In the classroom
Here's a drawing of me, by Eva. |
Having taught English in Greece and enjoyed it very much, it was difficult
to adjust to working at a Korean hagwon.
As the students aren't studying
toward anything in particular in terms of tests or achieving a
certain standard or level of English ability, it seems that the system
is lacking
in structure.
Students pay
for their
tuition one month at a time and many of them frequently move
from one hagwon to another at the drop of a hat.
Students are put into
classes
depending on their age and ability, but most classes have such
a mix of abilities as to make teaching difficult, largely due
to pressure
from the paying parents who insist that their children progress
from one book to the next and from one class to the other, regardless
of their performance.
Louis, Sam, Isaac, Joe, Danny and Molly (their English names, anyway!) |
Babysitting
The state school class sizes are usually around 40 students and
they get very little opportunity to speak or practice English in their
lessons at school, which is where the hagwons come in.
Many teachers
working in the hagwons compare the job to babysitting.
A lot of parents
are happy
paying for their kids to spend time in the same room as a native
English speaker, who is shown little respect by many misbehaving children. Realizing that the kids have spent all morning at school, are now at
one of half
a dozen hagwons they may attend that day and imagining yourself in
the same situation, is a good way of thinking.
The pressure on them
to attend
institutes for extra tuition in a number of subjects, and to do
well in them, is great. I got more English out of the students when we
put down the books, took off my "teacher" badge and had fun by playing and
chatting about anything that took their interest.
John, Kate, Kelly, Alice and Gina. |
That said, I came here to teach and that I've done. I found that students
easily and quickly forget what they learn one day and many of them
struggle to carry a simple conversation that they might have learnt from
earlier
books.
(The students study somewhat of a hotchpotch of texts that don't
follow-on nor build on each other in the way a specific course leading
to a test of qualification would, especially if they move between
hagwons.) Having to constantly remind them and correct
them
on
simple
English often
seems
tedious and
frustrating,
but
considering
how
little
influence
the English language has on their lives over here, it is quite understandable
that to learn it is a long and slow process.
Indeed, looking at the
situation from such a perspective might persuade you that them being
able to speak
English poorly is quite an achievement and one that they should be
highly praised for.
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