HELP TEACHING LITTLE KIDS

[dapjang]

Hi, I'm Korean, but I've grown up speaking English all my life. I'm currently in college and don't have any training in teaching, but am looking to make some money during the summer. I'm not qualified to teach at a hogwon or anything like that. A person I know has asked me to babysit/teach English to their little kids (around 2nd grade). They just want me to speak English to them. Although the job sounds pretty easy, I want to do a good job, and am planning on using books and other learning aids. I would appreciate any insight on how to teach these Korean kids English and any tips on good books that are available here in Korea.


I don't know where to begin with these kids. How do I teach them new words, in a different language? I'm fluent in both Korean and English so I will be tempted to use Korean when explaining, but I don't know how beneficial this will be. How do americans who don't know any Korean go about this? Should I abstain from speaking any Korean at all when teaching them? I need some help.

[joshua2004]

If the kids don't know any English, you need to start with basic things like: hello, my name is, what's your name. Basic questions like: do you want some water, are you hungry, are you hot? The simpler the sentence the better. Responding in Korean is fine. The important thing to start off with is them being able to understand English, later on they produce speech. You can develop many questions or statements for them to learn and respond to.

You could video tape short sections of simple cartoons, commercials or other English programs. Write out the dialogues of it, explain what it means, play it over and over until they can hear the words in the show. If they are having problems hearing the words, have them try and repeat the sounds on the video, this helps them identify the words. Play the whole commercial or section of a cartoon and then go back one sentence or less at a time.

Teach the basic things you have to know when you are a kid. Numbers, colors, time, letters, shapes, etc. So use activities that are fun which involve these things. You will find that you are best off inventing your own games. But there is nothing wrong starting out with hangman, pictionary and the like.

An important thing is that the kids are understanding what they are hearing and reading. If it is all just noise coming in, they won't learn anything. Using books, you must therefore choose ones that fit their level of understanding or that you can adapt. Reading is the best way to improve vocabulary. Reading can be online, on a worksheet, in a book, on a blackboard, etc.

Have fun,

Josh

[EH]

First: I am 100% sure you will do a great job with those kids. So many private tutors in Korea, with more qualifications than you, do not have your drive to do a good job. And the kids know it. A good attitude like yours can really improve your success rate. So have confidence in yourself because you deserve it.

Second: joshua2004 had some excellent suggestions. Here are some more.

a) My policy is to speak Korean only when English explanations have failed to get the point across. I also let the kids speak Korean when they've tried to communicate in English but just can't get their meaning across, or when they are really emotional and can't think straight. Otherwise, try English in all circumstances. But whatever your policy, make sure the kids know what it is from the beginning--don't flip flop.

b) Get a book to teach from. The parents really like this, and it gives the class some simple structure to fall back on. Let's Go is popular, but there are a lot of other books out there. Go to Gyobo Book Store at Gwanghwamun in Seoul to get some ideas.

c) Don't use just the book, though. Insert a lot of games, with lots of movement (charades, Simon says, find the ____ games, etc.), and do other fun things like drawing pictures and writing captions for the pictures, role plays with costumes, even field trips if the parents agree. The trick is to start with a theme or main teaching point of the day, and make everything else connect to it in some way so they get lots of painless practice.

If you do well with these kids, the parents will talk to your friends and you are likely to have all the work you can handle. Good luck to you.

And one more thing... private teaching in Korea by foreign nationals is, in most cases, illegal... if you are on an F4 visa then (maybe?) you can register yourself legally as a private tutor. But if you're not registered then you're not legal. So if you are illegal, please be careful. Go to the Korean Jobs Forums to ask about how to become legal. You don't want to get caught, fined, or kicked out of the county.

[Sally Olsen]

I doubt if they will kick a Korean citizen out of the country for teaching English. I think the ideas above are excellent. Let's Go has a lot of card games and puppets and such to play with as well as tapes. There used to be games suggested on their web site but I haven't seen it for awhile.

[dapjang]

Hey thank you all for your suggestions and support...
By all means keep the suggestions coming if you guys have any more.
Oh and about getting kicked out of the country.....
I'm Korean, i.e. carry a Korean passport.. I think my visa problems got solved there... As for being a legal teacher, I'm just hoping they don't really care. thanks again all.

[EH]

Oh, you're a citizen! You're so lucky; all legal woes vanish, then. I just assumed you were ethnically Korean with a foreign passport. Silly me. Still, to be legal technically you are supposed to register as a tutor with... I think the gu office? It's a tax thing. And as far as I know, you don't have to show any particular qualifications to register, besides perhaps a high school diploma.

But you're probably right about them not caring much.

[Stefanie]

Kids are pretty smart. They will understand you soon enough. Also, you can perform actions as you speak.

Like raising the water jug in the air asking "Would you like a drink of water?"
When the kids reply in Korean, you can say: "Yes, a drink of water for you." or something of the like.

In the beginning, you will be doing all the talking. Don't press the kids to speak. Research has shown there is an "Incubation period" where learners first listen and then start speaking all by themselves.

I have done some babysitting for younger kids a few years ago. They loved my reading English books to them, though we mostly spoke German with each other.

(A funny story: the older one was only 2 years old when I started and he somehow thought my name was bye bye for a while. Somehow, he remembered that word being my name. )

What I really liked were books. "Beginner books" from the Dr. Seuss series are really great.

Some examples I really enjoyed:

Put me in the zoo - colors
Ten apples up on top - numbers to 10

books which keep repeating the same sentences

Are you my mother?
The best nest
Green eggs and ham
Go dogs, go

Those kids I babysat LOVED Arthur books when they got older. Arthus is a second grader so it would fit perfectly agewise.
The books are paperback and affordable. All Arthur-books are written by Marc Brown.

Also enjoyable are the Berenstain Bears by Jan & Stan Berenstain or the Little Critter series by Mercer Mayer.

Singing English songs will be fun as well. Kids learn a lot better when a rhythm is involved. Chants are great as well. I could only suggest a program which was invented by two Austrian teachers. It is all English so that would not matter too much. Their books have an according CD package. All kids in the classroom are wild about it and it is extremely catchy. Some of those chants you will never forget. Most songs and chants aren't originally from an English speaking country, but they are all correct and sang by Native speakers.

The name is Rainbow Playway. I would suggest the number 3 series with the CD. It is designed to be completed in a school year here with 2 classes per week. So you would probably be able to finish it during the summer. It has games and fun activities included so it really is a cool way. Also, it has comics and stories so it is fun for the kids. You can act those stories out as well.

You need the Pupil's Book and the CD. I would strongly suggest the activity book as well. If you have extra money, you can get the video as well. It is expensive though. Same with the word cards and picture cards. The best are the story cards, but it is really expensive. And as you aren't in a classroom, all kids can see when you hold up a book to show something.

Hope that was helpful...
Stefanie

[dapjang]

So I've come here to actually start teaching now and have discovered that the kids are actually in 6th grade and not in 3rd. So any of you that gave me comments.... any revisions or additions due to this new twist? I prepared some lesson plans and had ideas in my head such as singing songs, and other things that will probably offend and insult these 6th graders.

[Stefanie]

Singing is probably out then. My friend told me her 6th graders liked singing in French though. You might try with some songs which aren't too baby-ish.

Also, you can take some lyrics of a pop song which is popular with the kids. Have them give you a couple they like and choose one with not too much "slang" or bad language which is not too hard to understand.

Reading comics and jokes is always a big hit.

It is good to have lots of activity going on, even 6th graders like to play a game. You can have dialogues and little plays acted out.

When you have a nice bunch of students, this will work. If the kids are testing you those activities might turn out to be a disaster. But I would say give it a try anyway because eventually they might see that you are serious and want them to work and try to make the lessons fun. I would give it a chance and be not too strict, also give them something to write in every lesson. It helps most kids a lot to have done something with their pen, even if it is taking notes on how to perfect the play you are performing.

[dapjang]

Hi thanks for your comments, sorry I always have to add detials, I should have explained my situation well the first time. I'm just tutoring two kids, 6th grade and 5th grade, but their english is pretty bad. I'm really impressed with their pronounciation, but their understanding of what I'm saying and ability to create / read sentances is pretty low. Perhaps it is because of their lack of vocabulary knowledge. Their parents want me to improve the kids' ability to converse in casual situations, and other practical situations. I researched some vocabulary lists to teach but I am having a hard time coming up with ones that fit the practical category.

[Stefanie]

I was tutoring an 8th grader ages ago. She was not very enthusiastic about English. Try and talk to the kids. For once, in another language you both speak if there is one. Ask them what they want to do. The pop song scheme should always work because it is interesing for them. Same with a comicbook. Not too much text, usually not too hard, fun to read and you can usually guess a lot by the pictures which means they can be sure they understood what they read because the pictures show.

Another good way is talking about things they are interested in. Like their hobbies or pets or something of the like. If you make a vocabulary list for you, that is good enough, but the kids cannot work with a list. You need to make it some fun for them. That is often why kids have a bad grade in a subject - because they are simply not interested to bother much. I don't know enough about your situation to get the real picture but I think the kids get bored with vocabulary lists in school enough. If you can, take them on a field trip every so often because you will find many objects in their surroundings they can see and you can use in your classes. It leaves much more of an impression.

Just an idea popping in my head now: Go to a parking lot and play I spy. "I spy a car." Now the kids need to question you. Van, car, bus, ... Is it red, blue, brown.... Is it big, small, long, ... Is it in the sun or in the shade? Is it in this row? Is it next to another car? Is it next to a blue car... You get the picture. You have many different areas of vocabulary involved and with a small game like this, you can challenge them. They will ask you the word for shade when they need it to find the car.

If you get to take many trips you can have them write a little trip diary, like: Today, we went to get ice cream. On our way, we played a car-game on the parking lot. I had chocolate ice cream, my teacher ate vanilla and my brother had a strawberry cone.

Small things, and they can also write the words they have learned during the trip. It will help them memorize the words.

Maybe that was helpful...

[dapjang]

I'm finding it very hard to fill the tutoring time. I have things I want to teach in mind, but I get done so quickly. I don't have a classroom full of kids. I just have two kids that listen well so time passes very quickly. I need activities to get the kids involved. As hard as I try it is very hard for me to get them to talk. I end up talking, which shortens the amount of time I can work with my material. I've done research but I can't find any activities for a small group setting. Most suggestions are for larger classrooms, and more active students. I need help

[mesmark]

I teach very small groups privately and you just need to add twists to all the usual games.

Make things timed races where the students compete to beat their old times. Use this for words, short phrases, phonics, reading, etc. but don't kill it. I generally use timed races to increase fluency (the students already know the material. I just want them to get it out faster.) Timing them means they compete against themselves and you have less of a problem with the stronger one. Compete yourself and be dramatic about losing or winning. If they are not competetive, please scratch this idea.

Othello is a great game to play in low numbers. Designate a 6X6 board and use your flash cards (front and back, not black and white.) You can have the kids make sentences, ask questions describe something using the cards. In this game they will repeat the same things over and over again, so make sure the language is challenging enough that it doesn't seem ridiculous, but not too difficult that it distracts from the game.

I try to think of games where the object of the game/activity is not to perfect English but the students use English throughout the activity.

A walk is a good idea, but keep it cool. You said you had some extra lesson time. Ask them what they want to do. Where do they want to go? Then just see what language develops (probably a lot of simple words/phrases like - cool, nice, you gotta be kidding, what now? etc. - Things that are good to know and can kill conversation if you don't know them.)

Reward their effort. Stickers are my system of choice.

I hope that helps or gives you some ideas.

Mark
www.mes-english.com