Clever Turtles

In general I think international schools are a good idea. What I don't understand is how parents are so eager to pack kids up and send them overseas alone. And while there are some very good international schools out there, some of them are clearly dodgy. An English international school in an English-majority country makes sense. An English international school in the boondocks in China? Not so much.

That's pretty funny, but the Ethics class textbooks are known for employing quite a bit of patriotic hyperbole. They make up a very small portion of the curriculum, though.

"The next day my mother went out and bought one."

NY Times is running a story on South Korea's biggest tutoring website, Megastudy. I haven't heard of it before, but I have heard mention of online study systems while I was teaching both adults and children.

The article gives a very good overview. What is not really addressed, however, is the quality or pedagogy of the online courses. They appear to be run pretty much like typical hagwon courses.

A translation of an interview with the guy in charge of Anti-English Spectrum Cafe, the leading anti-foreign-teacher group in Korea.

College entrance exam time in Korea, again.

Even though I was a teacher for a while, I can't recall every being aware of my students taking the exam. Students who do take the exam usually drop out of conversation courses (since its not on the test) and cram grammar. There is a mass migration after the exam from grammar classes to conversation classes.

This diary entry cracked me up. I'm not sure, but I think the student was deliberately playing off of the double meaning of the phrase "good for you". I made a few minor edits for readability but the words were not changed.

(Good for you)

My mother said, "good for you." Because when I watch TV my mother said, "Are you finish your homework?" and I said, "No." So my mother said again, "Turn off TV." I said, "Oh, mom." My mother said, "It's good for you."

A student offered the movie "Notebook" as an example of the vocabulary word "poignant".

Me: Is that an old movie or a new one?

Student: It's old. Not as old as YOU are.

Kept me laughing all day.

In vocabulary class.

Me (teacher): Nostalgia means you think of the past in a good way. For example, I'm nostalgic for . . . [pauses to think]

Student: The Sixties?

As a 원어인 선생님, your boss will be shocked when you tell him you will not renew your contract. He will do this even though you told him you would not for the past six months. He will do this despite the fact that he "accidentally" opened your GRE scores that were sent to the school, and that he has seen copies of your grad school applications in the copy room. He will do this despite the fact that you have been discussing your desire to leave the school with every other employee. He will do this despite the fact that you discussed the difficulty of recruiting your replacement two months ago.

The Complete History of Sleazy English Teachers in Korea (Part 1)

What Korean women think of Foreign (= White) Men

Yeah, go to another site. We don't want you here! No Irish need apply!