Teach English in Shiyuan Jiedao - Beijing

Problems for learners The Ministry of Education in korea established English Program in korea (EPIK) in 1995 to reform English education system and also to improve students? ability to speak. They hired native english speakers and placed them in rural areas to close the achievement gap and also to exchange cultures with real native person. But what?s wrong with English education in korea? In this country, where the English education is one of the country?s leading industries, students go to private institutes after school and spend extra hours to study English and other school subjects. I cannot understand the logic of young students studying for TOEIC. And it is hard to believe that these students in urban area actually do get high scores. On one hand, the enthusiasm to learn English is a good thing. It means there is a possibility of success and progress. On the other hand, I doubt if that enthusiasm really is a desire to learn or a means to get into good universities. I feel that the learners do not even question that because their parents send their kids off to those private institutes. students learn language by being motivated. I feel the biggest problem is that the most of korean students tend to lose interest in English as they spend so much time studying grammar at those private institutes when the government hires thousands of native speakers to give them more opportunities to be exposed to English. They are taking the fun out of the real purpose for learning the language. All they care about is their grades. In the light of their history, the strong desire to be number one seems to be a part of their culture in korea. We have to face the fact that it is almost impossible to change the way they think. Besides the cultural issues, I would like to point out some difficulties korean learners have when learning English. First, they depend too much on their textbooks. They are accustomed to memorizing rather than understanding the content, which means they will only memorize vocabularies for exams. Their grammar or spelling may be perfect but they tend to misuse or do not understand the usage. I can?t stop but wonder why do they even take English classes at school? In any case, korean students seem to be visual learners. They read and memorize all the time. So, using visual aids in class can be very effective. Of course, I am not going to copy down some texts from their textbook and make them memorize. To engage students, I can play games and do some fun warm-up activities, using pictures. Second, korean students lack confidence. This may be another part of their culture: they do not want to stick out. They are accustomed to teacher-centered lessons. They have never verbalized their own ideas even in their native language. I think this is a huge problem when learning a foreign language. It is necessary to learn how to communicate in this age of globalization. Most students avoid asking questions or raising hands. When I first started teaching these kids, I was shocked that there was no interaction between the teacher and the students. It seems like, for them a teacher is a scary authority figure. They are afraid to speak out or speak up for themselves. I think this is something that native teachers can change: motivating the students to SPEAK. For me, building their self-esteem is the most important aspect of teaching experience. It is not something to be done in a day. I will have to find ways to interact with people inside or outside the classroom, so that the students feel comfortable expressing their emotions.