Teaching Begins!

Today was my first full day of teaching in Seoul, and it was great fun. Most of the students here start off being shy, but that ends pretty soon if you start juggling for them, telling jokes, and playing games. I have been seeing small groups of kids for an hour at a time, and we read and write. But perhaps I should backtrack.

Why are they learning English? I would guess it is because English is the language of business. In Korea students have been learning English grammar for some time, but they are really weak in actually carrying on conversations. Jocelyn and Tom in fact met because many Koreans go to the Philippines to learn to speak English. As my Korean teacher, Sang Shin, told me, the government now wants to see students learn how to speak, and this requires something more than learning grammar. Jocelyn and Tom have started their school with about twenty students who come during the afternoon and early evening. Phillip and I are helping with the classes, and thanks to Phillip's mom, Laura Lunn, we have lots of children's books that we have added to the library.

When I asked two of the older students why they wanted to learn English, they said that knowing how to speak English would help them with job opportunities. This reminds me of the Philippines where I asked a 13 year old girl what she wanted to become and she told me an accountant. This would be a pretty unusual response for an American at the same age. For the little girl in the Philippines, education is a very specific means to an end. It is a way of getting out of poverty in the Philippines, and here in Korea it seems to be a way to get a better paying job.

The focus in the past on phonics and grammar, however, has had limited success in achieving these goals. And it doesn't surprise me. My old track coach, Ted Haydon, was an Olympic coach, and in explaining his philosophy of training he said, "You attract more flies with honey than with vinegar." I am not sure that I liked the idea of being referred to as a fly, but I think he was correct that you do better if you like to train, and similarly you do better if you like learning. So rather than stressing phonics, I have the kids read from books that make language interesting--Dr. Seuss is one example. The phrases in his books are fun to memorize because they are so memorable, and the students here had a great time just hearing the music in the writing. They also had a good time writing biographies of themselves in English. I have come to believe that learning a few things well each day works much better than trying to learn a great deal all at once. Sang Shin told me some of the sounds that kids here find difficult, and we also spent time pronouncing "all" so that it didn't come out "arr".

After teaching we went to dinner which is so much different than eating in America. Everyone sits down together on the floor crossing their legs. This will really get my joints working better than any yoga class. And there are vegetables everywhere. At 9 p.m. Tom suggested that we go climb Mount Achon. I assumed it was a short hike, and when his two nieces--Cindy and Candy--asked if they could go along, I was sure it would be a really short trip. Well, after an hour of steep hills, we did get to the top of the Mountain and got a beautiful view of Seoul at night. The hike was wonderful, and it was great to find this wilderness in the middle of such a busy city. Both Phillip and I marvelled at how athletic these two girls were. We were trudging up the hill, and they would periodically burst into a run! It is so much fun being around kids who like to adventure.

Well, the day is about to begin so I will end here...
Zeus