Teacher Discussion Forums

Any comments on having a native speaker present in the class to assist with the learning?

I'm finding it very fun indeed to instruct Korean kids without having a Korean in the room to explain what I'm explaining.

I know the cost doubles, but other than that...any practical experience?

I never had anyone else in the classroom either. There were lots of times when the students and I didn't understand each other but it was great fun to try and figure out what we were trying to say. I did learn a few practical commands in their language - please sit down, be nice, and stop but the if I had difficulty with discipline, I would usually just wave and say Bye Bye to the students who were misbehaving and everyone seems to understand that. Either the student calmed down or left. I think having to struggle to communicate is good for both teacher and student especially when you are trying to get them to do some writing. I rarely use exercises but when I occassionally do it makes you really aware of culturally learned items. I once gave students a page where there were pictures of people and little "balloons" coming out of their mouths for the students to write dialogues. The students thought the balloons were clouds and since clouds were really important in their lives (they had a dangerous wind that was signalled by a certain type of cloud) they started in telling stories about that wind and the damage it did. Great lesson for me and I learned to run inside when I saw those clouds but not at all what I intended for the lesson.