English Camp…was…AMAZING. I can’t believe it’s already over! (Although…I will be seeing all of them next week, amazingly, which I will talk about later). This past week the camp was at Allak, and in two weeks (starting the 19th) I will teach just about the same camp at Dong Sang. We all (the two English teachers at Allak, M at Dong Sang, and myself) prepared for the camp together as we decided to do the same curriculum (basically) at both schools. And while I whined about having to make two kinds of lesson plans (one that I thought I had to pass into administration and then one that I remade so that we could use it for the English books that we gave to the kids) the first lesson plans that I made which I put so much work into ended up being useful for Dong Sang; while Allak apparently didn’t need to show the administration a more…administrative syllabus, the VP and P at Dong Sang did want to see such an outline. So, that made me happy. But that wasn’t really on topic.
At Allak, we had 20 kids in the camp (more applied but the teachers chose 20 from the 5th and 4th grade. Also, apparently they chose the kids that weren’t so great at English, because often what happens here is that families with more money send their kids to hagwons, which is like an academy, after school, where they learn English amongst other things), which was a great amount. We had so much fun. It was so much better than normal class. I got to know the kids a lot better, I feel that they got to know me better…and I just like the idea of being able to see my students everyday. I actually feel like they ARE my students, rather than in the school year when I might see them 2 or 3 times a week if I pass them in the halls, because I only have them in class once a week. Anyway.
The curriculum. The camp was based on reading books (well, not really, but that was the theme – the name was ‘Book Bonanza’ (I made the name…haha)), so everyday we would read a book which was tied to the theme of the day. So the first day we read “Things I Like”, which…was about exactly what you would think. But it was all verbs. So for example, skiing, painting…etc. That day we focused on introductions, and getting to know each other. We made nametags with pictures of things we liked, we made a book about things we liked, and did a survey where they walked around the room and asked their friends what they liked to do. The first day was a little boring for the kids I think. But it still wasn’t too bad.
On the second day, we learned about Culture. I bought a book online called “Happy Valentine’s Day, Gus!” and made an easier rendition of it for the kids so that they could understand better. We read that book, and then learned about 5 other holidays through a powerpoint that I made, the holidays being Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. I think I made the powerpoint too long though…while it was interesting and very colorful, I should have known that you can’t maintain the attention of twenty 10-12 year old kids for more than 10 minutes with a tv screen and nothing for them to physically do. But anyway. I enjoyed it…haha. After that we played a Jeopardy game about the powerpoint and the book, which the kids really liked, and lastly we made Valentine’s Day cards.
The third day was sports day. :) :) The objective here was to learn about the parts of the body in a book called “These Are My Hands” and then reinforce the vocabulary through games. The first game was called Speed Slap, which we took from an Epik Orientation. We got a felt-body and put it on the board, split the kids up into teams and had one from each team come up at a time to compete. We gave them each a ruler, and would call out the name of a body part. The team that touched the correct body part first got a point. This was really fun, and the kids seemed to like it. I had 2 more rounds planned, but I wasn’t sure that I was going to be able to use them because of the low level of English that the kids had. But we tried round 2, where I said a verb like “catch” and they had to point to the body part which corresponded. The kids actually responded to this pretty well. So I decided to try the 3rd round, where I would say a noun that was twice removed from the body part itself: for example (this was a harder one), ‘flower’ would be ‘nose’, because you smell flowers, and you smell with your nose. One girl actually got this answer within 2 seconds. I was SO surprised! We originally talked about only doing one or two questions in this round, but the kids REALLY liked this approach so we did many questions. As the EPIK people had said when they demonstrated this game, you won’t believe the amount of vocabulary that the kids know, and when you do games like this it really shows. Plus they loved it. :)
After that game, we played more physical games: Twister and a Ball Toss. Twister…well, you can see pictures below so I don’t have to do much explaining…it was SO much fun! They are SO adorable. Ah. My heart hurts.
And after Twister we played the Ball Toss, which was inspired by the Egg Toss that we would play at Field Day in the States – but since we were playing inside we couldn’t exactly use eggs, so we used water balloons instead. However, the balloons ended up being really small and strong so that it took a lot for them to break, so the rule was that your team was out if the balloon broke or if you dropped it 3 times. They really liked this game too, as did the teachers :)
On Thursday the topic was food. We read the book “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” (for some reason I thought it was “The Hungry Hungry Capterpillar”... does anyone know for sure one way or the other? Maybe they picked up a bum copy – or maybe I’m just thinking about ‘Hungry Hungry Hippos’…), and learned/reviewed vocabulary for food and days of the week. Next, we did a True/False worksheet and a Word Search which I made, and then we ordered food. We learned expressions related to ordering pizza, and then the teachers ordered pizza, soda, gimbap (and brought bananas too) from a nearby pizza place so that the kids could practice the expressions they used by lining up and ordering with us. We also gave them fake money so that they were limited to what they could buy, but also so that it would be more realistic and they would have to deal with interactions involving money. This went really well – I can’t believe how well they behaved around the food! For most of the pizza distribution, my co teacher was out of the room to see the Vice Principal, so it was just me, lots of pizza et.al., and 20 hungry children – but yet as I walked down the table to serve each child the pizza and then their choice combinations of gimbap, bananas and soda, the other children waited patiently (and hungrily) at the beginning of the line. I was quite impressed.
After everyone had gotten their food, we put on a movie. Originally it was intended to be Ratatouille, which I was excited about because I had never seen – but there was a problem with the DVD drive, so we had to watch another movie. I actually don’t know what movie it was, because my co teacher chose it (it wasn’t my computer) and I did Korean homework for the whole movie. I can tell you it was by Pixar and it had robots in it, but that’s as far as my knowledge extends. Thursday we ended class about an hour later than normal to compensate for the movie and lunch. It was a really fun day :).
Friday wasn’t as action-packed. It was the last day of class, so we read a book called “Rainbow Fish” and then did a role-play associated with the book (I use the word ‘so’ because it is a normal thing for us to do role-plays at the end of chapters during the normal school year). I thought this would be a little boring for the kids compared to the rest of the week, but it ended up being really fun. I really enjoyed it too – it is soo great to watch them role play, especially because some of them REALLY get into it. But also, its great to see the kids who normally don’t talk do some speaking. Also, as a linguaphile, I love listening to the mistakes that they make and try to figure out why they are making those mistakes – it’s really interesting!
After the role play, we did a writing diary, where the kids wrote about something they liked about camp. I thought we would do this in English, but my co teacher let them do it in Korean, which at first I didn’t like the idea of, but I know that many of the kids can’t write much at all in English, so I gave in. But I would go around and read what they wrote (try to read) and then tell them what that meant in English. Many of them just wrote ‘English camp was fun’ or ‘The teachers were great’ so it was somewhat easy for me to understand. One kid wrote “I had a really good time with Teacher Catie!” When I saw that I was so happy :).
After finishing the writing diaries and their evaluations of the camp, a few of them started asking me for my phone number…haha…which during the school year I was instructed not to give (understandably), so naturally I followed those previous policies, although I definitely wouldn’t have minded giving them my number, especially since it would facilitate more encounters with English. So I hesitated and then said I wasn’t allowed to, but then my co teacher came by and said that it was ok, so I gave a few of them my number. Then a bunch more came over and asked for it, and put my number in their phone. Haha. Awww. they are SO cute.
Soon after that, the Vice Principal came in to help give out the certificates of acknowledgment of completion of the camp. The kids came up in a line and shook my hand and bowed, did the same to my co teacher, and then received a certificate from the VP. Then the VP gave them a little talk, saying (I understood most of this..!) that the teachers worked really hard to give the students this camp, so lets show them our appreciation – and then they all clapped for us :). After he left, my co teacher said that for next week (I wasn’t sure yet what I would be doing next week…maybe I would just come in to school and do nothing…seriously), the VP wanted to offer another camp-like class for the kids to come to if they so wished. Obviously it would not have to be as structured because we don’t have much time and we can’t really put together another bound book for the week – but anyway, I was thinking…hmm...kids coming to school when they don’t have to? This won’t happen – at least there won’t be many who want to come (although I would be happy to do that – I really like these kids and I love having them for 3 hours a day). So my co teacher told the kids that we will be here next week and told them to raise their hands if they wanted to come in (I understood this too - !) – and all of the kids raised their hands!!!! I could not believe it!!! (One or two of them were delayed in raising but still). Oh man!!!! Ah. I’m so happy :) :). My co teacher told me I can do whatever I want next week, so I am going to work on a basic lesson plan this weekend and make some games that don’t require too many props. I’m thinking of doing one lesson on English-speaking countries – their geography, flags, famous places in the countries, foods and animals they are famous for, etc. Another day I think I might focus on animals and verbs related to those animals, e.g. rabbit:jump, fish:swim, bear:climb, etc. I think exposing them to verbs is important but I think doing it in a fun way is more important, and in this way I think they won’t be focusing on the fact that they are learning verbs but rather than they are learning about animals. Another day I might do more about sports, like baseball, basketball, football, etc., and teach them related vocabulary and rules. One day I might focus on useful expressions and make fun situations where they have to use them. I don’t know. This will be really fun I think :).
So that was English camp. And I think it was a success. Especially because…after it was over, my co teach and I went to the VP’s office to have lunch with him and a few other teachers who were there, and he asked me if I wanted to stay for more than a year…! I didn’t make any official commitment, but I said that I would like to stay another year, but there might be a problem because I have to be in the States for at least a week and a half for my sister’s wedding in October (:)). After I told him that (or indirectly – I said much of it in Korean but my co teacher relayed all of the other information that I couldn’t), he processed the information for about 1.5 seconds and said “no problem!” Haha. So, providing everything continues the way it has been and that I want to stay, I think I have a job for next year :) (Also me staying will be dependent on whether or not I can move…which should be no problem…but I’m not going to live here for another year…the noise is very bothersome and it is a very inconvenient place to live, so I’d rather not opt to stay).
As for Korean lessons…! So I have just completed my second week, and we have done 6 chapters (although we started at chapter 1 in a beginner’s book so we are going faster than we will in the future) as well as additional material that I asked her to prepare for me about verbs and conjunctions. My teacher is a student at a university in Seoul, but she is taking a semester off and living with her family in Busan, so she has a lot of free time. She goes to an English academy for a few hours every morning, and then after that she is pretty much free, so it works out really well. Plus I’m sure she can use the money – and I think the price I offered is pretty good, although I made sure to offer a decent amount because I want tests and homework, etc, so she will have to do a decent amount of work as my teacher. So far I have had one test (yesterday) and she has also prepared a few great sheets for me as supplements to the book (a book which I had already bought but it is so much easier to get myself to do it when I have a teacher everyday, of course). She also went out and bought the book herself so that she can better instruct me, which I thought was great :). So anyway, on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays I meet her after school (although nowadays after the doctor because school ends early, I go to the doctor at 2p, and then after that I go see her – but once normal school starts again I will be going to see her right after school) at 5:30p at her apartment, and on Tuesdays and Wednesdays I meet her at PNU after practice at 8:30p. We meet for an hour everyday, although sometimes we go over ( :) ), and seriously, already my listening comprehension has improved a lot. C was impressed last night when, after I asked where his friend who was going to meet us (the friend through whom I met C) was, I understood that he said ‘he is running late, it is going to take him longer than he thought to get here, so he will meet him later” in Korean (and he doesn’t speak slow when he talks to me unless I say chom do cheon cheon-i ma- hae-oh chu-she-oh!!!! (speak slower please!!!) And then he laughs and speaks about the pace that I speak English to him so that I can understand better. Haha.
But anyway. I am definitely seeing an improvement already. Although, I did not do so hot on my first test. I studied a lot, but I studied all the information about equally and the test was more focused on conjunctions than on the things we learned in the book (actually, come to think of it, the test material was probably about 85% non-book material, which is of course fine but I just didn’t prepare accordingly), so…I got a bunch (4) wrong. :( But one of the questions I got wrong because I didn’t understand the vocabulary in the instructions (excuses, excuses, I know), and another was a fluke – but still. I’d say I got a solid 3 wrong and I’m not cool with that. But that it why I love tests (well, one reason – I love them for many reasons :) ) – because you find out what you understand and what you don’t understand, if you didn’t know that beforehand. Assuming you have a test that requires you to think, which was the kind of test I had. It wasn’t like examples in a book which require progressive thinking and not too much independent thinking. So…I think I found a great teacher in that sense (as in many other senses!). This weekend I will be studying 4 chapters, because 2 of them are subjects that I am very familiar with, and another one of them is a subject I am quite familiar with…so I think starting next week I will start to get to things in the books which are new, which I am very excited about!!! I can’t wait to start making more complicated sentences as well as being able to understand more of what is being said around me!!!
As for practice – practice is going fantastic too. On Tuesday I met a new athlete who trained with us this week and will be next week as well – although after that he will be busy with preparations for going to the Navy. He is really nice – doesn’t speak much English, which is no problem, because we both speak the language of running – and quite a good runner too! He will finish high school in February, so he is much younger than the other people I have been training with, which is great, because I get to see perspectives from a Korean person in a different stage of life. We were intending on running for 50 minutes on Tuesday, but since the pace was somehow picked up quite quickly, Coach said we should try and maintain the pace and only run for 40 minutes. I’m glad because if not I wouldn’t have been able to maintain that pace…I’m not in good running shape now! But that is how I will get there, but doing lactate-threshold workouts!
As for practice – practice is going fantastic too. On Tuesday I met a new athlete who trained with us this week and will be next week as well – although after that he will be busy with preparations for going to the Navy. He is really nice – doesn’t speak much English, which is no problem, because we both speak the language of running – and quite a good runner too! He will finish high school in February, so he is much younger than the other people I have been training with, which is great, because I get to see perspectives from a Korean person in a different stage of life. We were intending on running for 50 minutes on Tuesday, but since the pace was somehow picked up quite quickly, Coach said we should try and maintain the pace and only run for 40 minutes. I’m glad because if not I wouldn’t have been able to maintain that pace…I’m not in good running shape now! But that is how I will get there, but doing lactate-threshold workouts!
On Wednesday, I met another new athlete – who was previously a professional triathlete…!!! She is now 21 years old, and is coming out of an injury. J (the boy I met on Tuesday) and Coach and I started without the girl (ah, I forget her name, I will call her G) because she was running late. So G came and joined us about 15 minutes into the run. I was really nervous, as I always am when I meet a new athlete that Coach introduces me to, because he knows so many athletes, and many of them have turned out to be quite good (especially the people that we biked with for a few Saturdays before I got injured), and I have too much pride to slack off of a tough run for at least the first day that I meet new people (unless I am at the point of actual exhaustion, which has not yet happened while meeting a new person – also I am aware that I am training for an important event and I cannot let my pride get in the way of intelligent preparation, so I try to find a happy medium (or rather happy 75%-area)). Anyway, we ended up accelerating on Wednesday too, but I wasn’t sure if it was Coach or G pushing the pace…I think G was just following along...but, while I normally run on the outside of the group as to get more miles in, I moved to the second lane half way into this run so I wouldn’t be as tired. So now it was J, me, Coach and G from inside to outside…I was still tired, but the pace wasn’t as fast as it was the day before, and we were only set to run 50 minutes today.
It was still a hard workout, and one of the runners fell back towards the end (proving that the pace was in-fact pretty intense and that I wasn’t just making it up), but all in all it was a good day. And I’ve come to realize that running with people, especially at a pace outside of everyone’s comfort level, is a great way to get to know one another. It brings out a vulnerable side which is not always accessible, especially when you first meet someone; and if everyone exhibits vulnerability (at least in this situation), you end up share feelings of determination, uncertainty, anxiety, drive, and sometimes a bit of humility – which are all traits that can be discovered and empathized with without uttering a single word. And thus the bond you can make with such people, even if you can hardly understand each other’s words, can be greater than bonds made with people sharing a mother tongue whom you have known for years.
That was, excessively long, I think. Time to retire to my heated bed and prepare for SWIMMING PRACTICE!!! (First time in the water in 6 weeks!!!) :) :)
PS - here are some pictures from the Restaurant that I went to on Sunday with my Coach and his family - the pumpkin/duck place with the monkeys...which you will see if you watch the video attached! The main voice is mine, and you can also hear the voice of my Coach's wife, son, and my Coach as well :)
