Teaching in Korea... where do I start?
I teach middle school students at 2 schools in rural Korea. My 2 middle schools I have been teaching at are vastly different from the 1st rural middle school I taught at for 3 years in Korea. So... what can I tell you about teaching English in South Korea?
My first school in South Korea - Uiryeong Girls' Middle School - rural town with a count of 225 students - 2009 - 2012 I taught there. The students were polite, interested in what the foreigner had to say and in the foreigner in general - foreigners were far and few between in this town of 10,000 people. Teaching at this school was not without its challenges - some students had a bad attitude towards a foreigner as a teacher and didn't want to listen nor respect me as I didn't speak Korean and they didn't speak English. They struggled a lot to understand me and so didn't want to follow what I would say. Inspite of these few students, the majority were wonderful, interested and polite students. While teaching at this middle school, I also taught at 2 elementary schools each week of about 30 students per school, and they too were wonderfully fun.
Since 2012 I have been teaching at 2 middle schools in rural Jinju. The students at both these schools are significantly less than the girls' middle school was. One school has 116 students this year while the other has only 15 students. Yes... middle school with only 15 students across 3 grades... not a common sight but in this area, necessary.
I love teaching at my current schools. The students are a true delight. They are fun, intelligent and quick witted. I have learned so many skills while teaching in Korea over the last 8 years, and have been able to use those skills to make my lessons more and more fun. When students don't understand what I am saying, I give options as answers, use actions, make them laugh and generally try to be goofy so that they relax and the understanding begins to take place.
Something to understand is that in rural Korea, students English is very low in level. Patience, charades and a little Korean go a long way. I teach my students that its okay to make mistakes in learning, and I use poor Korean (intentionally) to show my students that its okay to make mistakes as understanding should still come about anyway.
Communication with students is about making connections for and with them. It is important to show interest in things students are interested in, so watching dramas, listening to music and being up on games are all great ideas. Finding ways to show your students you care about them and that you are interested is a great way to have students show interest in you as a foreign teacher. Foreign teachers are often seen as people without much authority in the school as we are only 'rolled out' for important occasions, so to have the students interested in us, we have to be interested in them too! I can't emphasize it enough.
Being able to speak a bit of Korean is a huge help in the classroom, as you show students you are willing to learn their language if they are willing to learn yours. My Korean ability is much better than I let on in the classroom and I try hard not to show my students just how good it is, as many of them have decided that they will just speak to me in Korean rather than in English. So, I challenge them. I tell them that they should speak to me in English in the classroom, and to one another in English only as well. It makes them think a little more about the importance of communication in English.
Teaching in Korea is an experience. It isn't easy, it isn't hard. It's fun. It's difficult. It's..... Korea.
Any questions? Feel free to ask.
