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)!
Lee se jeong
ReplyDeleteI hate English from 학창시절. I have 고정관념 that English is so difficult. I'm afraid to talk in English. Proffesor said "YOU CAN DO IT". But I have low confidence(?). I can speak English well? ㅠ_ㅠ
Sae Jeong,
ReplyDelete학창시절 means "school days", right? How is this different from what you are doing now as a university student.
고정관념 means "a fixed idea". I suggest that most Koreans (perhaps most people living outside of English-speaking countries) have this same fixed idea.
People say that you have to have confidence to speak another language well. I suppose that's true to some extent. But I tend to think effort is at least as important as confidence. When I studied Greek in college I felt as dumb as dirt. But for some crazy reason, when I study Korean it's fun. Why? I think it is because I can use what I learn to build relationships with others. How about you?
Yes, it is possible for you to speak English well. Perhaps another element we need to add to improving our second language skills is faith. Do you believe in yourself?