Let me start with a question. Which of the girls above speaks the most fluent English? Can you put them in order from best to worst fluency?
Now that you’ve done that – note that these are the “Wondergirls”, a Korean girlband phenom. They are being interviewed in America. Watch the first 50 seconds and pause the video (below). Then, check the order again.
Now, watch the rest of the interview (or if not interested, at least some of it) and check your answer. How did you do?
I started with this exercise because it is an excellent example of “teaching skill”. Experienced teachers have a vast amount of “tacit” knowledge that they apply in the classroom. What you see is not all that there is. Experienced teachers can read the body language, the facial expressions, the eyes of their students and assess understanding. For the most part.
This talent of discerning the invisible (which much of language is), is like the sailor looking at the sea and sensing a hidden reef in the distance. Teachers do this all the time and it is something that really can’t be taught, it just comes in time, with time – more so, less so depending on the individual. I swear sometimes I got so good at it – I didn’t even need to give a student a placement test! I’d just say a few sentences, look in their eyes and say – Class 1 or Class 2 or Class 3. Have you ever experienced this.
So when you see a skilled teacher – don’t judge her/him by their cover. There is a lot to it and it is wonderful!
I’ve been wanting to write this post for a long time – years actually. Finally, here in the airport with time to kill and waiting for my flight “home” to Canada, I have the time and motivation.
Teaching English as a “profession” and living in multiple foreign countries has so many advantages. We hear about them and read about them all the time. The cultural differences, sites of interest, the exotic local appeal, new experiences and stimulations. However, there is a dark side to this “adventure”, the dark side of being away from home and loved ones.
Career EFL teachers are in a constant state of divorce from their own family and friends. We feel guilty for being away as our parents get old (at least I do), for missing family gatherings, from being estranged from “our self”. We feel like a leaf adrift on a big lake. This is the downside of being a long distance teacher.
It isn’t talked about much but remains there behind the scenes as we go about our lives in foreign countries.
I’m leaving Korea today, in a few hours. Been here for 5 years and truly, all things being equal, I’d stay here the rest of my life, if not for my family. Lots of negatives to life in Korea but that’s par for any course. I had a great job, lots of freedom to develop as I wanted professionally, was / am well respected. Why not stay? Well, finally I had to do the right thing and “be home”. My parents are still healthy and well but I owe it to them to spend time in their later years, to be there. I’m not saying that is a call everyone need nor should make. But it is my own call. Still, my point remains. Us EFL itinerant teachers traveling the world have to deal with this kind of personal backdrop. The pay can never compensate for this.
You don’t read too many bloggers writing about this “thing” we all feel. This estrangement and displacement we feel. I’ve felt it and on this afternoon, pushed by the divided emotions of departure, declare it. It is a lot easier with technology, the internet, skype etc…. but still it doesn’t dent this iron strong feeling.
I guess that is life, bittersweet. There is sadness and happiness in all experiences. The sadness of leaving and the happiness of arriving. It is for us teachers to manage it all, the best we can. Let us struggle towards paradise, each in our own way, as “long distance teachers”.
English language teachers travel and like strangers in a strange land, try to learn about their new “home”. It is important to learn about the culture and history of the people you’ll teach. Language is about and in turn, wrapped up with culture and identity.
I’ve lived now 5 years in Korea and will be indelibly tied and connected to this amazing peninsula. Along the way, I’ve tried to understand my students and the people among who I’ve lived. You’ll find a lot of the articles / essays / videos / audio I’ve collected in our Korea resources area Find HERE, all the videos we have about Korea and/or teaching in Korea.
Here are a few more items I highly recommend about Korea. Helpful especially to the flood of new teachers that will be arriving or have arrived for the new semester. Wherever you are, why not post up in our resources, some videos or readings that are pertinent to the country you are from or where you teach presently? Or maybe do so in one of our World Classrooms?
The video above, “Tiger Spirit”, is a beautiful rumination on the torn nation of Korea. On the surface it tells the stories of families ripped apart for decades but deeper, it deals with issues of identity and what is important in life. In our fractured, mobile, modern world – identity is a topic that will be more and more important – especially regarding language acquisition and learning. A must watch.
Korea – America is a video made by a teacher as a technology professional development project during a summer training program. She did a wonderful job using Windows Movie Maker and highlighting the divide between generations in Korea and in America.
Photographer Rich Smolan tells an amazing story about an Amerasian (Korean/American) girl and it is so thought bending. Really challenges traditional notions of “who we are” and “what we should be”.
It is summer holiday for many of us teachers. I’d love to find out more about what other teachers are doing this summer holiday. Blog about it or throw up a few comments here! I was inspired to write this by Anton’s amazing post and pictures about his summer rafting trip on EFL Classroom 2.0
I only had time for a mini getaway (but will have time this fall for my “real” holiday – visiting my beautiful parents and writing a book I’ve long been planning). I traveled east from Seoul to the beautiful city of Sokcho. It is a quick 2 hour and 20 min (or 3 hours if you take the scenic bus over the mountains) and is on the east coast, up north near the DMZ (demilitarized zone with N.Korea).
It is a jewel! Not heavily visited but lots to do! It has great beaches, lots of lakes and clean streets. Seorak mountain is its backdrop – one of the most famous mountains/national parks in Korea. It is also the main place for the ferry to Russia and Vladivodstok – so you’ll meet quite a few Russians. I stayed a few days in the city and took in the sites and baked on the beach. Then a few days in the mountains in a nice luxury hotel.
I highly recommend the following.
1. Seorak Nat. Park – the cable car, the views! All the hiking you’ll ever want. All levels. Best in fall but great any time of year.
2. Sokcho beach. Clean, not crowded at all (unless you go during the 2 week peak summer period)
3. Chongchoho Lake. Right in the middle of the city, it is a place of quiet respite, horseback riding, leisure sports and peace and quiet.
4. The “pull boat” and the N.Korean village. Right downtown, you take a small pullboat across the river. Made famous in some Korean soapopera, it is something all Koreans do. Then, stop in the N.Korean village for some great grilled fish or famous “sondae”, a specially made sausage.
5. The city tour bus. I usually hate these things but it is a double decker with great views. You stop at all the sites and for $7 , can’t be beat.
Here are some photos from my trip. How about you? What are you doing this summer to recharge your teaching batteries?
Also, you might find interesting this recent survey on EFL Classroom 2.0 about the length of teacher’s summer holidays.
I really believe in using the students’ own cultural knowledge and “aspect” when teaching English. I’ve elaborated on this notion of CSC (Culturally Specific Content) on a number of occasions. There can be no more powerful cultural component than traditional song and music.
Arirang is the most famous Korean traditional song. It has countless variations across the nation, north and south. It also has countless translations. Here is one I made for use in class.
See the video below for a full explanation as to the meaning of the song. It basically is a song of “longing” and sadness. Not only of love but on many levels.
One great idea for your students would be to get them to make their own “Arirang” lyrics. Use this cool modern version of the song to get them inspired. They just fit the lines to the music! I’ve included some audio files of the song for your use in any lesson about “Arirang”.
What is the traditional song in the part of the world where you teach?
아리랑
아리랑, 아리랑, 아라리요…
아리랑 고개로 넘어간다.
나를 버리고 가시는 님은
십리도 못가서 발병난다.
아리랑, 아리랑, 아라리요…
아리랑 고개로 넘어간다.
청청하늘엔 청 별도 많고
우리네 가슴
Too often me thinks, too often we unintentionally push our cultural view onto those learning English. No more subtle way than music and film. We use so many “western” songs in our teaching that we almost become immune from even a thought of all the fine music by second language singers in English out there.
Whatever culture or country you teach in, I’m sure there are singers who are singing in English. They are great role models for your students and no matter the quality of their “English” singing, they should be used instead of English pop song culture if possible (not all the time, but from time to time).
1. Motivation. Students get pumped to see their own idols in a lesson and also using English! If they can do it, so can “I”, your students will think.
2. Culture. It is a subtle but pervasive force in language teaching. When students sense intuitively that their culture is not respected or being “pushed at”, they automatically go on hold and language learning becomes very difficult. {there are many studies on this aspect of cultural imperialism/domination, go here where I have my presentation material of culturally specific teaching for many. )
3. Noticing. This is especially important for higher level students. Becoming aware of language and the differences their native tongue has with English is very important for good fluency and acquisition. By comparing in a song with a translation, they really see some significant differences.
Bi (Rain) is a huge star in Korea and also internationally. See the video above where he sings first in English (with lyrics) and then in Korean (with a better than whoever made his English lyrics) translation. *** his English singing is horrendous, bear with it if you are a native speaker!
You might also enjoy this interview with Bi – he was interviewed by Time magazine. I use this when teaching teachers about evaluation. I let them watch it, they are thoroughly engrossed! Then, I get them to discuss among themselves what kind of mark they’d give him for spoken fluency. Sometimes I ask them to give marks for different areas – word choice, intonation, pronunciation, grammar, composure etc….
Invariably they give him high marks. Then I have to tell them that he can’t speak much English at all! As the story goes, he was given the questions and memorized everything. And how good he was at it! Now, he speaks more English but still not lots. A good lesson in regards to evaluating fluency and also that money can’t buy you a language – you got to do the work and talk the walk! Love Song Rain (Bi) foldem.docLove Song Rain (Bi) comparison.doc
I recently gave a lecture titled, “Korean Content for Korean Students”, highlighting my contention that given the new educational environment (a global village, a wired world), we need to use more local and culturally specific content in our teaching/lessons. I focused on Korea but the ideas are applicable to whatever the foreign context, wherever you are. Find readings to support this presentation HERE.
If you are teaching in Korea, you might know about KOTESOL – the Korean branch of TESOL. I’ve been giving presentations through them at all levels for a number of years but keep a fairly distant relationship. Just teacher training / workshops. (you can see my Teacher Training page with them here).
Kotesol and its chapters do a great job on many levels Newsletters, chapter meetings/workshops, networking etc…. However there are a number of things I really think need to be changed and now there is an opportunity to vote for change.
The Kotesol elections will be held this week, closing at the end of the International Conference this weekend. See below, instructions and details with links. Please take the opportunity if you can to vote for change! Either join up and then vote or if a member vote! I don’t care how. (usually the elections are perfunctory – not this one…).
I do my best to help teachers in Korea and continually want things to get better. So I’m making this appeal to EFL Classroom 2.0 members, from the heart. There is a possibility to elect “new” people with forward ideas. KOTESOL deperately needs change. I’m endorsing wholeheartedly the slate of : Robert Capriles for President / David Kim for VP and Deborah Tarbet for Treasury. Find their platform and info. attached below or just click! Also, read this open letter from another person supporting their candidacy.
Why do I think change is needed? While in brief – Kotesol NEEDS to do more to create community. That’s it in a nutshell. But I’ll list my 4 other points that I think new leadership can and will tackle.
1. Training of NEW teachers. Korea has a constant influx and KOTESOL should take the leadership role of providing basic, necessary and accredited onsite teacher training. This should be their job if they have concern for the profession and not just discussing papers behind lecturns. Nor as of recent, seeming to be more into the “sales” and publishing side of teaching.
2. Better use of ICT and web 2.0 technology. KOTESOL is way behind the game when it comes to sharing resources, creating community and informing members through online channels. Professional development should and can also be ONLINE.
3. Accountability. There is a constant echo and ethos in the organization that rears its head. “We are only volunteers, if you don’t like it, lump it.”. I reject this. Yes, it is volunteer driven but that is or must never be an excuse for not doing things the right. I”d also like Kotesol to set up a very professional payment system. Not as is – send it to the name of the treasurer!
So in brief. Join up and vote! You’ll be helping English Language Teaching immensely. Tell others to vote too!
Online voting will end on Sunday, October 25 at 10:30 am.
Members can also vote onsite at the International Conference
from 9 am to 5 pm on Saturday, and from 9-10:30 am on Sunday.
Elections results will be announced at the Annual Business
Meeting on October 25th at noon.
By this time, all current KOTESOL members (with memberships
expiring after October) should have received an electronic
ballot from
ballotbin.com. Please check your spam mail
box to make sure that your ballot did not go there.
** If you are a current member and have not received your e-vote,
please mail
kotesol.elections@gmail.comwith the subject
heading “NOT ON VOTERS LIST.” Please include your full name (in English), Chapter
affiliation, email address, and contact details. A
scrutineer will then contact you with more voting
information.
** For those of you who are not current members, you
can renew your membership at the International Conference.
Then, all you have to do is bring your conference receipt and one form of identification to the
elections desk. A scrutineer will then register your email address to vote in the election.
By chance, if you forget to vote online, you are
welcome to use our computers at the elections table
at the International Conference. Scrutineers will also
be available to help answer any of your questions.
Make your vote count!
Sherry Seymour
Nominations and Elections Committee Chair
I am of late, a very big fan of culturally specific content. What I mean is English teaching material that uses the student’s own culture and environment as the backdrop and “content”. I live and teach in Korea right now, so I have been using a lot of Korean subjects and Korean culture by which to create materials / activities and get students speaking English.
In an EFL context, I think we need to emphasize more the local culture/world and less so the “English” world. For a few reasons. 1. The media already does a good job of this. 2. Respect. Why should we be cultural imperialists? 3. The development of world “Englishes” and the spread of English around the world means that there is a devolution in terms of “English culture” – this should be reflected in our classrooms and approach.
In an ESL context (when teaching English in an “English” country – this is sometimes done but most often not. Most schools and governments deliver all the content through a “cultural” prism – teaching the students about the new foreign culture. In some respects this is necessary but I really think that if you want students to acquire language quickly and most importantly “deeply” [for language grows and it is up to us teachers to get the roots to set deeply] — you have to teach through the two most important doorways a student has > their ego and their culture/world.
See my institute’s site for a nice place full of “Korean” specific content. Here and Here. See below an example for higher level learners. Much more like this in our Current Events area. What is something you have for the culture/country in which you teach, to share or suggest?
Why use CSC?
1.The students have context! Context is one of the most important aspects of language teaching. It provides students with the backdrop and ability to understand and link their own language/culture and that of English. When students talk about their own club / community / city country/ culture (my own concept of the 5 ever widening circles of “world”.), they have a lot of prior knowledge upon which they can speak. In a nutshell – CSC LEADS TO MUCH MORE SPEAKING AND COMPREHENSIBLE OUTPUT. Also, there is less “interference” and culture that has to be translated – this leads to better teaching. Further, there is a necessity and compulsion to speak – which is the most important thing for a language learner. If there is a will, they will find a way……
2.It’s interesting. We are all more interested in our own world (celebrities / economics / people / events) than that elsewhere, all things being equal. You will see an increase in student interest if you use CSC.
3.It teaches more than English. Let’s face it. Our students overseas will most likely be living in their own country for the rest of their lives. It is encumbent on us teachers to teach not just English but to prepare them for their own future lives. We can do this better by teaching them with content that involves their own future.
4. The teacher learns! Yes, as our motto suggests, it is much better when two learn instead of one. The teacher as an involved participant and learner can only help the learning/classroom culture. Also, it will make the teacher’s life in the foreign culture, just that much less daunting and trying…..
As many here know, I’m a teacher in Korea. I constantly get asked questions about teaching here — about visas, cost of living, requirements, job conditions etc…. Always happy to reply to the best of my ability.
John at JetsetCitizen just published an interview with me covering much of this. If you are wondering about teaching in Korea or anywhere around the world, it might help you. Also a nice link to a recent podcast by Ben Glickman from Footprints talking about the job market for ELT (English Language Teaching).
I apologize in advance for any inaccuracies in the interview! Please comment and let me know what I didn’t say or didn’t say so clearly / correctly!
I’ve written previously on the important subject of Language Death. Every few weeks, the last speaker of a world language dies and with it, the whole inheritance/consciousness of a world’s people. We are so much less without that language — Wade Davis, a Nat. Geographic ethnographer and ethnopharmacologist passionately outlines why we should “care” and why we should cry out against this ethnocide. Here’s an old presentation of mine, outlining the dire state of the world’s 6,000 or so recorded languages.
But there are success stories. Hebrew, raised from the dead and dark halls of religious studies to become a people’s everyday tongue. Wopanaak – reclaimed after its last speaker died years before – an indigenous language in Massachusetts. Also, Saami, in the far north of Scandanavia. Now with TV stations and radio programs.
And today I read about this Indonesian tribe without a writing system which is now using the Korean alphabet, “hanguel” as their transcription method (see below). Hangeul is a jewel and it is well suited with helping keep these oral languages, so under thread, alive. I’m really happy to see this happening and my hat goes off to all those linguists working for pennies in a very unrecognized portion of our field, working in a life and death way…….
This is an amazing article I read years ago in Harper’s Magazine about why we should save the small languages……let’s all do what we can. Even as we teach English and contribute to the pull from indigenous language – we can still “tread softly” and leave a small footprint……
A minority tribe in Indonesia has decided to use the Korean alphabet, Hangeul, as its official writing system, a Korean language research institute said Thursday.
This is the first case of Hangeul becoming an official tool for communications outside Korean territory, the institute said.
“A tribe in the city of Bauer and Bauer in Sulawesi has selected Hangeul as the official alphabet to transcribe its native language that has no writing system,” the Hunminjeongeum Research Institute said in a statement. “The tribe with a population of 60,000 was on the verge of losing its language due to a lack of tool to hand it down to its descendants.”
According to the institute, since last month, dozens of children in the tribe have learned, on a regular basis, how to write, read, and pronounce the Korean alphabet based on a textbook provided by the institute. Another 140 high school students in the city have recently followed suit, it added.
The textbook written in Korean tells about the tribe’s history, language and culture.
“Among the contents of the book is a Korean fairy tale,” it said.
The Indonesian city government plans to set up an institute next month to encourage other tribes in its vicinity to adopt Hangeul as their writing system.
This adoption came nearly one year after the Korean institute signed a memorandum of understanding with the city for the use of Hangeul as an official communications tool.
Linguists here hailed the decision, raising hopes that this will lead to Korean becoming an international language like English.
“It will be a meaningful case in history if the Indonesian tribe succeed in maintaining its aboriginal language with the help of Hangeul,” said Prof. Kim Joo-won of Seoul National University who has initiated the landmark project. “In the long run, the spread of Hangeul will also help enhance Korea’s economy as it will activate exchanges with societies that use the alphabet.”
Prof. Lee Ho-young of Seoul National University, who penned the textbook, said “I hope the case will serve as a meaningful opportunity to show off the excellence of Hangeul overseas.”
See the FULL SCREEN version and more TED videos on our TED Talk feed page. Living as an EFL teacher rogue, roustabout, expat and “outsider” — one often gets to see the world in special ways. It is a tremendous opportunity to grow as an individual and to really see humanity for what it is. See not just the diversity but the ever expanding endpoint of that process — how much we are all so similar.
Living in a foreign culture allows one to come across stories like the one above, Natasha’s story (which is also the photographer Rick Smolan’s story and also now your story!). It hits on so many levels but mostly it hit me where I am human — why we don’t care for some others and why we do care ……. But this story also bothered me and this blog post I found later, really deals with those issues and clarified things for me. I was bothered because it seemed too good to be true, also like Natasha was manipulated and I kept asking myself, “who has any right (other than a Korean family member) to adopt that child?).
Natasha was a raised by her grandmother in a remote village in S. Korea. She had an American G.I father. She looked very Causcasian, different. Her story is wonderful and starts when she is hunted down by a young, eclectic photographer who wants to shoot her story and those of other abandoned Asian/American children. But it is so much more than just this….please watch!
This semester in class, I’ve been teaching Korean teachers to use Korea as a subject through which to teach English. Please see our Korea folder for some materials. But using the student’s culture is a super way to get them focusing on production and it really enhances language acquisition.
But part of my lesson has to do with “What makes a person Korean?” . So many answers arise – passport/language/Mongolian butt (a small spot they are born with but which disappears)/food/attitude etc…… Then I show them this video of Joh, who has returned “home” to Korea to find his biological parents. I ask my teachers – is Joh Korean? Lots of lively debate, heated debate even ensues. At first I had my qualms about this sort of lesson but I really think it good for us to take teaching to this very personal level, this illuminating and self growing level.
Natasha’s story has made me realize I can do more while here in Korea (or anywhere for that matter). What about your own part of the world? How are the children? What is happening to the orphans there? If you have info. or comments about Natasha’s story, please share….but most of all, watch this story. Unforgettable!
Whatever the subject, I believe that stories should play a vital role. We are hardwired to learn through stories and more importantly to “embed” within our subconscious mind, the lessons and learning of life, by way of story. Wisdom is a story.
I have used stories in the EFL classroom and especially funny stories (there are some good ones in my teaching folder, about 25 simple ones. ) I have also had a lot of success using folktales and they are especially effective when teaching EFL because the students already bring the cultural background, the cultural specific knowledge to the table. Heungbu / Nolbu is a korean fav. of mine.
Stories can be used to access comprehension, to teach a moral lesson and allow critical thinking or simply as a means of practicing English and presentation skills by retelling. I love having students retell and I will often send two students out of the class with a story to read. When they return, the class tells them the story I told when they were out of the room. They inturn read/retell their own story. Repetitive stories work wonders in the EFL classroom (like the 3 wishes jokes…)
How have you others used stories in your own classrooms?
I do think we have to get our students reading, motivated to read outside the classroom. This will be crucial in their own development and especially in regards to their ability to write, to communicate through writing when they get older and need to at work. Reading is crucially linked to writing ability/ learning. So I have my leveled readers on my website but will also be adding a reading folder. There you will find many stories like that attached here. (flash is amazing for stories.) from Literactive. Also a full phonics program you can use in class or by sending students to, on site. Take a look and let me know what you think of this one I’ve attached. Or go to my NEW reading folder. Plenty more reading resources to be uploaded soon….We have thousands of books , many with audio on EFL Classroom 2.0. …..
I’ve been wanting to write this post for a long time – years actually. Finally, here in the airport with time to kill and waiting for my flight “home” to Canada, I have the time and motivation.
Please comment and let me know what I didn’t say or didn’t say so clearly / correctly!
