English Conversation 3 Final Exam Instructions

1. Come with your partner to the classroom at the designated time.
2. Be prepared to have a conversation about your chosen subject in a particular situation (i.e. coffee shop, meeting a friend on the street, going to the 노래방 with your favorite foreign professor etc.).
3. Talk with your partner and include the foreign teacher (aka Brent Dirks, 도영웅, 브렌트 더크스 [Quack, Quack]) in the conversation.
4. Respond appropriately to questions asked by your foreign teacher.
5. Ask your foreign teacher questions that require him to respond truthfully.
6. Don't expect to finish your script.
7. The final is over the moment the timer buzzes.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact the foreign teacher as designated on the KNU website.

Final Exam Instructions

1. Every student will talk with me for ten minutes.
2. There will be a timer that buzzes every ten minutes to tell us your time is up.
3. I will grade you based on a grade sheet rating you on the following categories for each question:
A. Grammar (50 points)
B. Pronunciation/Intonation (50 points)
C. Content (100 points)
D. Effort (100 points)
3. Memorizing sentences will be of some help to you.
4. You should also be prepared to have a normal conversation with the teacher.
5. That means you should be thinking about questions I may ask you.

As always, if you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

Ocean's Eleven Character Hierarchy

Ocean’s Eleven Summary

This may be the most difficult movie we see this semester. It may also be the most exciting movie we see this semester. Perhaps the most difficult part is that there are so many characters in the movie. There is also a lot about American culture in this movie that may make it difficult for students of another culture to understand.
It may be helpful to adapt this movie to Korean culture, particularly as far as the roles of the characters are concerned. Here is a brief hierarchy of the characters.
1. Daniel Ocean is the leader. If this were a company, we might compare him to a CEO or director of an office.
2. Rusty is second in command. In the context of a company, we could call him the team leader who works under Daniel Ocean. However, Rusty sometimes takes initiative, like when he tells Daniel Ocean that he’s off of the job after a picture of him is published in the newspaper.
3. Ruben, the Malloy Brothers, Livingstone, Bashion, Yen, Saul and Linus all work under Daniel and Rusty. However, Ruben has enough experience that he uses his age and experience to boss some of the younger characters around when necessary. Even though these guys are “under” Rusty and Daniel their role is no less significant.
4. Terry Benedict has a different kind of role, since he is the owner of the casinos that the team plans on robbing, even though we only see one robbery in this film.
5. Tess’ role in the casino is that of a curator though it is somewhat mysterious in light of the fact that Daniel is trying to win her back while she is in a relationship with Terry Benedict.

Ocean's Eleven Character Sketch

1. Daniel Ocean: Leader
2. Rusty: Second in Command
3. Ruben: First person to be consulted by Daniel and Rusty about robbing casinos.
4. The Malloy Brothers: Real brothers who race a real pickup and a remote control one.
5. Livingstone: Former FBI agent who is the dispatcher during the robbery.
6. Bashion: Electronic genius who seems to be from the UK.
7. Yen: Chinese man who is the most flexible and who works from inside the vault.
8. Saul: “Grandfather” whom Rusty meets at the dog race to ask him to be a part of the team to rob the casino.
9. Linus: first seen by Daniel Ocean to pickpocket someone on the subway train.
10. Terry Benedict: Owner of the three casinos who is also living with Tess, Daniel’s former wife.
11. Tess: Daniel’s ex-wife who eventually returns to Daniel after she sees that Daniel loves her more than Terry does.

The Santa Clause Final Exam Study Sheet

1. Who is Scott Calvin?
Scott Calvin is a businessman who neglects his family until he is obligated to be Santa Clause as a result of not reading the card carefully that he found in the previous Santa Clause’ pocket.
2. Who is Laura?
Laura is Scott Calvin’s ex-wife.
3. Who is Neal?
Neal is Laura’s husband.
4. What is Laura and Scott’s son (Neal’s step-son) name?
Charlie is the name of Laura and Scott’s son and Neal’s step-son.
5. What is the difference between “seeing and believing” and “believing is seeing”?
If somebody sees before they believe then they have to have proof that something exists. But if somebody believes before they see then they know something exists because the idea is already in their heads.
5. How would you summarize this movie?
At first glance, this is just a classic Christmas story about a businessman who neglects his family for selfish reasons and then becoming Santa Clause changes everything. This is true, in light of the fact that Laura finally believes that Santa Claus is really Scott Calvin, or that Scott Calvin is really Santa Claus because the character playing both roles is no longer selfish but is interested in the best interests of all parties.
There is a deeper question which this movie confronts, that of whether or not to believe in Santa Claus. This comes out most clearly when Scott Calvin tells one of the elves that he sees the North Pole but he can’t believe it, to which the elf tells him, “Seeing is believing” and goes on to say that children knows it exists without even seeing the North Pole.
This movie uses the classic modern American fantasy of Santa Claus to perhaps speak to the busy fathers who have no time for their children, who may have lost their own wives because of their own selfishness or busyness. On a deeper level, this movie carries on the later tradition of Santa Claus being a good person who rewards children for their good behavior. Before buying into this type of fantasy hook, line and sinker, one would do well to consider the older traditions of Santa Claus which paint him in a much more negative light. Nonetheless, the story of Santa Claus as told through “The Santa Clause” does motivate the viewers to think twice about their own behavior and beliefs.

Anastasia Final Exam Study Sheet

1. Who is Anastasia?
Anastasia is the princess who is separated from her family because of the man who sold his soul to destroy the family?
2. Who is Demetrius?
Demetrius is the boy who saved Anastasia’s life and who eventually falls in love with Anastasia.
3. Why doesn’t Demetrius take the money?
Even though Demetrius was after the money in the beginning he eventually falls in love with Anastasia and it is enough to him to know that she has found her family.
4. Why does Anastasia choose Demetrius over her royalty?
She realizes that being royalty won’t bring as much happiness as being with the man she loves.
5. Although this movie is simpler than others we have seen in class, what is one deeper characteristic of this movie not so clearly evidenced in other movies viewed in this class?
This movie features the classic dualistic motif of good and evil.
6. How would you summarize this movie?
At first glance, this movie is a simple childhood movie about a princess finding her prince, which is based on a true story. One could watch this movie at that point and think this is a very simple movie. Perhaps one could even understand the context of this movie as a learner of English, including what people are saying to each other. However, there is a deeper message about dualism and the soul and perhaps even between the dualism between the spirit (aka soul) and matter. When Anastasia breaks the glass and he loses his soul his body disintegrates into sand. Nonetheless, the moral of this movie is that good always prevails and that even when one’s motives leave something to be desired one can change one’s thinking and follow suit by changing one’s actions.

The Simpson's Movie Final Exam Study Sheet

1. What does Homer say outside of the church as he is walking with his family to the front door?
Why do I have to go to church? Why can’t I pray at home?
2. What does Marge tell Homer in response?
Quiet. They can hear you from inside.
3. Why doesn’t Homer think the people inside the church are listening to what he is saying?
Homer thinks that the people inside are too busy paying attention to a God who doesn’t really exist to be listening to what he is saying.
4. Does Homer negate the existence of God or just the peoples’ ideas of God?
We don’t know for sure what Homer thinks about God. It seems conceivable that Homer believes in God to some extent since he expresses a willingness to pray at home. It would seem most plausible that Homer merely thinks the God the people in church believe in isn’t the God who truly exists.
5. What does Homer say to the people in the church when he walks in the door?
Homer says, “How are you? Peace be with you. Praise Jebus.”

Without understanding the idioms throughout this movie, this would seem to be a pretty simple movie to understand. It was interesting to watch this movie and see what students laughed at and what they didn’t laugh at. For example, when Homer is caught between a rock and a hard place, if the viewer knows what this idiom means, it’s a comical scene. However, there were other scenes that students laughed at, which seemed to indicate universal truths.
This movie seems to be much more family-oriented than most of the TV show series, at least as experienced by the teacher during his years of growing up with this sitcom. The most valuable parts of this film seem to be the emphasis on dealing with the environmental issues, Homer’s change in behavior and the triumph of the city over the US Federal Government. The movie concludes with Homer being reconciled with his family, apparently as a direct consequence to Homer risking his life and limb (body) for the sake of rescuing a “people I hate for reasons I don’t know”.

Ocean's Eleven Final Exam Study Sheet

Even after spending much time in class to watch Ocean’s Eleven and try to discuss the film, many students continued to show their confusion about the content of this movie. Herein is a brief explanation of this movie as understood by the teacher of this class without much consultation of secondary sources.
At first glance, it would seem that this movie is simply about stealing money from a casino. This would seem to be the most common theme of the movie as evidenced by students’ understandings of the movie prior to finishing it in class. However, sometimes the main things are not in fact the main things. In that case, we have to look at the implicit meaning of the movie.
There are three scenes prior to the end of the movie that seem to foreshadow the underlying story of this movie. The first is when Daniel finds Tess at the casino he is preparing the team to rob. The second is when Rusty confronts Daniel on his real intentions of robbing the casino, which have very little, if anything, to do with money. The third is when Daniel says goodbye to Tess. The scene where Terry chooses money over Tess shows that Daniel’s intention all along was to get Tess back and that he was willing to risk his own criminal record as well as those of his cohorts to prove this love to Tess. In the end Tess learned that Benedict loved money more than her and that Daniel loved Tess more than his own reputation.

Entertaining or Teaching English

Today, I had the crazy idea that I should try to get students to speak in English. First, it was difficult to get students to understand what I was trying to say. And then it was difficult for me to get students to stop talking once they started. The trouble was that students didn't seem to be talking about the subject in English or Korean.

The trouble with finding ways to teach English in the classroom as that the ideas don't always work out so well in practice as they seem when I read about them in the book. I spent quite a bit of money on books that I purchased in America, thinking they would work well in Korea. Sometimes the ideas work well and sometimes they don't.

Even after I had students write their answers on paper for a "quiz" that I thought might work well as a disciplining device seemed to be as frustrating as getting the students to speak.

I tried showing the bulk of the movie with English subtitles and students either weren't able to see the English subtitles or if they did, they couldn't read the sentences fast enough. Or, if those things weren't the problem, it was difficult for students to understand the meaning of the sentences.

Part of my frustration was in students not understanding what I was trying to say in English or Korean. I think there must be a tendency among to students to give up on trying to understand me in either language when they don't understand what I mean to say.

Now, the dilemma seems to be that if I show most of the movie during class, it becomes "Entertainment English" rather than "Screen English". But if I try to teach students something about the movie, the method winds up not being a very meaningful way of learning English.

In some cases, I seem to be in a Catch 22, where no matter what I do, it isn't enough because students are only taking the class because they have to, or if they have the desire to improve their English, they don't have the time.

I'm also starting to reconsider my efforts of free-talking this semester. I'm not convinced that the methods I'm using are satisfactory free-talking methods in terms of improving students' English-speaking abilities.

Hopefully the next post will have some more constructive comments in this regard and that I will be able to find a via media approach that is somewhere between "entertaining" and "productive".

Between A Rock And A Hard Place: Teaching a required English Course

As indicated by my last entry, things have not seemed to go well in my classes since the Mid-term. I learned yesterday that students, at least in my conversation classes, come to English Conversation thinking they will be able to relax and learn English in fun ways rather than have to learn grammar or have to sit through a difficult conversation.

I find myself feeling as if I am between a rock and a hard place. I hear the administration wanting students to speak English well and requiring English conversation and the students struggling to endure through an English Conversation class. This leaves me feeling almost sick to my stomach as I also try to sympathize with my students who seem to have almost unrealistic expectations. First, students tell me they want to talk. Then, when I give them opportunities to talk, they complain because the conversation is too difficult or because the activities are too boring. Then they expect the class to be fun in a way that relieves them of the pressure they feel in their other classes.

I feel like I have a better handle on all of this after talking with students yesterday that were in one or both of my conversation classes who said that they are stressed out from all the work they have to do to prepare for their tests in their other classes which are mainly to prepare them for THE teaching test they have to pass in order to become teachers of students with special needs.

I think that one of the students made a valid point about the environment of the classroom not being conducive to creating natural conversation. I think I may start with a simple conversation and see how far I can get with students and try to find some kind of a game to support what they are learning.

After the test...

Today went a lot different than I expected. I envisioned that we would spend the entire 2-hour class period talking about the grammar on the test. Perhaps I thought this would actually work because students seemed very energetic about talking last week. But what I failed to realize was that the test was last week and the students would return to their tendency not to talk.

Eventually, I decided to spend the rest of the class talking about why students didn't talk. Eventually, I got people to write down that they thought it was difficult to talk about grammar issues. Perhaps the most satisfactory answer was that students were unfamiliar with the content of the class which made them less ready to respond. What I don't understand is why students were willing and able to do these things last week but this week they said nothing.

I'm not sure if this was a cultural difference, language barrier or a combination of the issues. To be honest, the most enjoyable part for me was when I expressed my frustrations in Korean and students seemed amused as I told the narrative of what happens as students wear down as the semester carries on.

I am at odds as to what I should do. I'm beginning to think that the grammatical approach that I've used this semester may not be the best way to teach English, but then again, if students have difficulties using English grammar correctly, how would it be possible to carry on a conversation?

In retrospect, I wonder if giving a test of any kind is a good way of measuring a students ability to communicate in English. I will be reflecting over the coming weeks on whether another form would be better, such as having students write out the format of a conversation on a test or on a paper of any kind. But it seems that some kind of an activity where people are required to talk is necessary.

Screen English

After watching a movie with a Korean over the weekend, I thought about the way I explained American culture to her. I wondered if the same thing could be done in Screen English. So I showed the students three clips from "High School Musical 1". I then tried to explain the important aspects of the clips we saw.

The upside of this was that students got to see more of the movie. 75% of the students who visited this blog during the week of Chuseok expressed that they'd like to see more movies (This probably also including English Conversation students).

The downside was that students didn't have much opportunity to talk about the movie. If they could talk about it, it seems like it would be difficult in a class of 30 or 40 students to give students opportunity to talk directly to me.

I tried to give the students opportunity to talk to each other. But it seemed they had a hard time understanding what I was asking them to do.

If you were in that class (11am to 12:50pm, Tuesday, Secondary Special Education Screen English 2), I would like to know what you thought. Is this an approach that would be helpful to you learning English? How could it be modified (changed) to be more useful to you?

Free-Talking Substitute: What Event(s) Has Changed Your Life?

If you have chosen to spend thirty minutes on here instead of free-talking, here is what I would like you to do.

Talk about a special event (i.e. school, teacher, history) that changed your thinking.

Some of you may think this means you have to talk about a big event that was a matter of life-and-death. But that is not the case at all. Just think about who your favorite teacher(s) was or whom you have had the closest relationship with? Or how about which traumatic historical event you remember the most? Why does it stand out in your mind more than the rest?

Making sentences...

I had some difficulty with a game I thought would work out well. The idea of the game is that people have to make a story based on the information that is presented to them. I started with, "I came to KNU to teach a class." The student I called on had trouble saying that she tripped over the desk. This game continued to be a struggle, so I moved on to the next activity.

In the next class, I had people get in groups. This worked a little better. But it was still difficult to get students to make a story. A lot of times students would make one sentence. But it was difficult for them to make a continuous story. I helped them by giving them an example using words like but, then and so.

This experience is something I've experienced often in the two-and-a-half years that I've lived in Korea. It seems that the most difficult thing is for students to make sentences. I tend to see my job as "forcing" students to speak in English. But in some cases, it seems that students still need me to hold their hand. That is to say, they need me to continue to teach them grammar.

This is difficult since my Korean level is still not on par with the level needed to do this. I think a common problem students have is a lack of motivation. Or perhaps it is the fact that the situation is not real. I find free-talking to be more comfortable because it is really conversation with a small group of people. I wonder what I can do between the rock and the hard place where the students and I are. I see the rock as the requirement that students take this class whether they want to or not and the hard place is the fact that students have not been trained well about how to make a sentence.

If you are one of my students, how do you rate yourself as well as your fellow students on this matter? Are there things I can do to improve your ability to communicate in English?

Preparing for Class

I started to prepare for class this morning (Chuseok Day). I only got as far as finding ideas for English Conversation class. Whereas last semester, it seemed easier to teach Screen English, it seems easier to teach English Conversation this semester. Perhaps part of that is because I have tools for English Conversation.

I'm not quite sure how to approach teaching Screen English. Last semester, I chose two movies. But I think that got to be redundant for the students after a while.

Today I watched "I Am Sam". This seemed like a good movie to show to students majoring in Elementary and Secondary Special Education. The Korean I watched this movie with didn't seem to understand all of the cultural cues. So I think I might add this to the list of movies.

But how do I teach this? Do I try to explain all the idioms? Do I try to explain the culture behind the movie? Do I focus on Sam and what the students think the solution is to this dilemma? Or do I focus on grammatical factors or key issues students can use in everyday conversation?

How Are We Doing?

I'm pleased with how everyone is doing so far on this blog.

However, I'd like to see you comment on what other people have written as well as on what I have written.

If you don't understand something or a lot of what I have written, please ask and I will try to explain it in easier words or in Korean if that helps.

If you don't want to waste your time having to go to this blog to see when someone makes a comment, I recommend the following.
1. Start your own profile on Blogger.
2. Subscribe by e-mail.

If you want help with either of these things, let me know.

I'm enjoying corresponding with you all in this manner.

For those of you who have started, keep up the good work.
For those of you who haven't started yet, get going.:)

Once again, I hope you all have a blessed Chuseok.

P.S. You should've received e-mail from me about the free-talking schedule. This is a direct response to two students who expressed frustration regarding free-talking. Lesson: If you want to change something about class or free-talking this semester, THIS IS THE PLACE TO TELL ME.

Blogging Instructions for My Students

Here are the instructions for my students during the Korean Thanksgiving Holiday (Chuseok).

1. Read through any or all of what you see on this blog.

2. Click on "comment".

3. Type in the box to the right.

4. Click the box next to "anonymous" (Or you can set up an i.d. with Google or another source).

5. Click on "submit".

6. As more students post, please respond to what they write.

7. Please don't use your dictionary for this activity.

8. If you don't understand, ask, "What does ~ mean?"

9. The important thing is for you to read and write.

10. When you don't know how to say something in English you can use Konglish.

11. I will post examples on each of the articles I have written for you.

12. Here is what I mean by "Konglish": I 먹었다 rice.

Trying to Speak in Korean in Class

It seems that I am always humbled regarding my Korean skills during the semester. Person to person conversations in Korean are much more comfortable than when I try to speak Korean in class. And there is still a percentage of students who can understand me while there is also a percentage of people who can't seem to understand me. When this happens (Being humble as far as my Korean ability is concerned) there is always a process of soul-searching for me.

So I'd like to invite my students to join me in this quest. What do you think of my effort to speak Korean? Does it help you understand what I am trying to say in English, better? Is it sometimes as difficult to understand as when I speak in English? Does it keep you from learning English? Do you feel like I am trying to learn more about speaking Korean than I am trying to teach you in English?

Free-talking

This is the second week that I have free-talked with all of my students in English Conversation and Screen English classes. I decided to do this instead of assigning homework that they have to write and I have to read and correct. I am mostly satisfied with this process. I am finding that I have far too often misjudged my students.

The challenge of this is that it is difficult to have natural conversation but playing "games" works much better. This seems to help students focus more on speaking without being overwhelmed by difficult conversation. As this blog demonstrates, it is very difficult for me to speak in simple English.

I would like to know what my students think of free-talking. How does it compare to class-time? Do you feel like this is helping you improve your English skills? How do you perceive me during this time as opposed to class time? What do you think of the methods I have used so far to free-talk with you?

Correcting Newspaper Headlines

I was surprised in my English Conversation classes how difficult it was to correct headlines. Students were supposed to correct newspaper headlines that omitted the "a", "the" or no article at all. I thought this would be a breeze but it was more difficult than I thought. Thinking that there was no such thing as "the" in Korean, I didn't talk about it from that perspective. But I learned in my second conversation class that this does in fact exist in Korean. One of the ways it exists is with "그". This can mean "that house (그 집)" if a person can see the house. But it can also mean, "The house" if the house is not visible.

During this Chuseok holiday, I'm asking my students to think about how to talk about the food they eat. For example, rice cake, kimchi, the table (Koreans don't eat tables of course, but here is an example of "the").

What's in your home?

It seemed rather difficult for my Screen English students to talk about the arrangement of their dorm rooms or the home where off-campus students live. I suppose this was for two reasons. The first is that they had to think about how their homes or dorm rooms are arranged. The second reason is that they had to think about how to say this in English. The difficulty of this exercise is in using prepositions. But in many cases students didn’t know how to translate prepositions from Korean to English. For example, 옆에 (next to), 아래에 (under), 미테 (down). I would like my students to try this again on this blog while they are home with their families. They can pick any room and write about this as a comment. I want to see if this will be easier if they are in the room than it is trying to think of how the room looks. Don’t forget to describe aspects like “The couch is in front of the window” as well as arranging issues like, “There is a stack of laundry on the floor in my room.”

Teaching with Tools

Next week marks the beginning of the third week of the semester. I'm feeling better about classes this semester with the books that I purchased. It's unfortunate that I didn't do this sooner. I am learning about some better methods to use to teach class. In former days, I didn't do much with games, partly because it is difficult to explain them. Instead, I would stand up in front of the class and try to get people to talk. This would often result in frustrating the students as well as myself. It seems that the students are more interested in English than I thought. They just need to have more opportunity to "release" at their own pace when everybody in the class is not watching them.

Another aspect outside of the class that I am playing with is free-talking. The university where I work only requires 6 hours of free-talking. This could mean that I only have to meet 6 students outside of the class. I decided to free-talk with my students, all 110, instead of giving them a writing assignment. I think it is important for students to practice speaking English outside of class. But I don't think writing is the way to help students improve English Conversation skills, for instance. This is a tiring task but it seems to me to be a valuable one.

Feel free to leave a comment about whatever class you are taking, or if you are a student or whatever. I'll try to post the names of these books that are making these classes more delightful, or so it seems to be.

Homework: Freetalking

This is my first entry on this blog since the semester started. I'm hoping to do more work on this blog so that you students can leave your comments.

So far I am very pleased with free-talking. Although this is difficult for students, I am enjoying getting to meet my students and feeling more fulfilled this way than if I were to assign you all kinds of projects that I would have to read at night which would take away from the time I can spend free-talking with you.

I'm sorry for the long sentences. I'll try to keep them shorter so you can understand me better.

I am also pleased with the classes I have taught so far. My only complaints are the difficulty of getting students to understand how the activities work and the fact that I couldn't show more videos in class today due to technical difficulties. I hope to have that problem fixed by the time my next class rolls around.

I also want to recommend the Cambridge Language Learning Library. I received some positive feedback from a student on behalf of other students regarding the new format. I'm not using an English Conversation textbook. I'm also not doing my usual "stand in front of the class to get people to talk" format. I usually protest being put in a classroom with no computer but I've decided to try using a classroom without a computer and I think it is working well so far. If I can continue what I've started I think things will go well.

I hope you students will be honest with me about your perspective on this class. Thanks for listening and hanging in there between my high-level English and my poor Korean pronunciation and grammar. I'm excited to see what happens with your English and our teacher/professor-student relationships.

Don't forget. YOU CAN DO IT (Speak English well, I mean)!

Sunday English Class at Grace Church

5/16/10
Today I prepared more for my English class at Grace Church than I have done in a long time. And it seemed to pay off. Nobody complained about the game being boring though it did seem to be over some peoples’ heads. I got the idea from http://www.eslpartyland.com/students/nov/travel.htm. I used 10 scrambled sentences and I selected from 20 trivia questions. I got through most of the US trivia questions, nearly all the customs questions and nearly through all the European trivia questions in about an hour. These students seem to respond well to games that require them to write on the white board. I think I’ll try this format with some modifications in my conversation class tomorrow.

Welcome to This Blog

Thank you for visiting this blog. I started this blog as a way to keep track of my teaching practices. I intend to write about my teaching practices on this blog. I do not offer this information as if I have all the answers but I hope I will find answers to my teaching questions through this method.

Sometimes I will write for my students.
I will try to keep the sentences simple for you.
I know that my English is more difficult than English itself.
I hope I can also ask you Korean questions and that you can answer them.
And I also hope you will ask me questions and give me answers.
If you enjoyed the class I'd like to know what you enjoyed.
And if you didn't like the class, why not?
If you feel like there is too much homework, tell me about it on here.

I will try to post things on this website that will be helpful for me and perhaps for others. This blog is for professional development only. Therefore everything that goes on in here should be professional.

I look forward to many conversations with all of you. Because this is not e-mail, hopefully I won't have to sift through e-mail to find your messages.

Now before you leave, please post a comment.