up with a lot of "potato noodle" ramyan, some outrageously expensive fruit, and some potato chips. I couldn't even tell what the prices were as no one explained the money. The cashier was nice and just picked the money out of my hand. I still had no toilet paper, however. How was I to know they stored it on the top shelf at the back?!?! That weekend I had to shower every time I went to the bathroom!!!!! Grrrrrrrr!!!!!

My first day of work I showed up at 6 am, frozen through. I slept with the entire contents of my suitcase on top of me as no one showed me how to use the heating system, and they also told me it was nice spring weather, so bring light clothing. That weekend, two and a half years ago, Korea had the largest snowfall in 104 years. I had a windbreaker and thin leather shoes. My co-worker was kind enough to tell me how to get to work and I was thrown into my first class with the book thye had just given me. I had a mixture of shy female secretaries, CEOs, sharply dressed office managers, and bleary eyed office workers. I sat there clearing my throat, and they sat there staring, and not blinking. Then the interrogation began. I was blushing beacuse I was so nervous, and someone asks why I'm so red? Do I have a boyfriend? How much do I weigh? Educational backgroud? Why don't I have kids? Why aren't I married? Is my hair natural? How much money do I make? I turned it into a kind of cultural lesson, but holy cow, I was shocked at the bluntness!!! The next lesson all they wanted to talk about was drinking and sex, and the next lesson we did out of the book. I finished that day shaking, but most of the students were very kind and knew what the routine was. They actually taught me!!!! It was probably the most fun I've had in the whole time here. It was certainly the most adventurous!!!

[diablo3]

Well, way back in time when dinosaurs ruled the planet, I was once a teacher in Korea. My first day teaching was like my last day teaching .... full of confidence. You want to know why? Because what they want to know what you already know ... ENGLISH (or ENGLISHI as the koreans pronounce it).

Never be nervous about English because it is your bread and butter. Watch out for Korean management, they only begin to move when there is a disaster. Also, teaching is not high on the priority list of language institutes in Korea because management has no strategy on teaching you to teach. You simply develop your own style with trial and error.

[worldtraveler]

So most of you suggest just doing some Q&A the first day or so....however I will most likely be teaching Kindie and elem. so how much English will they actually know? I am imagining going in and they understand very little and certainly not enough to ask me questions about myself...am I wrong? How advanced, or not advanced are the language skills of the young kids?