RANTING/VENTING MEGATHREAD 3.0

Yeah there's nothing wrong with the book being made in Korea but[...]

You think teachers should be forced to choose from only a limited number of government approved textbooks made from within Korea?

Banning Western books limits competition which in turn limits the potential quality of the final product in my opinion.

I'm saying that my issue with the book in this current situation is not about how it's made in Korea. My initial issue with the book today, which prompted the discussion, is how the second lesson is a garbage lesson. Whether the garbage lesson stems from the book being made in Korea and not giving Western companies the change to write a better book or not is a completely different issue of which you may take up with others. However I will ask you to not isolate part of my comment to make it appear as if I support the choice to limit books to being made solely within Korea when it is entirely irrelevant from my initial statement.

Side note: Damn that sounds like a Pecan comment on my part.

It's not irrelevant, though.

Why are the text books so Korea centric?

It's due to the books being made in Korea...and possibly not being able to be approved unless they sufficiently big up 대한민국.

Yeah there's nothing wrong with the book being made in Korea but there's a chapter later on where every vocab word is Korean. It's called "Do You Know About Hanbok" and it's just Korean words romanized

In the future, the students will use English as a vehicle to tell tourists about the cool things in Korea. 'Do you know Dokdo?', etc. Maybe that's the aim anyways.

It's not irrelevant, though.

Why are the text books so Korea centric?

It's due to the books being made in Korea...and possibly not being able to be approved unless they sufficiently big up 대한민국.

It's irrelevant to how I said I hate the chapter... You're quoting me when I'm not the one who originally mentioned the whole chapter on Korean words. My whole point was how a totally different chapter is garbage. Then I went on to say that my kids also hated that other chapter were all the words were Korean words because of the romanization. I didn't like that chapter because the kids aren't learning any new words. The sentence for that chapter was fine, but like just pick 1 or 2 words that aren't Korean for keywords. On the plus side my students realized why foreigners pronounce things weird if they're reading a romanized version of a Korean word.

It's better than the dreadful French books we had growing up with the horrible French pineapple that was like the spokesperson. The kids can relate to the Korean bits. No one in Canada related to that damn pineapple

The whole grade six Daekyo book is garbage. Whose bright idea was it to make a chapter where half the vocabulary are Korean words?

It's a national law English teaching textbooks used in the public schools must be produced in Korea. (To give jobs to Koreans? Or the fear kids may become too Westernized?)

Yeah there's nothing wrong with the book being made in Korea but there's a chapter later on where every vocab word is Korean. It's called "Do You Know About Hanbok" and it's just Korean words romanized and my students last year just cringed at the spelling and called the words ugly.

That said, I think having the students know how to romanise hangeul is important.

Yes it is. Especially since nearly everything they study in their text books in about Korea. The irony is most Korean teachers don't think it's necessary to romanize Hangeul and the kids, when they are asked to write anything, are nearly always writing about something with a Korean context. Hence theit texts are half full of Hangeul, which the teachers ignore.  If they studied the language through the culture a bit more, they'd only have to learn personal details like their name and birth place etc..

Lesson 2 of the Daekyo book is the most garbage chapter I've ever had to teach. Not looking forward to the next few weeks...

i've never actually seen an esl book (for elementary students, at least) published in korea that has been actually "good"

i'm hoping somebody will tell me they know of one

I need to get my supervisor's signature on a document basically saying I didn't abuse any kids while I was working at this school so I can start my new job as a substitute

I knew it would be impossible to get it signed by her once I left the country so I had her sign it before but it turns out the school district is uptight about receiving the signed document directly from the person who signed it so they sent it out to her to sign and send back

I'm 90% sure it'll never come back from her and it doesn't fully prevent me from getting the job (she has 20 days to return it signed and I was told by the district they had "other methods" to confirm my status as a non-child-molester) but it does slow the process down and it's all just very annoying.

I've also tried to contact two of my coteachers about this paperwork and getting the principal's email address because I forgot to exchange email addresses with her before I left but neither of them are responding/being helpful.

I knew this would happen as soon as I left. So predictably Korean and so obnoxious.

Thursday at my travel elementary. The principal decides to stop by my grade 3 class and watch. She enjoys it a lot so she started to join in with the kids. Then we get near the end where we have the comprehension questions... The principal starts flipping out because I can't ask the comprehension questions in English.
I have to teach the book there, and am not allowed to do anything outside the book. They don't have the teachers book for any grade except grade 4 that has the translations; The principal's, and the home room teacher's, English is really low, so they can't offer me a translation that I understand enough to even make a guess at what they questions say in English; And I don't speak / read any Korean.
For the rest of the day, she starts coming into ALL my other classes, interrupting them just to say: "I think you should have asked the questions in English..."

In the big break after that class, with hopefully the help of google translate, I made it clear that: without the teachers book that has the translations, or offering me a translation that I can make guesses from, I can't ask the questions in English. They claimed to understand that unique situation, but I question if they really did. :\

She stopped interrupting my classes once I started banging my head against the blackboard lol

I need to get my supervisor's signature on a document basically saying I didn't abuse any kids while I was working at this school so I can start my new job as a substitute

One would hope that if you had, you wouldn't have been teaching there anymore.

I just boiled water for my tea and was putting the lid back on my tumbler but I accidentally spilled it all over my hands and desk, burning my hands a bit. I jumped back and started trying to dry my hands off, and the teacher at the desk next to mine just looked over and laughed. I wasn't really expecting any help, but still.

I just boiled water for my tea and was putting the lid back on my tumbler but I accidentally spilled it all over my hands and desk, burning my hands a bit. I jumped back and started trying to dry my hands off, and the teacher at the desk next to mine just looked over and laughed. I wasn't really expecting any help, but still.

I just boiled water for my tea and was putting the lid back on my tumbler but I accidentally spilled it all over my hands and desk, burning my hands a bit. I jumped back and started trying to dry my hands off, and the teacher at the desk next to mine just looked over and laughed. I wasn't really expecting any help, but still.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZjP_IoxCHU

Get ready for some text book gripes:

The use of "school playing field" and expecting the students (much less ANYONE) to guess what this elusive location might be.

A recording of whatever weird robot they use saying LIBARRY.

The use of "hot" in place of "spicy." Yes, this isn't necessarily wrong but more accurately describes a temperature so it's confusing to hear "I didn't like my soup because it was too hot."

Uhhh.

Get ready for some text book gripes:
...
The use of "hot" in place of "spicy." Yes, this isn't necessarily wrong but more accurately describes a temperature so it's confusing to hear "I didn't like my soup because it was too hot."
Uhhh.

Man, I hate that one so much: it's a huge failing in the English language. Both of the adjectives used to describe '매운' (spicy, hot) are also used to describe completely different flavours that often accompany foods that are '매운'.
I feel that it's dumb to have to use an entire phrase (hot and spicy) to describe such a basic thing as a common flavour.

I really like my new CoT.  He's energetic, entertaining, and the kids love him. But even though he tries really hard, his English level is quite low. 
We were wrapping up a lesson today and one of the lesson words was "grandpa". He taught it as "grandfa".  He had the kids writing it out and kept 'correcting' their pronunciation. On the bright side, these students still pronounce their f's like p's, so I don't think there'll be any permanent damage.
Not to mention all the "meth" addicts running around the classroom today. (They were learning  "I like math.")
I just wish he would take advantage of my presence for modelling pronunciation.

I have a raging headache.
I don't know if it's just from smog or if I'm getting sick. My coteacher has a horrid cold, and I sure hope I didn't catch it. I need to plan classes, but I can't concentrate on anything.

Yeah. It drives me bananas.
Also, your avatar gives me an awful headache every time I see it.

I'm upset that waygook won't let me add the beeping/crashing noises that should go along with the picture.

I've been looking into SMF to see if it's possible to encode sound effects in comments. So far no dice, but one day... one day... 

I have a raging headache.
I don't know if it's just from smog or if I'm getting sick. My coteacher has a horrid cold, and I sure hope I didn't catch it. I need to plan classes, but I can't concentrate on anything.

Ugh I'm noticing more and more kids coming to school with masks. Already preparing myself for  the sweet nectar of Nyquil.

I had my coffee with no milk and no sugar and almost enjoyed it.

Arrrg. Been here to long.

I had my coffee with no milk and no sugar and almost enjoyed it.

Arrrg. Been here to long.

haha I rarely miss it anymore. But when I went to the States over winter vacation I practically cried when I used the little milk/cream/sugar counter in the airport Starbucks. GF thought I was nuts.

The customer service stateside though? Wow. Bad news.