Korean Job Discussion Forums

[elliemk]

I've read a lot of the posts here about teaching kids. They offered some very good advice. When I was in Korea before, I taught adults. This time I will be teaching kids age 8-15. The person who is hiring me is a friend from my time before. He said, "You know some Korean, so that will be helpful with the kids."

Well, I didn't tell him that I barely know any Korean!

So here's my question. What phrases are best for me to learn before I go so that I can communicate more effectively?

I don't have time to do a whole course, as I'm leaving for Korea in two weeks!

Yikes Any help would be appreciated.

[luvnpeas]

You don't need to know any Korean to teach English.

That's easy for me to say, because I have a Korean co-teacher. But she mainly speaks Korean to relay complicated instructions about an activity, not a few key phrases that I could learn. Far better to teach them those few key phrases in English, e.g. "Put your head down and be quiet."

[elliemk]

Bumping this so hopefully more people will answer!

[tomato]

For goodness sakes, learn "화장실."
That means "restroom."

The first time I read a picture book to the class,
one of the children kept saying "안 보여."
I didn't understand what he meant, and he couldn't say it in English.
So I asked him to write it down.
I took the piece of paper out in the hallway and asked the next person who passed by.
It meant "I can't see."

It would also be good to know the names of school supplies.

책 = book
종이 = paper
연필 = pencil
펜 = pen
지우개 = eraser
가방 = bookbag

You will also hear the words 바보 and 멍청이.
They mean "fool."
미친 놈 means "crazy person."

[luvnpeas]

Why not teach them the English words instead?

[bosintang]

[Sleepy in Seoul]

I belive that any normal classroom instructions should be in English as should almost all of what you say, but a couple of good phrases to know are: 엄마 한테 이른다! (I'm going to tell your mother!), 나가 / 가라! (Get out! - to students who refuse to leave the classroom after being told in English) and 까불자마 (Don't mess with me).

[tomato]

[Anicca]

Saying some Korean will definitely be useful to you. I worked in a school where the kids didn't understand anything. Shit school, but anyways... the above posts had useful phrases. Here are few more, in case you get a real low level class.

'Sseo' or polite 'Sseuseyo' meaning 'write'
'eodiyae _______' where is your _________? (where is your notebook??!)
_________ gajyeo wa(yo) = bring your ________ (bring a pencil to class!) I said this a thousand times.

In my experience, being able to speak korean to the kids was essential. That's because the kids I taught were really low level, and in my school there was no enforcement of the "no korean" rule, and if I didn't speak Korean there wouldn't have been much communicating happening. And my Korean is not good.

Good luck!

BTW: I taught kids one year, then adults one year. Then I tried kids again.... Bad idea. I lasted one month. Now I'm going back to adults. 6:30am, no problem!

[luvnpeas]

[tomato]

Luvnpeas, I agree with you completely that dialogue in English class should be in English.
After 7 years of being surrounded by Korean English teachers who keep up a steady patter in Korean from 5:00 to 5:50, it is refreshing to realize that I am not alone.

I still say, that a foreign English teacher should learn Korean but keep it out of the English classroom.

Here are the reasons for my position:

■ It sets a good example.

When the students see the Korean teachers getting together in the office and hangukmalling like crazy, they probably think, "The teachers don't practice English, why should I?"

If they see you practicing Korean outside of class hours, however, they will probably think, "The foreign teacher is enjoying practicing a second language, maybe I can too."

You're only one person against a whole army of Korean teachers, but do what you can.

■ A lot of potential classroom material is available in the Korean culture.

There are lots of Korean children's songs which could be easily translated and used in the English class.
Since the children already know the songs, they will understand.
Here are some examples:

Ant
Barley
Build a House
Dog Bell
Frog
Little Child
Lullaby
Magpie
Mister Fox
Morning Time Has Past
School Bell
Scoot Back
Thank You for the Snack
Tiger King
Train is Leaving
Why Are You at Our House?

There is also a vast treasury of Korean children's books which can easily be translated. For more information on this, click here.

■ The kids shouldn't speak Korean in English class, but when they do, it would help to understand them.

Soon after I arrived in Korea, I held up a picture book and one of the students said, "안 보여." I had to ask the student to write down the sentence on a piece of paper. Then I had to run to the office with the piece of paper and show it to a Korean, who told me that it meant, "I can't see."

Learning Korean can even help you in enforcing an English-only rule. If Suzy asks her neighbor for a 지우개, you can hold up an eraser and ask, "Who can tell Suzy what this is?" When someone answers "eraser," you can say "All right now, Suzy, can you remember that?"

■ Studying Korean shows respect for the country and its people.

Koreans probably suspect that 한국어를 공부하지 않는 외국사람's look down their noses at Koreans.
Koreans probably suspect that 한. 공. 않. 외.'s cloister themselves with other 한. 공. 않. 외. 사.'s
Koreans probably suspect that 한. 공. 않. 외.'s get together on weekends and bellyache over every little thing.
Koreans probably suspect that there is a message board somewhere on the Internet where 한. 공. 않. 외.'s vent their wrath upon the entire nation of Korea.

Of course, you and I know that this isn't true, but this is probably what Koreans suspect.

I hope you find this topic interesting. If you do, then
bump one of my old threads for me.

[Fresh Prince]

OP: I don't think learning Korean phrases is a big deal when you first arrive. The students will probably be on their best behavior for at least a week or two, hopefully longer, so it won't be that important. As you teach you'll be exposed to the language that the other teachers and students use and will usually pick it up fast.

Are you familiar with the various conjugations of the verbs yet? Without knowing the difference between the honorific, polite, plain, and command forms it gets really confusing.

Also a lot of teachers find that the kids don't really respond to the use of Korean that well if it isn't spoken perfectly, which is really difficult to do. A lot of the time they just laugh because we mispronounce things or just have no idea what we are saying.

[betty74]

[Sody]

There's nothing wrong with using Korean in the classroom, as long as you know how to use it effectively. The teachers who shouldn't use it are the ones who simply cannot teach well. If you depend on Korean to explain the lesson or to communicate with your students then you are probably doing something wrong to begin with. An effective ESL teacher speaks about 10% of the time and has the students speaking 90% of the time. There is a variance among many teachers but the split is usually never more than 20% teacher, 80% students if he/she is a good teacher.

I use the word "tarahaseyo," (please repeat) to cue the students to speak what I'm saying. Of course I can use the word "repeat," but hearing a Korean word and then an English phrase helps them focus sometimes.

Also, "Joe young hie haseyo," is more effective than "ya!"

Sody