2) Some classroom art in honor of what my students call, Green Day
I'm a little bit embarrassed… please try your hardest to excuse my bad grammar and incorrect spelling. Emilie teacher is human and she does make mistakes… silly ones. Hey Jack… it is a plus that I can spell excited… it certainly sounds better than exited. You would think my English would improve being that I teach it all day long. Sometimes, i'm beginning to think it's dumbing me down. With my 4 year olds I often speak in broken, fragmented sentences, always leaving out the important "be" verbs and the essential articles. It's definitely necessary in the beginning since these kiddies don't know any English. I'm starting with basics (abcs, 123s, simple vocabulary… you get it). Last week, I helped them speak their first sentence: My name is ___________. We are slowly moving along. Then there's my 4th grade class. Last week I taught gerunds. Some of you are probably saying, what is a gerund. Basically, a gerund is a verb ending in -ing. But… and this is when it gets confusing… it's not always a gerund. It could be a present participle. I'll explain for anyone wondering. A gerund is a verb, that when -ing is added, turns into a noun (example: sing (verb), singing (noun)… Singing is fun.). A present participle is when you add the -ing to the verb, making it an adjective or keeping it a verb (example: verb form- Emilie teacher is singing… adjective form: I have a singing teacher)- you know, I do love to sing. You're really enjoying this English lesson, aren't you!? Wait though, I'm not done. Okay so gerunds… did you notice that some of them have a double consonant at the end when -ing is added? But how do you know when to double the consonant? Ahhh… when, the word ends in a vowel and a consonant, like stop (OP), you double the consonant. This is all wonderful and the students are just loving my gerund lesson until we get to the word eat… um, teacher, teacher, eat ends with a vowel and a consonant so shouldn't it be eatting, not eating. Oh yes… and here's where I fumble. Technically the rule means we double the "t" but thats wrong. We all know that eating has one t. The book doesn't tell me anything about this one- thanks a lot teacher's edition. This is when I tell my students, oh yes well this is the exception to the rule. I wish I was the smartest person alive and that I had all the answers.. it's really too bad. Do you see my point in all of this? English is a tough language. There are so many weird rules, spellings and exceptions. I admire the hell out of my students for learning English as a second language. It's hard enough learning it as a first language!
Other than the fact that I am a bit frazzled every now and I often have a teaching brain fart, work is good! I feel like I've turned into this crazy… singing teacher. I think the norae bongs (karaoke rooms) that we go to every weekend bring it out in me. I guess this isn't a bad thing. The parents hear me when they come into the school and they have actually asked the management why all the classes aren't singing. They even requested for their kids to be in my class… I'm very flattered. By the way, I'm not a good singer, ask my sisters! In the last month, I've had an excellent rapport with my colleagues and I am hoping it will stay that way. The worthless schlep is for real fired and out of the building- hallelujah! Today was the first day of spring which means good times all around… so, I think things will only get better… I think, I hope, I pray! I can never be too sure about things around here.
This weekend was a bit sorrowful. It started off with farewells and a few tears. Friday night was Dominique's last night in Korea. A small group of us shared a few bottles of wine at her apartment. I hated to see her go but I know that it wasn't a forever good bye. These friends I've made here are definitely friends that I will keep forever. A reunion is a must in the next year. Sunday was Laura's birthday. It's been a while since I've gone out with Laura (she is my lovely, American co-worker). What a night we had… it started way to early and ended entirely too late, or should I say early!The rain was a fun twist.. don't worry, I haven't grown an extra toe or anything. There was a warning for Korea because of all the radiation that leaked from the nuclear reactors in Fukushima, Japan. Stay out of the rain was one thing we were told to do… I tried my best on Saturday night but it was unavoidable. I'll let ya know if anything strange starts happening to my friends and me. Don't worry mom.. I'm being a little bit dramatic here, we are all just fine and dandy! Overall the weekend was wonderful except for the fact that it was far too short.
Korean Facts/ Randomness:
-Monday of this week (March 14th) was White Day. I've mentioned this before but, White Day is like Valentine's Day. The difference is, on Valentine's Day the girl gives gifts to the boy but on White Day, the boy gives to the girl.
-I went and had burgers with my friends this week at a really tasty burger place called Lemon Table. I am used to being stared at around here but at Lemon Table, we really got some interesting looks. When our burgers came to the table we used our hands to eat them… immediately the Korean workers brought extra napkins and wet naps. They could't believe we were using our hands and getting all messy. They, on the other hand use a a knife and fork. I was not a bit ashamed… a cheeseburger is an American meal and I was going to eat it like it should be eaten.
- I just found out that if your going to take a sick day, you have to get a formal doctor's note. This doesn't sound like a big deal but it starts to become one when the note itself costs 15,000 won (about 15 bucks)..as if its not a pain in the ass enough to be sick. You will not get paid if you don't bring in your doctor's note. Those doctors don't mess around either, you really, truly have to be sick to get a note.
No comments:
Post a Comment