How studying Korean made me realize some mistakes I’d made teaching English
Warning: This post may be a bit ranty because I’m mad at myself for failing my Korean midterm. I also have a speaking test on Tuesday which I will inevitably fail, and to top it off, I’m fucking hungry, and our cafeteria doesn’t serve dinner for another 45 minutes. It’s been awhile since I’ve studied...
Riding the white horse: On being foreign in South Korea
KEVIN, my Korean co-teacher, had an idea for our open class. “Let’s make a motivational video,” he suggested. “I’ll ask, ‘Would you like some more?’ you’ll say, ‘Yes, please,’ and after we repeat this a couple times, you’ll stuff your shirt with balloons. When you stand up to clear your tray, you’ll look really fat!” “Really,...
Goodbye Seokgwan Elementary School
Goodbye Seokgwan Elementary School. Goodbye bringing toilet paper to work. Goodbye Cool Messenger. Goodbye empty office. Goodbye squat toilets. Goodbye deskwarming. Goodbye four-story building. Goodbye barren playground. Goodbye English textbooks filled with mistakes. Goodbye Nami. Goodbye Jinho. Goodbye low-budget English videos. Goodbye students who refuse to use punctuation. Goodbye Hello Kitty pencil cases....
Promoting Korean Reunification through English Tutoring: an interview with a PSCORE volunteer
Despite living in Seoul, mere kilometers from the Demilitarized Zone that divides North and South Korea, it’s quite rare to meet North Korean defectors in everyday life. I may have sat next to a North Korean on the subway, or interacted with someone at a local shop, but I wouldn’t have realized it. In magazines...
The Ddongchim: Korea’s obsession with anuses
As I walked inside IBK Bank one day, I didn’t know whether to run away or burst out laughing as one of the employees, an ajeosshi (middle aged man) with a beer belly, casually grabbed a pen from his pen holder. It wasn’t a solid-colored cube void of personality, like you’d expect to see at a bank,...
More $#!* my students say, write and wear
Last March I published a post called “$#!* my students say, write and wear,” with some hilarious comments, writing and Engrish t-shirts from my 12 year-old students. Now I have a few more I’d like to share. $#!* MY STUDENTS WRITE: $#!* MY STUDENTS WEAR: $#!* MY STUDENTS DRAW: $#!* MY STUDENTS...
Remembering life as an art student in Brooklyn, NY
“Okay everyone, repeat: When did you go to New York?” “When did you go to New York?” my class of 30 Korean students chimed, looking at the title of chapter 13. I then clicked on an animation where a blond character named Jenny skypes with her friend Jimin, and tells her about visiting the Statue...
Sneaking in on Sarah in the Shower
“SARAH, I LOVE YOUR CURVES,” Dahae said as I stepped into our cramped dorm room from the bathroom. A couple minutes earlier, I’d been showering in our curtain-less shower, while Dahae was brushing her teeth. She’d knocked on the door, asking to come in; she was running late. “Um, thanks,” I stammered, biting my pinky...
$#!* my students say…and write…and wear
I teach English to eleven and twelve year old students at an elementary school in Seoul. I taught fifth grade in 2011, and now I’m teaching the same 210 students this year in sixth grade. For the most part, their English skills are extremely poor, but there are a handful of students who speak relatively well....
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