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darkcity
Joined: 13 Sep 2007
Location: SF, CA
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 Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2007 1:51 am Post subject: shy guy needs insight |
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Hi,
Been lurking a while, finally managed to join and I just had a few newbie questions.
First, a few background info: I'm graduating my university this year (creative advertising photography), and I'm strongly considering teaching in Korea for a year, then Japan the following year if I enjoy the lifestyle/job.
I'm from California originally (studying in Australia for the past three years). I'm a decent looking 23 year old guy, and my ethnicity is mixed beyond recognition. I don't look (or behave) like a typical, white, tall westerner (I don't mean that in any kind of racist way).
I've made a lot of great Korean friends here in Australia, learned Korean for a semester, currently studying Korean language outside of school with a language exchange partner, and I can get along really well with Koreans outside of the "wow you're a westerner, your english is so good" context. We have genuine friendships, respect for one another's culture, and we tell each other our problems. I often get the "i don't feel like you're a westerner" comment thrown at me. Always nice to feel accepted.
My issue is this: I'm bloody shy in front of groups of people! In the context of parties, I'm the life of the scene, funniest guy there. But once I enter the classroom, I immediately become all business, stern and serious but hiding my nervousness because I know everyone's looking at me!
Typically how many students are in each class? Is it usually a casual, let's chat atmosphere, or is it a professional, strictly controlled teaching environment? Has this kind of shyness been a problem for any of you, and if so, did it just wear off after the first few days?
Frankly, I'm not exactly passionate about teaching English, but I think I have a heck of a lot more interest in Koreans and their culture, and would want to help them, rather than just go for easy money and a free plane ride (which I reckon is the reason a lot of the people choose to teach overseas in the first place).
Also, while I've always had a strong grasp on the English language, I can't say that I'm able to explain every little situation and exception in the rulebooks. Will the schools give me some kind of training, or am I expected to educate myself before I go? I tutored English to some junior college students a few years ago, but mostly we just reviewed really boring worksheets about subordinators, prepositions, and so on.
Look forward to hearing your insight; hopefully I haven't posted the same question for the 56th time this week. I really want to live in Seoul for a year, I'm just not totally sure if I have the right personality to TEACH in Seoul for a year. |
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butlerian
Joined: 04 Sep 2006
Location: Korea
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| Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2007 2:04 am Post subject: Re: shy guy needs insight |
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| darkcity wrote: |
Hi,
Been lurking a while, finally managed to join and I just had a few newbie questions.
First, a few background info: I'm graduating my university this year (creative advertising photography), and I'm strongly considering teaching in Korea for a year, then Japan the following year if I enjoy the lifestyle/job.
I'm from California originally (studying in Australia for the past three years). I'm a decent looking 23 year old guy, and my ethnicity is mixed beyond recognition. I don't look (or behave) like a typical, white, tall westerner (I don't mean that in any kind of racist way).
I've made a lot of great Korean friends here in Australia, learned Korean for a semester, currently studying Korean language outside of school with a language exchange partner, and I can get along really well with Koreans outside of the "wow you're a westerner, your english is so good" context. We have genuine friendships, respect for one another's culture, and we tell each other our problems. I often get the "i don't feel like you're a westerner" comment thrown at me. Always nice to feel accepted.
My issue is this: I'm bloody shy in front of groups of people! In the context of parties, I'm the life of the scene, funniest guy there. But once I enter the classroom, I immediately become all business, stern and serious but hiding my nervousness because I know everyone's looking at me!
Typically how many students are in each class? Is it usually a casual, let's chat atmosphere, or is it a professional, strictly controlled teaching environment? Has this kind of shyness been a problem for any of you, and if so, did it just wear off after the first few days?
Frankly, I'm not exactly passionate about teaching English, but I think I have a heck of a lot more interest in Koreans and their culture, and would want to help them, rather than just go for easy money and a free plane ride (which I reckon is the reason a lot of the people choose to teach overseas in the first place).
Also, while I've always had a strong grasp on the English language, I can't say that I'm able to explain every little situation and exception in the rulebooks. Will the schools give me some kind of training, or am I expected to educate myself before I go? I tutored English to some junior college students a few years ago, but mostly we just reviewed really boring worksheets about subordinators, prepositions, and so on.
Look forward to hearing your insight; hopefully I haven't posted the same question for the 56th time this week. I really want to live in Seoul for a year, I'm just not totally sure if I have the right personality to TEACH in Seoul for a year. |
A lot depends on what kind of job you're looking for here. A hagwon (private school) will generally offer the smallest class sizes and most-structured course(s), and so these tend to be the best if you're new to teaching and need to learn an practice. However, these jobs also tend to offer the worst working conditions, including many teaching hours per week and little vacation.
Public schools can be a bit more daunting, but a lot depends on where it is and how good your co-teachers are. Public schools in the sticks will probably just put you into a class and expect you to perform with little or no guidance, but this isn't always the case. It's likely that public schools in Seoul will be better prepared to deal with native-speakers, but I haven't worked in Seoul so I can't be sure of that.
University jobs are more difficult to come by but are still possible. If you are genuinely interested in teaching English, this might be a good option and will give you valuable experience before potentially leaving to go to Japan.
You're unlikely to get much - if any - training at most jobs, though you could get lucky. Hagwon jobs are generally straightforward, though. Public schools can be more difficult as you may be expected to make your own curriculum, but after awhile this can be a good thing.
One more note: I don't think your sentence about not being "a typical, white, tall westerner" is highly appropriate - after all, what's typical? I know many white, tall westerners, and they're certainly far from identical! |
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dakdungchim
Joined: 27 Mar 2003
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| Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2007 2:06 am Post subject: Scholarship |
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| See if Korea offers langugae learning scholarships. Other countries do. |
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Paji eh Wong
Joined: 03 Jun 2003
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| Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2007 2:12 am Post subject: |
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| My issue is this: I'm bloody shy in front of groups of people! |
If you are an EFL teacher, you shouldn't be spending that much time in front of the group talking. The idea is to get the students to talk, not you. You could always get a job at a kiddy hagwon, with a max class size of 10.
If you want to get over your fear of public speaking, consider public speaking training. Try Toastmasters. It is an amazing skill to have.
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| Will the schools give me some kind of training |
Probably not. You probably don't want to be trained by these people anyway.
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| Also, while I've always had a strong grasp on the English language, I can't say that I'm able to explain every little situation and exception in the rulebooks. |
Grammar is not that important. Learn verb tenses and parts of speech before you leave. You can pick up other stuff before you arrive. Grammar practice is not what Korean students need anyway... |
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Otherside
Joined: 06 Sep 2007
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| Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2007 2:17 am Post subject: |
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I'm a pretty shy person, and I thought I'd be terribly nervous standing in front of a class.
Probably the best thing you can do is some form of TEFL course. (I did a CELTA). I had no teaching experience and it really gave me a heads up.
Not to mention I had 6 hours of observed teaching practice. After having your tutor and 5 fellow classmates watching you teach 12 adults with an Elementary level of English, a couple of times that shyness in front of the class goes away pretty fast.
As has been mentioned before Hagwons generally give you classes of about 3-10 students, while public schools the numbers can be as high as 40. Obviously for a conversation/chatting type vibe Hagwons are better - ignoring the problems which seem to be pretty common in Hagwons. |
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tomato
Joined: 31 Jan 2003
Location: I get so little foreign language experience, I must be in Koreatown, Los Angeles.
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| Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2007 2:28 am Post subject: Re: shy guy needs insight |
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| darkcity wrote: |
| I'm a decent looking 23 year old guy, and my ethnicity is mixed beyond recognition. |
You are likely to be asked about your ethnicity.
비빔밥 is a serving of rice mixed with several other items.
A contributor to this thread says he is part British and part American Indian.
So he calls himself a 비빔사람, which means "mixed person."
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| Typically how many students are in each class? |
In a 학원, anything over 10 is considered a large class.
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| Is it usually a casual, let's chat atmosphere, or is it a professional, strictly controlled teaching environment? |
Most directors have no objection to a little spontaneity.
When a student comes in wearing a bandage or a cast, I get out the musical instruments and sing a sad song for the student.
Last week, a student brought in a cupful of tadpole eggs, so we made 종이접기 tadpoles.
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| Has this kind of shyness been a problem for any of you, and if so, did it just wear off after the first few days? |
I have had some students mimic me for stammering.
I am gradually overcoming the habit.
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| Also, while I've always had a strong grasp on the English language, I can't say that I'm able to explain every little situation and exception in the rulebooks. |
Teachers of older students sometimes run into such problems.
For the younger students, the most popular textbook series is Let's Go.
No problem here.
The series provides units on verb tenses without using the names of the verb tenses and a units on parts of speech without using the names of the parts of speech.
Besides, some directors allocate all the grammar instruction because they think we don't know what nouns and verbs are.
(Yet they know what 명사's and 동사's are. I don't see the difference.)
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| Will the schools give me some kind of training, or am I expected to educate myself before I go? |
Most directors can't give you any training because they themselves don't know anything about teaching. |
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dogshed
Joined: 28 Apr 2006
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| Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2007 2:37 am Post subject: Re: shy guy needs insight |
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| darkcity wrote: |
Hi,
Been lurking a while, finally managed to join and I just had a few newbie questions.
First, a few background info: I'm graduating my university this year (creative advertising photography), and I'm strongly considering teaching in Korea for a year, then Japan the following year if I enjoy the lifestyle/job.
I'm from California originally (studying in Australia for the past three years). I'm a decent looking 23 year old guy, and my ethnicity is mixed beyond recognition. I don't look (or behave) like a typical, white, tall westerner (I don't mean that in any kind of racist way).
I've made a lot of great Korean friends here in Australia, learned Korean for a semester, currently studying Korean language outside of school with a language exchange partner, and I can get along really well with Koreans outside of the "wow you're a westerner, your english is so good" context. We have genuine friendships, respect for one another's culture, and we tell each other our problems. I often get the "i don't feel like you're a westerner" comment thrown at me. Always nice to feel accepted.
My issue is this: I'm bloody shy in front of groups of people! In the context of parties, I'm the life of the scene, funniest guy there. But once I enter the classroom, I immediately become all business, stern and serious but hiding my nervousness because I know everyone's looking at me!
Typically how many students are in each class? Is it usually a casual, let's chat atmosphere, or is it a professional, strictly controlled teaching environment? Has this kind of shyness been a problem for any of you, and if so, did it just wear off after the first few days?
Frankly, I'm not exactly passionate about teaching English, but I think I have a heck of a lot more interest in Koreans and their culture, and would want to help them, rather than just go for easy money and a free plane ride (which I reckon is the reason a lot of the people choose to teach overseas in the first place).
Also, while I've always had a strong grasp on the English language, I can't say that I'm able to explain every little situation and exception in the rulebooks. Will the schools give me some kind of training, or am I expected to educate myself before I go? I tutored English to some junior college students a few years ago, but mostly we just reviewed really boring worksheets about subordinators, prepositions, and so on.
Look forward to hearing your insight; hopefully I haven't posted the same question for the 56th time this week. I really want to live in Seoul for a year, I'm just not totally sure if I have the right personality to TEACH in Seoul for a year. |
Two random thoughts:
Can you delay your graduation a year and be an undergraduate exchange student?
You could come here as a graduate student? |
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artyom
Joined: 28 Jul 2007
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| Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2007 2:41 am Post subject: |
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| Otherside wrote: |
Probably the best thing you can do is some form of TEFL course. (I did a CELTA). I had no teaching experience and it really gave me a heads up.
Not to mention I had 6 hours of observed teaching practice. After having your tutor and 5 fellow classmates watching you teach 12 adults with an Elementary level of English, a couple of times that shyness in front of the class goes away pretty fast.
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Yes I agree, I did the Trinity course which is pretty similar to the Celta. It really gives you an idea of what to expect when teaching. It is quite expensive to do the course but well worth it especially if you are quite serious about wanting to teach which you seem to be. Also if you do the course and find that you don't like teaching then that probably means that teaching isn't for you. It's better to find that out at home than move 1000's of miles away and find out. |
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chris_J2
Joined: 17 Apr 2006
Location: From Brisbane, Au.
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| Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2007 3:07 am Post subject: Nerves |
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| I had to do about 6 presentations at University, so the shyness had already worn off by the time I arrived & started teaching. I was still a little nervous & insecure in my first few weeks in Korea, but got over it. I finally hit my stride after the summer camp. |
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darkcity
Joined: 13 Sep 2007
Location: SF, CA
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| Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2007 3:22 am Post subject: |
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Good lord, I leave for an hour or two and didn't expect so many responses. Thanks for the advice, guys.
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I had to do about 6 presentations at University, so the shyness had already worn off by the time I arrived & started teaching. I was still a little nervous & insecure in my first few weeks in Korea, but got over it.
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Yeah, same with me and the public speaking at university. I had to do about 5 presentations per semester. I guess I'm not so much SHY about public speaking as I am just uneasy. I'm not relaxed, I tend to talk very fast; I could be much more fun, effective, and likable as a teacher if I was totally calm in front of the group. I guess the secret is to just make them understand that they've been students for some 15-odd years, but this is my first year as a teacher, so to please be patient with me.
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| Can you delay your graduation a year and be an undergraduate exchange student? |
Good idea, and funnily enough, my uni did an exchange to Busan last semester. Alas, I'm already an int'l student, and my uni would rather sponsor an Aussie citizen with good grades than a slimy American with mediocre grades.
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| You could come here as a graduate student? |
I hate school (as a student). It took a gun to my head to make me bother going to uni in the first place. I'll eat an infant before I go to graduate school.
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You are likely to be asked about your ethnicity. |
Macanese (Portuguese/Chinese) and a sprinkle of Italian. Bi-bim-saram sounds funny, i'll have to remember that.
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Teachers of older students sometimes run into such problems.
For the younger students, the most popular textbook series is Let's Go. |
Seeing as how I'd rather dismember a child than teach it, I don't think I'll be teaching any elementary kids anytime soon. I'm not exactly sure how much freedom of choice I'd have when it comes time to boogie, but I prefer around 16-25. I can communicate with people older than that just fine, but I look young, I am young, and it would feel very strange for me (I used to tutor an older, chauvinistic Korean guy; I could sense a buttload of resentment for having a foreigner half his age tell him how to speak English).
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If you want to get over your fear of public speaking, consider public speaking training. Try Toastmasters. It is an amazing skill to have. |
Not a bad idea. Actually I'm a really crazy guy after I get used to the people. Or after a few shots of Bacardi. It's just the first introduction period, when none of us are really friends, that I'm quiet and try to get a feel for everyone first.
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One more note: I don't think your sentence about not being "a typical, white, tall westerner" is highly appropriate - after all, what's typical? I know many white, tall westerners, and they're certainly far from identical! |
Sorry about that. Bad start to the forums, it probably wasn't the most P.C. thing to have said. I meant stereotypical. Often, when I meet foreigners who've never experienced America or Americans outside of the movies, they're usually quite surprised to find out I'm American (Californian, no less), as they're expecting me to look and behave like [insert obnoxious celebrity here]. God forbid I should use chopsticks well, they're forever in AWE ("You use chopsticks very well for an American!").
Thanks again for all the responses people. I've only gotten the rose-colored view of teaching English in Korea from my Korean friends. It's nice to hear opinions from the viewpoint of the teacher, for a change. |
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Hotpants
Joined: 27 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2007 6:19 am Post subject: |
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I agree that taking the 4 week teaching cert course beforehand will give you a good feel of how you interact with people in the classroom environment and whether it's something you could enjoy. It's really a good investment if you are considering teaching longterm.
You can also start out with a short summer camp or winter camp to avoid committing to an entire year.
I'm also not always a 'people person', and I've found that it's important to find out what age group you feel most comfortable with when teaching, so that you can enjoy what you do, rather than thinking: omg, my class all hate me! Teaching young kids is very different to teaching adults. |
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chris_J2
Joined: 17 Apr 2006
Location: From Brisbane, Au.
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| Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2007 7:28 am Post subject: Tips |
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| I tend to talk very fast |
You'll need to slow down when speaking, & clearly enunciate every syllable. Also, if you're teaching beginners, use small words. eg 'UFO', & 'now', instead of ''unidentified flying object'' & ''immediately''. |
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tomato
Joined: 31 Jan 2003
Location: I get so little foreign language experience, I must be in Koreatown, Los Angeles.
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| Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2007 3:56 pm Post subject: Re: Scholarship |
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| dakdungchim wrote: |
| See if Korea offers langugae learning scholarships. Other countries do. |
Dakdungchim, you got me interested.
I found a good Webpage which lists such programs, and it is right here.
Of course, I may be aiding and abetting the competition by making this announcement,
but I want to do my good deed for the day. |
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chris_J2
Joined: 17 Apr 2006
Location: From Brisbane, Au.
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| Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2007 6:40 pm Post subject: Beginner |
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I guess the secret is to just make them understand that they've been students for some 15-odd years, but this is my first year as a teacher, so to please be patient with me.
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It's not the students that were impatient, in my experience, but my Korean Co-teacher. "Bali Bali" basically means hurry up! She wanted me to start running, before I'd learned to walk, when it came to teaching. Apparently, this is common throughout Korea, so don't take it personally. Just be patient. Your learning curve will get up to speed in due course. In retrospect, she was a very good co-teacher. Her criticisms mellowed right out, after my teaching skills improved. And even turned to praise!
My suggestion would be to go through all the available material, & sort it neatly or catologue it, so you know exactly what resources are available at the school. If you're lucky, the previous teacher may have already done this. My school resources were in a mess when I started, so I cleaned it up, (a subtle suggestion from my co-teacher) & put all the grade 3, 4, 5, & 6 classes materials in class & date order. |
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Dome Vans
Guest
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| Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2007 7:24 pm Post subject: |
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| artyom wrote: |
| Otherside wrote: |
Probably the best thing you can do is some form of TEFL course. (I did a CELTA). I had no teaching experience and it really gave me a heads up.
Not to mention I had 6 hours of observed teaching practice. After having your tutor and 5 fellow classmates watching you teach 12 adults with an Elementary level of English, a couple of times that shyness in front of the class goes away pretty fast.
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Yes I agree, I did the Trinity course which is pretty similar to the Celta. It really gives you an idea of what to expect when teaching. It is quite expensive to do the course but well worth it especially if you are quite serious about wanting to teach which you seem to be. Also if you do the course and find that you don't like teaching then that probably means that teaching isn't for you. It's better to find that out at home than move 1000's of miles away and find out. |
Excellent advice from both of these. I did a CELTA and class myself as being introverted, but the CELTA course, was a rude awakening for me. Thought I'd have no problem standing up in front of Ss, but to start with it's very daunting. Especially with Upper intermediate Ss, you really need to know your stuff, being very well planned etc, because the questions you get can be very hard, a lot harder than the ones I'll get here at school. that's why I was a little apprehensive about teaching in Korea, but found no problem. Kids are very interesting to teach. And no where near as scary as upper intermediate adults. The CELTA really helped in that respect.
It' definately good to realise this at home than flying all the way out here and not liking it. If anything I think teaching here will make you more extrovert, you'll not realise it at the time, but it happens.
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My issue is this: I'm bloody shy in front of groups of people! In the context of parties, I'm the life of the scene, funniest guy there. But once I enter the classroom, I immediately become all business, stern and serious but hiding my nervousness because I know everyone's looking at me! |
This disappears very quickly, don't worry about it.
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| I tend to talk very fast |
Chris J2 is right. I think you realise quickly what works and what doesn't. The CELTA course makes sure that the grading of your language is right for the level you're teaching. But again over time, it's sorts itself out. |
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