After a Very Long Silence...Stage Two
During the past two months, straight through the holidays, I’ve been tied tightly to my job, teaching little monsters how to speak a language quite distant from their native tongue. Little outside that realm has happened since mid November. But now I have a break, and it’s time to come up and take in three and a half weeks of free air.
My image of Korea has somewhat darkened since my last post three months ago, and thence I have reached what was referred to at orientation as “stage two.” At “stage one” everything is green and happy, and Korea seems like one of the greatest places to live. The fall air is fresh and the weather perfect, all temporary conditions that give way to “stage two.” At this point, everything is upside down, summer is winter, the days shorter and happiness fades to misery.
Well, that’s the general description of "stage two." I’m not exactly feeling like a character out of one of Edgar Allen Poe’s works. I went through this in France as well, and I probably would have in Spain had I lived there longer. I’m thinking it’s just a part of winter. But I’m not depressed or even unhappy, just frustrated. Actually, what’s got me biting my nails is the English education system here in Korea, which is a 100% failure. Before you continue, read this.
I don’t know a single Korean who lives in Jeju with whom I can have a real English conversation. I know a few on the mainland, and even their English is full of rudimentary grammar mistakes. Of all Korean born English teachers whom I’ve met, from elementary school to high school, none are proficient in English. That also includes all the supervisors and people high up in the English Education department on the island. In Korea, English may as well be an esoteric dead language that everyone is trying to learn but no one knows how to speak. As I mentioned before, when I speak English with my co-teachers, I must dramatically simplify my manner of speaking. That ends up driving me nuts after awhile, so I’ve been using Korean whenever possible. It’s much easier.
But all this I could deal with, if I knew the system would change. Unfortunately, in addition to everything mentioned in the article above, the curriculum remains exam centered, leading students to choose the right multiple choice answer rather than how to correctly use verbs. I’ve often reviewed some of the exams teachers are giving students, and many of the questions are ridden with mistakes. Students are taught grammar, but never get little chance to use it. When they do, there is little authority to correct it, except on that one day a week for forty-five minutes the foreign teacher is there with the group of 30 to 40 students.
All this describes my teaching up until the end of last semester. I had managed to deal with all that. But my frustration hit the deep end at the beginning of my extra classes, which started January 2nd and finished January 12th. I taught alone - no Korean teacher to translate, no one to tell the students how to say this and that neither in English nor in Korean. 30 seventh grade students, most of whom forced by their parents, attended three hours of English, Tuesday through Saturday the first week, and Monday through Friday the second. Please tell me, how on Earth are beginning English students supposed to learn English, from a teacher who cannot speak Korean, at least well enough to explain activities, worksheets, and basic grammar etc? The reasoning that allowed for these extra classes to take place needs to be silenced. I don’t think I need to explain why the classes were a failure.
It often seems like Koreans have this idea that if they spend time with foreigners, they will absorb English as in some sort of osmosis. It wouldn’t surprise me if it were true, but so many Koreans with whom I’ve talked have said to me, “Oh, I want to learn English.” They’re motivated enough to try and speak. But they don’t study nor do they put the time in. I often wonder if I should tell them, “you will never speak English unless you put your time in, hit the books, study your ass off, read, write, and practice speaking with other Koreans at least an hour a day.” I have done all the above and then some with Korean during the past four months, and being proficient is still a distant dream.
I don’t blame myself, but I really hate it when classes go sour. It is more worth it to have successful classes, as all those during a two-day English camp I had shortly after Christmas, and not get paid than it is to have unpromising classes and be paid extra in addition to my salary.
My image of Korea has somewhat darkened since my last post three months ago, and thence I have reached what was referred to at orientation as “stage two.” At “stage one” everything is green and happy, and Korea seems like one of the greatest places to live. The fall air is fresh and the weather perfect, all temporary conditions that give way to “stage two.” At this point, everything is upside down, summer is winter, the days shorter and happiness fades to misery.
Well, that’s the general description of "stage two." I’m not exactly feeling like a character out of one of Edgar Allen Poe’s works. I went through this in France as well, and I probably would have in Spain had I lived there longer. I’m thinking it’s just a part of winter. But I’m not depressed or even unhappy, just frustrated. Actually, what’s got me biting my nails is the English education system here in Korea, which is a 100% failure. Before you continue, read this.
I don’t know a single Korean who lives in Jeju with whom I can have a real English conversation. I know a few on the mainland, and even their English is full of rudimentary grammar mistakes. Of all Korean born English teachers whom I’ve met, from elementary school to high school, none are proficient in English. That also includes all the supervisors and people high up in the English Education department on the island. In Korea, English may as well be an esoteric dead language that everyone is trying to learn but no one knows how to speak. As I mentioned before, when I speak English with my co-teachers, I must dramatically simplify my manner of speaking. That ends up driving me nuts after awhile, so I’ve been using Korean whenever possible. It’s much easier.
But all this I could deal with, if I knew the system would change. Unfortunately, in addition to everything mentioned in the article above, the curriculum remains exam centered, leading students to choose the right multiple choice answer rather than how to correctly use verbs. I’ve often reviewed some of the exams teachers are giving students, and many of the questions are ridden with mistakes. Students are taught grammar, but never get little chance to use it. When they do, there is little authority to correct it, except on that one day a week for forty-five minutes the foreign teacher is there with the group of 30 to 40 students.
All this describes my teaching up until the end of last semester. I had managed to deal with all that. But my frustration hit the deep end at the beginning of my extra classes, which started January 2nd and finished January 12th. I taught alone - no Korean teacher to translate, no one to tell the students how to say this and that neither in English nor in Korean. 30 seventh grade students, most of whom forced by their parents, attended three hours of English, Tuesday through Saturday the first week, and Monday through Friday the second. Please tell me, how on Earth are beginning English students supposed to learn English, from a teacher who cannot speak Korean, at least well enough to explain activities, worksheets, and basic grammar etc? The reasoning that allowed for these extra classes to take place needs to be silenced. I don’t think I need to explain why the classes were a failure.
It often seems like Koreans have this idea that if they spend time with foreigners, they will absorb English as in some sort of osmosis. It wouldn’t surprise me if it were true, but so many Koreans with whom I’ve talked have said to me, “Oh, I want to learn English.” They’re motivated enough to try and speak. But they don’t study nor do they put the time in. I often wonder if I should tell them, “you will never speak English unless you put your time in, hit the books, study your ass off, read, write, and practice speaking with other Koreans at least an hour a day.” I have done all the above and then some with Korean during the past four months, and being proficient is still a distant dream.
I don’t blame myself, but I really hate it when classes go sour. It is more worth it to have successful classes, as all those during a two-day English camp I had shortly after Christmas, and not get paid than it is to have unpromising classes and be paid extra in addition to my salary.
posted by prey4wind at 12:00 PM
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