Korean Job Discussion Forums

Sejong · Joined: 01 Jun 2003 Location: Wally World

Just scanned back a few pages, but couldn't find anything recent on this topic, so... Anyway, I'd like to hear some advice/suggestions for teaching a class of 6-7 relatively high-level middle school girls. They're not perfect (or close to it, really), but they're pretty good -- technically they're a free talking class, but they still need a lot of work on grammar, IMO. In the past I used Small Group Discussion Topics for Korean High School Students one day a week (worked fairly well, but I've basically finished the book), we read and discussed a short story from Chicken Soup another day each week, and I used a vocab-building reading exercise book (name escapes me) on the third day. I also get them to write journal/diary entries for me.

However, now that I'm back from vacation, I really, reallly need some new ideas for these girls. Texts, activities, anything would be much appreciated. Thanks, y'all.

RedRob · Joined: 07 Jul 2003 Location: Narnia

I kinda know what you mean I have some v.good students , a group of 7, 5 of 'em have lived in english speaking countries for extended periods. When I have finished my current book( which sucks and we both know it) with them, I'm going to make a short english film with them.
They will each write a proposal, pitch it to the class.A vote.A treatment will be written communally for the best one and pitched again to me.
Then a full script, along witha a story board ( and Korean kids seem to be great at drawing). A shooting sched. and a shot list. An election for production positions( with research into the role of each job)
Hire/borrow a camera for 2 days.
Maybe an in camera edit just for speed and simplicity( this thing is for conversational english practice, not a fest) or a quick one night edit by me, get together with the kids let them choose sound. Bust out popcorn and pat ourselves on the back.
I think this may take 3 weeks(12 lessons) or maybe 4 (16). I'd hope for the former.

VanIslander · Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2003 8:11 am Post subject:

Tonight I was leading a group of such girls through pronunciation exercises with an article about Albert Einstein. Then a student shows up late because she just bought the new album by Se7en. The disruption of ooohs and ahhhs would've lasted minutes if I didn't immediately seize the tape and play some of it along with an impromptu lesson about the meaning of his many English lyrics.

Find out what interests the students and tailor your lesson to it. Hustle. Sweat a little and work as hard at preparing for that class as you expect your students to do in it. Grammar exercises can take 5 minutes per class without resistance as long as the later review isn't presented as rote repetition. Have fun and they will too. They're at or near the age when learning has to seem less so. They're basically young adults. And adults hate learning exercises for learning's sake, whatever they may say.

Above all, they need to have fun. They've already likely realized that life for a Korean woman is pretty crappy. Make learning a learning experience, by doing new things.

Good luck, because that always has something to do with it.

RedRob · Joined: 07 Jul 2003 Location: Narnia

Right on Van Islander, the higher the level, the more prep you need for sure, but of course it works both ways, the more prep you do , the more interesting the class, the more response you get, = you having more fun and going home thinking that you had a cool day and achieved something instead of a bunch of sing -a -long rote learning shit, which I will admit, I sometimes do with my real young fellas.

Sorry , thats one huge sentence.I'm in a rush.

Blue Flower

matthews_world · Joined: 15 Feb 2003

I've seen similar books and the one above at all major book stores in Seoul in their English sections.

I teach TOIEC to middle school students. Keep the ideas coming. I'm tired of playing the same games after lessons.

Very Happy

crazylemongirl · Joined: 23 Mar 2003 Location: almost there...

Write poetry about them.

CLG

Saxiif · Joined: 15 May 2003 Location: Seongnam

They just stuck some middle schoolers on my plate, have my second class with them tomorrow (am supposed to do purely conversatin with the two korean teachers doing grammar and reading). They drive me a bit nuts since two of them are terminally shy and like answering any questions with "just because."
Gaah!

Sejong · Joined: 01 Jun 2003 Location: Wally World

Anda · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: South Korea

Playing a segment of a movie or reading a short story or artical and then asking what they (your students) think about so and so and did so and so do the right or wrong thing etc. You see direct personal question usually don't work here but asking for opinions on others usually does.

captain kirk · Joined: 29 Jan 2003

three nights a week for ninety minutes a class of 'returnees', lived in eng.speaking country two years, 13, boys and girls, 6 students. they 'hate the book', just because it's a book. they love talking about movies, but don't get to see many. so i recount a movie in a way they can understand what i'm talking about. one bigmouth and compulsive liar gets going on made-up, elliptical monologues which sometimes fail but most of the time amuse more than hypnotize. at the start i float around trying to get into their world via one of them. like 'wendy' yesterday night. near her house are 'toduk koyangee'; 'thief cats', and she 'really hates them'. turns out she looks tired because she didn't sleep for their howling. once teacher lucks upon some open doorway to gab like that...the boss wants them to practise writing. so we do that. their writing/punctuation/grammer/spelling are surprisingly weak/bad compared to their speaking. when we follow book, 'can you believe it', they cut through it like butter. usually, we do little bits of everything, and play scrabble at the end which is pretty hilarious. the compulsive liar compulsively cheats.

canuckistan · Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2003 7:57 pm Post subject:

Bandi and Luney's bookstore at Coex has so many NA English textbooks of all kinds that it is sometimes hard for me to choose.

A short story with highlighted vocabulary followed by comprehension/grammar/discussion questions with follow-up writing exercises is a well-rounded approach to "overlearning" the new information. You could test them on the vocabulary every 4 stories or so.

Kirk, the order in which a second language is acquired is roughly as follows: listening, speaking, reading, writing. Good writing is the last thing to be perfected.

captain kirk · Joined: 29 Jan 2003

hmmm, no wonder i always win at scrabble

Juggertha · Joined: 27 May 2003 Location: Anyang, Korea

For early middle scholl i like "headway 1-2" by oxford press.

as for conversation classes.. "JAZZ ENGLISH" is great. Ungly paisley cover but a good source of vocabulary and usable situations.

William Beckerson · Guest

My class of grade 9s are only interested in what their cellphones tell them and any attempt by me to get them to pay attention is met with complaints to my boss because I'm too strict.

My boss is a decent guy and agreed to get me into a new class before I had to smack their little punk teenaged asses upside the head.