EDIT: again a multitude of reasons could be causing your lack of interest in improvement. It's really a complex psychological process and just to name a few factors: isolation, depression, alienation, etc... if you struggle with any of these then productivity really decreases.
Well, first of all, I'll start with what annoyed me about South Korea, which would be feeling useless. I don't need to explain to anyone here that we ESL teachers are essentially babysitters. That can be a real emotional drain on someone; it was on me. I really cared about teaching and often felt handcuffed by the South Korean education system.That being said, things like public transportation are absolutely reasons why I miss South Korea. It's just so much better than where I live now. Things were cheaper as well. I miss my friends and some of my better students. I miss being able to work with kids and see them develop as English speakers, even if I wasn't always able to fully serve in my capacity as a teacher. I lived in South Korea for nearly a decade, so it certainly grew on me in many ways.
Quote from: HaLo3 on September 26, 2016, 10:05:36 amQuote from: Pecan on September 26, 2016, 10:02:13 amHaLo,I was told the same thing years ago, so I showed up and feigned interest.After several weeks, I decided to stay in my office to see what would happen.Not a word was mentioned.Perhaps you could give it a try and see.Hang tough.Haha, I tried that for the last meeting two weeks ago and I got an urgent kakao message reminding me of the meeting. So unfortunately, that won't work, but thanks for the thought.Try asking for a translation after every single sentence and saying you don't understand. Pretty sure after 1 meeting of interruptions they'll all agree that it's unnecessary for you to attend!
Quote from: Pecan on September 26, 2016, 10:02:13 amHaLo,I was told the same thing years ago, so I showed up and feigned interest.After several weeks, I decided to stay in my office to see what would happen.Not a word was mentioned.Perhaps you could give it a try and see.Hang tough.Haha, I tried that for the last meeting two weeks ago and I got an urgent kakao message reminding me of the meeting. So unfortunately, that won't work, but thanks for the thought.
HaLo,I was told the same thing years ago, so I showed up and feigned interest.After several weeks, I decided to stay in my office to see what would happen.Not a word was mentioned.Perhaps you could give it a try and see.Hang tough.
Quote from: mrc45 on September 26, 2016, 03:00:31 pmWell, first of all, I'll start with what annoyed me about South Korea, which would be feeling useless. I don't need to explain to anyone here that we ESL teachers are essentially babysitters. That can be a real emotional drain on someone; it was on me. I really cared about teaching and often felt handcuffed by the South Korean education system.That being said, things like public transportation are absolutely reasons why I miss South Korea. It's just so much better than where I live now. Things were cheaper as well. I miss my friends and some of my better students. I miss being able to work with kids and see them develop as English speakers, even if I wasn't always able to fully serve in my capacity as a teacher. I lived in South Korea for nearly a decade, so it certainly grew on me in many ways.Oh, and I'll add to this previous statement, that being able to walk to 김밥천국 at 1 am when I need some food is a huge, but easily overlooked plus. I can't believe how many things close at 9 pm where I live now, don't deliver, or are too far to get to late at night.
Quote from: mrc45 on September 26, 2016, 03:09:30 pmQuote from: mrc45 on September 26, 2016, 03:00:31 pmWell, first of all, I'll start with what annoyed me about South Korea, which would be feeling useless. I don't need to explain to anyone here that we ESL teachers are essentially babysitters. That can be a real emotional drain on someone; it was on me. I really cared about teaching and often felt handcuffed by the South Korean education system.That being said, things like public transportation are absolutely reasons why I miss South Korea. It's just so much better than where I live now. Things were cheaper as well. I miss my friends and some of my better students. I miss being able to work with kids and see them develop as English speakers, even if I wasn't always able to fully serve in my capacity as a teacher. I lived in South Korea for nearly a decade, so it certainly grew on me in many ways.Oh, and I'll add to this previous statement, that being able to walk to 김밥천국 at 1 am when I need some food is a huge, but easily overlooked plus. I can't believe how many things close at 9 pm where I live now, don't deliver, or are too far to get to late at night.It's gonna take more than Gimbap Heaven to convince me~
@Mister Tim: if possible i would really recommend taking an in-class korean class. i'm kinda the same, have no motivation at all to self-study korean but if a take a class it kinda forces you to study during the class periods.
Quote from: pokute on September 26, 2016, 02:38:50 pmEDIT: again a multitude of reasons could be causing your lack of interest in improvement. It's really a complex psychological process and just to name a few factors: isolation, depression, alienation, etc... if you struggle with any of these then productivity really decreases.That's pretty on-the-nose, I think. The problem there is that most of the solutions I can come up with to those problems would be made easier were I more fluent in the language. I'd be less lonely if I could meet more people, I could meet more people if I could speak Korean, I could learn more Korean if I weren't so lonely, etc etc. That sort of thing. It's frustrating.
I'd really like to, since I tend to thrive in language classroom environments. Unfortunately, the only class in my area that I know about is a 35 minute bus ride away on a Saturday morning. I have a desire to learn Korean, but so far my desire to not wake up early on Saturday to take a crowded bus to school seems to be winning. I might see what I can find by way of a tutor, though.
Quote from: kobayashi on September 26, 2016, 03:11:07 pm@Mister Tim: if possible i would really recommend taking an in-class korean class. i'm kinda the same, have no motivation at all to self-study korean but if a take a class it kinda forces you to study during the class periods. I'd really like to, since I tend to thrive in language classroom environments. Unfortunately, the only class in my area that I know about is a 35 minute bus ride away on a Saturday morning. I have a desire to learn Korean, but so far my desire to not wake up early on Saturday to take a crowded bus to school seems to be winning. I might see what I can find by way of a tutor, though.
Quote from: Kayos on September 26, 2016, 11:20:38 amQuote from: #basedcowboyshirt on September 21, 2016, 11:50:56 amQuote from: waywardtimelord on September 21, 2016, 08:56:28 amI am so sad, lonely, and depressed in this country.I know the job is easy. I know I shouldn't be complaining.But every single day is a struggle and I still have 161 left on my countdown app.(more of a whine/moan than a rant/vent, but whatever)I sympathize with your misery. It's sad that you're unhappy. I wish you were happy.But - anyone who says this job is 'easy' probably either a) doesn't care about their job very much, or b) is really bad and lazy at their job. I don't think either of those apply to you. But, yeah. People who go on about how easy teaching English in Korea is are generally bad teachers.I'm pretty unhappy here myself. I negotiated a location that is close to my friends in the interview, but when I got here, put me in the opposite side of the country to where we negotiated. :\ Now because of the distance, I can't meet my friends as conveniently as I'd like, and I'm finding it very difficult to make new friends here.As for your comment about easy being a sign of a bad teacher. I agree a bit. I find this job easy, but also incredibly frustrating at times. I think I'm a bad teacher, but I am trying very hard to improve. Bad as in, I still haven't found my lessons to be effective. Even my co-teachers note they can tell I am trying hard to improve though!However, after 5 months here, they are still not telling me where I need to improve, even though they have the English level to do so, even when asked directly. :( As I get told "some parts are good, other parts need to be changed."I get the same thing Kayos. They'll tell me I need to make changes but refuse to tell me what to change... and then get mad when I don't change it "good enough" or just don't make changes at all because I don't know what to do. Most of my improvement has come from talking to my epik-appointed mentor and just copying what another really successful teacher at my school does.
Quote from: #basedcowboyshirt on September 21, 2016, 11:50:56 amQuote from: waywardtimelord on September 21, 2016, 08:56:28 amI am so sad, lonely, and depressed in this country.I know the job is easy. I know I shouldn't be complaining.But every single day is a struggle and I still have 161 left on my countdown app.(more of a whine/moan than a rant/vent, but whatever)I sympathize with your misery. It's sad that you're unhappy. I wish you were happy.But - anyone who says this job is 'easy' probably either a) doesn't care about their job very much, or b) is really bad and lazy at their job. I don't think either of those apply to you. But, yeah. People who go on about how easy teaching English in Korea is are generally bad teachers.I'm pretty unhappy here myself. I negotiated a location that is close to my friends in the interview, but when I got here, put me in the opposite side of the country to where we negotiated. :\ Now because of the distance, I can't meet my friends as conveniently as I'd like, and I'm finding it very difficult to make new friends here.As for your comment about easy being a sign of a bad teacher. I agree a bit. I find this job easy, but also incredibly frustrating at times. I think I'm a bad teacher, but I am trying very hard to improve. Bad as in, I still haven't found my lessons to be effective. Even my co-teachers note they can tell I am trying hard to improve though!However, after 5 months here, they are still not telling me where I need to improve, even though they have the English level to do so, even when asked directly. :( As I get told "some parts are good, other parts need to be changed."
Quote from: waywardtimelord on September 21, 2016, 08:56:28 amI am so sad, lonely, and depressed in this country.I know the job is easy. I know I shouldn't be complaining.But every single day is a struggle and I still have 161 left on my countdown app.(more of a whine/moan than a rant/vent, but whatever)I sympathize with your misery. It's sad that you're unhappy. I wish you were happy.But - anyone who says this job is 'easy' probably either a) doesn't care about their job very much, or b) is really bad and lazy at their job. I don't think either of those apply to you. But, yeah. People who go on about how easy teaching English in Korea is are generally bad teachers.
I am so sad, lonely, and depressed in this country.I know the job is easy. I know I shouldn't be complaining.But every single day is a struggle and I still have 161 left on my countdown app.(more of a whine/moan than a rant/vent, but whatever)
Quote from: moonbrie on September 26, 2016, 02:25:16 pmQuote from: Kayos on September 26, 2016, 11:20:38 amI'm pretty unhappy here myself. I negotiated a location that is close to my friends in the interview, but when I got here, put me in the opposite side of the country to where we negotiated. :\ Now because of the distance, I can't meet my friends as conveniently as I'd like, and I'm finding it very difficult to make new friends here.As for your comment about easy being a sign of a bad teacher. I agree a bit. I find this job easy, but also incredibly frustrating at times. I think I'm a bad teacher, but I am trying very hard to improve. Bad as in, I still haven't found my lessons to be effective. Even my co-teachers note they can tell I am trying hard to improve though!However, after 5 months here, they are still not telling me where I need to improve, even though they have the English level to do so, even when asked directly. :( As I get told "some parts are good, other parts need to be changed."I get the same thing Kayos. They'll tell me I need to make changes but refuse to tell me what to change... and then get mad when I don't change it "good enough" or just don't make changes at all because I don't know what to do. Most of my improvement has come from talking to my epik-appointed mentor and just copying what another really successful teacher at my school does.It sucks doesn't it. I had a 90 minute meeting with my 2 co-teachers, that speak enough English to help me, and after 90 minutes I got nothing useful out of it, while they got some creative ideas from me, that they might be able to use for their lessons. :\ (the focus of the meeting was meant to help me improve my lessons).One of the newer teachers here is a real teacher, so I'm planning on asking for advice (we work in the same school on a Tuesday and share an office space). I wish I had a mentor I could ask haha. Also, one of the teachers is friends with the teacher I replaced, and I've been given contact info. I also got told that their lessons were a lot better than mine so, I figured if I can find out what they have done different, I'll be able to try and replicate them so they will be better.I've been asking other teachers here for what they do (not lessons, but ideas for lessons), most work from the book though, which isn't helpful to me, as I'm not allowed to do the book. The 1 teacher here who doesn't gave me a quick run down of what he does. I've tried to mirror it, and I'm not sure if I would call it a success or not. I went from like 5% of the students doing work, to about 90% - they really enjoy it, but I think confusion has gone up a lot too (as I'm not sure they are understanding what they have been writing - there are a few that are).
Quote from: Kayos on September 26, 2016, 11:20:38 amI'm pretty unhappy here myself. I negotiated a location that is close to my friends in the interview, but when I got here, put me in the opposite side of the country to where we negotiated. :\ Now because of the distance, I can't meet my friends as conveniently as I'd like, and I'm finding it very difficult to make new friends here.As for your comment about easy being a sign of a bad teacher. I agree a bit. I find this job easy, but also incredibly frustrating at times. I think I'm a bad teacher, but I am trying very hard to improve. Bad as in, I still haven't found my lessons to be effective. Even my co-teachers note they can tell I am trying hard to improve though!However, after 5 months here, they are still not telling me where I need to improve, even though they have the English level to do so, even when asked directly. :( As I get told "some parts are good, other parts need to be changed."I get the same thing Kayos. They'll tell me I need to make changes but refuse to tell me what to change... and then get mad when I don't change it "good enough" or just don't make changes at all because I don't know what to do. Most of my improvement has come from talking to my epik-appointed mentor and just copying what another really successful teacher at my school does.
I'm pretty unhappy here myself. I negotiated a location that is close to my friends in the interview, but when I got here, put me in the opposite side of the country to where we negotiated. :\ Now because of the distance, I can't meet my friends as conveniently as I'd like, and I'm finding it very difficult to make new friends here.As for your comment about easy being a sign of a bad teacher. I agree a bit. I find this job easy, but also incredibly frustrating at times. I think I'm a bad teacher, but I am trying very hard to improve. Bad as in, I still haven't found my lessons to be effective. Even my co-teachers note they can tell I am trying hard to improve though!However, after 5 months here, they are still not telling me where I need to improve, even though they have the English level to do so, even when asked directly. :( As I get told "some parts are good, other parts need to be changed."
Quote from: donovan on September 26, 2016, 03:11:48 pmQuote from: mrc45 on September 26, 2016, 03:09:30 pmQuote from: mrc45 on September 26, 2016, 03:00:31 pmWell, first of all, I'll start with what annoyed me about South Korea, which would be feeling useless. I don't need to explain to anyone here that we ESL teachers are essentially babysitters. That can be a real emotional drain on someone; it was on me. I really cared about teaching and often felt handcuffed by the South Korean education system.That being said, things like public transportation are absolutely reasons why I miss South Korea. It's just so much better than where I live now. Things were cheaper as well. I miss my friends and some of my better students. I miss being able to work with kids and see them develop as English speakers, even if I wasn't always able to fully serve in my capacity as a teacher. I lived in South Korea for nearly a decade, so it certainly grew on me in many ways.Oh, and I'll add to this previous statement, that being able to walk to 김밥천국 at 1 am when I need some food is a huge, but easily overlooked plus. I can't believe how many things close at 9 pm where I live now, don't deliver, or are too far to get to late at night.It's gonna take more than Gimbap Heaven to convince me~ Hey, to each his own. Living in South Korea was a huge part of my life. I can understand why some people don't like it, but it's easy to overlook a lot of the little positives over there.
Dear Korean Drivers,If you're planning on making a left or right turn in the near future, get in the respective lane. There's a reason there is a giant line of cars in that lane, and no matter how special you think you are, your time is worth no more or less than those who are patiently waiting in that lane. If I see you driving up in the other lane and then suddenly deciding you want to get in it, I'm not letting you in front of me. I only wish that more people would do the same. Didn't anyone teach you that butting in line is childish and rude regardless of your culture?