OUR KOREAN KIDS :)

This past week was our first week of teaching in South Korea. By Friday, I think we were getting the hang of things in the classroom. Our job at the English academy is to teach the children the correct pronunciation of the English language. Most of the students already know the grammatical rules and spelling of the language, but it's our job to teach them how to use what they already know in order to competently speak the English language. The students have Korean teachers who have studied English since they were young children, but pronunciation is one of those things that even a well educated Korean will always find difficult. This is why they hire us!!! They want the students to regularly hear a true native English speaker in hopes that they will pick up on the correct ways to speak the language.

I have 8 different 33 minute classes everyday, and then the next day I have a different set of 8 classes. All together, I have about 200 different students in the classroom! Chris has fewer classes than me, but he has a couple of "project classes." Project classes are just blocks of time when you don't have a class where you do different projects to help the administration at the school. We go in around 2 pm, but the first bell doesn't ring until 2:15. We have 3 minutes between classes and 10 minutes between some classes. We also get a 15 minute break where the school provides a lunch, which is more like a snack for us :)

The kids are great. They can be a handful at times, but they never allow us to get bored. Sometimes they play tricks on us just because they can. Chris was entertaining some of his students this past week by attempting to speak Korean only to find out later that the kids were really teaching him curse words and making him repeat them. He thought the kids loved him as they smiled and giggled each time he attempted their language. Instead, Chris was really cursing at his students which was very amusing to the students!

That's about it for now, until next time.

Am :)