Good morning my beautiful rays of sunshine! āļø
I know a lot of people these days are interested in the Korean language and culture and would love to spend some time in Korea. On of the easiest ways to go to Korea long term is being an English teacher. The most typical ways of doing that is either through a government program like EPIK or through a private academy, aka hagwon. I went through EPIK and I have a few posts about the EPIk application process.
But for this post, I wanted to talk about what it's like being an EPIK teacher. Of course, this is my specific experience and opinion. You may have a similar experience as mine or something completely different. It really does depend on your school, your district, the people around you, and you. So please don't take my experience as the EPIK experience.
When I first started, I was extremely nervous. I had never taught before and had no idea what I was doing. I was lucky to have a great coordinator and other EPIK teachers that really helped me. I didn't receive any support or guidance from my school and co-teachers though. I was told I could teach anything I wanted and that I wouldn't need a textbook. In my head and as a new teacher, I wanted some sort of guidance or curriculum to follow. But it was just never given to me. Eventually, I did get into the groove of things. Also, I think this is just an EPIK high school teacher thing so if youre teaching middle school or elementary school, your co-teachers may be more present in your classroom, but my co-teachers for my first semester were really inactive. They just really sat at the back of the classroom amd watched my flounder my way through the lesson. Especially at the beginning when I could see that students weren't understanding me and I would try my best to rephrase things to adjust as I went, I never had my co-teachers give any sort of assistance or feedback. My second semester was better and I had new co-teachers to work with and they were a lot more active. They wanted to see what lessons I had planned and would help with translations or walking around the class with me as students did work. Even though I felt that my first set of co-teachers weren't helpful, my work relationship with them was good. We'd go to dinner or a cafe to just talk and relax. Yes, I could've asked for them to be more active but I don't think they would've changed. But because of that, I learned a lot about myself as a teacher and could be independent.
Up until COVID, I had a great time teaching. I was really enjoying my time with students and building rapport with them, was discovering my teaching style, and was learning a lot, especially with my new set of co-teachers. But COVID kinda ruined everything for everyone. We were online and I felt like wasn't connecting with my students any longer and once we were in person, we had to make a lot of adjustments to accommodate social distancing rules. And especially as an language teacher, it made it harder cause I could longer have students do speaking activities with one another. After while, I was feeling drained of the energy and motivation I had before. Of course, I was able to put on a smile for my students. But as soon as they were out of my classroom, I would shut down. I had one day at work where I just felt like bad and had to cry in my office. Thank goodness, none of the other teachers were in the office with me at the time. Though I know that was my breaking point, I can really tell you how or why I got to that point. At that point, we had lived to COVID restrictions to where it was the norm and we were all adjusting fine. I found my rhythm with teaching again and I was still building rapport with new students or continuing my relationship with my old students. I honestly don't know why or how I got to that point, but I knew if I continued, I would be doing a disservice to my students cause I no longer had the energy to be the best that I could be for them. And with a few other factors not related to teaching, I made the decision to move back to the United States after two years in Korea.
I loved my time there. It was a very formative time for me, both as a professional and as a person. I really learned a lot about myself and was able to develop my current mindset. Would I go back to Korea? Absolutely. But as an English teacher? Questionable.
I hope that helps! If you have any questions, feel free to send me a message. I hope you all have a wonderful day! Until next, shine bright my rays of sunshine! š
Good morning my beautiful rays of sunshine! āļø
It's been a while but I'm back and hoping to be more consistent about posting. I do have some post ideas to work on and a bit Korea related backlog so I will try to get those started ASAP.
I just wanted to jump in and kinda explain why I've been MIA and plans for the future.
Where have I been?
As you may or may not know, in August 2019, I left to go teach in South Korea through the EPIK program. I wrote a few posts while I was there and it kinda died out. The main reason was my time management sucked. After coming home from work, I either a) just wanted to relax and sleep or b) hang out with friends. I just found myself being lazy and not wanting to do anymore work than necessary. Iām an INFJ so spending all day with students and coworkers is really draining on me. And on days I was with friends, it was usually cause I had a rough day at work and needed to just talk like normal, not slowing down my English or playing charades.
The second reason is my mental health suffered quite a bit. After COVID hit, things just werenāt the same. Work was more exhausting and I couldnāt find enjoyment in it anymore. I was burnt out pretty hard. There were days where I just sat and stared into space or wanted to cry. It was a lot and I didnāt know how to deal with it. Iām also the kind of person who just lets things fester inside until I canāt handle it anymore. Iāll have a good crying session, feel better, and repeat the process all over again. Even now, I donāt know how to handle it and I havenāt tried seeking any therapy because the Asian in me doesnāt want to show any sign of weakness when I know that getting help is actually a sign of strength. Iāll get there one day but knowing this about myself is the first step.Ā
Anyways, I actually left Korea in August 2021 and have been trying to recenter myself and pick up the pieces of me that were broken as I neglected myself. Iāve also been dealing with some familial affairs that I think is reaching its end, nothing bad, just some personal stuff that Iām not comfortable sharing in the Internet. Iām also been hard on the job searching grind recently so hopefully, Iāll be employed soon.
Plans for the Future
When I started this blog back in 2016, it was with the intention that I would be writing about my journey into the Korean culture and language. It started with me as a study abroad student at Sogang University, then I was a masters student at UTSA gaining the knowledge I needed to be a teacher, and then being a teacher in South Korea. That journey has ended and Iāve been thinking a lot about what I wanted to do with this blog. I do enjoy writing and sharing bits and pieces of my life.
So Iāve decided to revamp. Originally, the name of this blog wasĀ āWake Up and Korean.ā The idea was I would be waking up to a new day and immersing myself in the Korean culture and language. Now, Iāve changed it toĀ āWake Up And.ā Iāve left it open-ended so I could create content in any realm that I want as I grow as a person and move through life. It still has the idea of waking up to a new day but now itās more waking up and living life and doing what excites.
Iām really happy with this new direction and I hope that you all enjoy it as well. Until next, shine bright my rays of sunshine!
Good morning my beautiful rays of sunshine! āļø
This is a pretty deep and sensitive subject but I think itās important to talk about, and thatās discrimination and prejudice against foreigners in South Korea.
Before I really get started on the topic, I just want to say this is MY experience, thoughts, and opinions, and will most likely differ from someone elseās experience. Also, this happened during a time of early panic towards COVID19, so I can understand where people are coming from but I donāt approve of their actions. So letās jump into this.
So as many of you may know, many countries has been affected by COVID19 and South Korea has done a really good job at controlling the virus. Until recently, the numbers of new cases were on the single digits. With this in mind and the fact that South Korea has been social distancing for a while, I think everyone here is ready to step outside and let loose a little. Especially now that is spring here.
I, as a teacher, had a four-day weekend (Thursday, April 30 - Sunday, May 3) and so some of the EPIK teachers in my city and I decided we wanted to go to Seoul to get out of our little city, get some Western food, do some shopping, etc. The weekend was great and we go back to a normal life of work. During the week, a news article was published the a man went to a few clubs in Itaewon, the foreigner district (this is important to note), and he started to show symptoms of COVID19 to which he ended up testing positive for. This, of course, sent panic across the nation and the South Korean government was quick to try to track as many people that went out to those clubs and make sure everyone was handled properly. Thereās a little bit more drama to this part since the clubs that the man went to were gay clubs and thatās another can of worms that I donāt have the right to talk about but know that this is a situation in and of itself.
So anyways, us teachers had visited Itaewon twice during that weekend for lunch and dinner but we never went to the clubs so we felt pretty safe. And none of us were showing any symptoms so we were feeling pretty good. Sunday, May 10, we get a notice from the POE (Provincial Office of Education) that any EPIK teachers that visited Itaewon that weekend should get tested as soon as possible and start self-quarantine as a safety precaution, especially since the re-opening of schools was so close. So we went to go get tested Monday morning (May 11) since the closet testing center to us was closed on Sunday. This is where it went downhill.
Monday morning as we were getting vetted, everything seemed to be normal. I was keeping my CTs up-to-date with the situation, my students were logging on and doing their assignments, things seemed to be fine. Little did we know, false rumors and panic were spreading as we were getting our throats and nasal passages swabbed. The rumors, in a nutshell, were saying that we had gone to Itaewon, went clubbing, and that one of us tested positived. We donāt know who or how it started but it did. And on top of that, our workplaces were listed. If you know how EPIK works, each main school that is with the program is allowed one EPIK teacher. So basically, anyone could easily find us now that that schoolās name has been released.
And just some of the things that were being sad just werenāt that nice. Things like they need to be exposed or they need to leave were pretty prominent. We tried to do as much damage control as possible. We told as many people as we could that if they heard this, they needed to say that the rumors are false. But for the most part, we were told to stay quiet and let it die down.
I think now, everything is back to normal. My school hasnāt treated me any differently. I was recently told that at the time I was at home, my school had a meeting to discuss any changes to the schedule and if they should work from home as well just in case, and at the meeting, some of my CTs werenāt on my side. Luckily for me though, my current main CT and the teachers in my office did defend me since they saw my BT21 haul and had already asked what I did that weekend and knew that I didnāt go clubbing.
I understand that a lot of the malice did come from panic and worry but whatās really bothersome was none of the Koreans that went were witch hunted (and yes, while we were getting tested, a couple of Koreans did come in saying they had actually went to the clubs that night). Like anybody is capable of going clubbing and yet somehow, only the foreigners got in trouble. Itās really unfair. And we were told that we should stay quiet which was even more upsetting. I can see now that it was the easiest way to let people calm down and whatever but that week in quarantine was one of the worst weeks of my life and itās something that I donāt want to go through again or wish on my worst enemy.
I hope that helps! If you have any questions, feel free to send me a message. I hope you all have a wonderful day! Another post is coming soon so be ready toā¦wake up and shine. š
Hii guys!!Ā I decided to make this tutorial for online Korean learning, this is a method my Korean teacher gave us, is completely free, really easy to use, and fun! Made this specially for @diaduithannah, hope you like it!
1. You must enter the page sejonghakdang.org and create an account. You can set it for it to be in english so it is easier to use.
2.Ā Click on: Create an account
3.Ā Once in there, click on the grey mark points so they turn blue, and click on General Membership Signup, if you want you can use the Social Media one but I was taught this method.
4.Ā Fill in all the information and remember to select that you are a Student
5. Confirm your accontĀ and go back to the home page
6.Ā Once in the home page, click on Learn and Standard Curriculum
7.Ā Go to the bottom of the page for the beginners option, if you are more advanced look for the one that suits you
8.Ā There will be an option bar, choose Learn.
9.Ā A tab will open up. Click on the korean āstartā, this page will give you animations, conversations, audio, explanations, and exercises for you to practice grammar and vocabulary.Ā
10.Ā This is a little extra, but I would recommend for you to already know how to read Hangul (korean) in case you donāt know and you want to practice deeper the exercises, the page offers textbooks you can print. Click on search and select the option Sejong Korean Workbook in the ebook section. Choose the one that suits you. The one I pointed is for beginners and explains how to read Hangul! However I do recommend watching videos for learning Hangul as well.
Sincerely guys, this webpage is everything. It even gives you cultural lessons, it teaches you cultural traditions in Korea according to what you are seeing in the lessons! It is really fun and helps a lot. Any doubts about this web page I am all yours! Thank you!
Please share if you find it helpful!
Good morning my beautiful rays of sunshine! āļø
As a quick disclaimer, this was written soon after I finished orientation but I posted this (and all other Korvia/EPIK related posts) afterwards because 1) Iām not sure if Iām allowed to disclose any of the information I received and 2) I want to be able to answer any questions you all may have and I want to answer them fully and to the best of my abilities and I canāt really do that if Iām halfway through the process.
Because I applied to EPIK through Korvia, Korvia has a shuttle from the hotel to EPIK orientation. EPIK has their own shuttles from the airport to orientation. Once I got to the orientation location, which was Konkuk University (Global Campus), we got into lines to get our little orientation bag with goodies (a water bottle and pen), some snacks, our orientation manual, name tags, and keys to our rooms. The roommate situation is completely random but theyāre just passing out keys to whoeverās next in line so expect it to be the person before or after you.
EPIK orientation is an 8-day orientation with day 1 and day 8 being moving in and out days. Day 1 is also the campus tour, opening ceremony, and welcome dinner. On your name tag, youāll find your class on it (e.g., Class 1-A, 1-B, 2-A, 2-B). This will determine your lecture schedule for the rest of the orientation. Expect about four (4) lectures a day. Each lecture is about an hour and a half long. Youāll be in lectures pretty much all day from 9:00am to 5:30pm with breaks into between lectures and for lunch.
A big project that will happen during orientation is the Lesson Demonstration. This is where youāll be assigned a group, a grade level, and lesson topic and have to come up with a lesson plan, materials and demonstrate the lesson in front of your class. I was in a group with two other ladies and we had high school grade 1 (so 10th grade US equivalent) and the topic wasĀ āTravel: Discover the Unexpected.ā They will give you the textbook chapter to work with.
From this point, Iāll be telling you my intakeās schedule. The lectures may have changed or the order of certain things may have changed but the main idea is still there.
Day 1: Registration, Class Meeting, Opening Ceremony, Welcome Dinner
This was a simple day. Just moving into your rooms, getting information packets, campus tours, and basic orientation stuff.
Day 2: Medical Check-Up, Class Meeting, Korean History & Culture, EPIK Duties & Regulations
Medical Check-Up: Thereās 9 tests that you have to go through: weight/height, eye exam, blood pressure, hearing & color test, medical interview, blood test, urine test, and x-ray. The blood test is the hardest for some people justĀ ācause people donāt fair well with needles or having their blood drawn.Ā
Class Meeting: Here youāll learn more about orientation like scheduling and some rules. Youāll learn a little bit more about the field thatās happening later, youāll be placed in your groups for the lesson demonstration and youāll get to elect a class leader.
Then you have two lectures: Korean History & Culture and EPIK Duties & Regulations.
Day 3: After School Classes & Vacation Camps, Lesson Planning I, Lesson Planning II, Lesson Observation
This day is a day of lectures. Lesson Observation is one youāll get to see a NET (Native English Teacher) and KET (Korean English Teacher) teach a mini lesson just to kinda see what a normal class would look like, how co-teaching works, etc.
Day 4: Classroom Management, Cooperative Learning, Storytelling, Korean Class
Again, lectures. Korean Class is actually divided into three lessons: Survival Korean, Tour of Korea, and Learning KPOP Song. You have to pick one. I ended up in Survival Korean but itās literally just the basics likeĀ āhello,āĀ āthank you,ā numbers...yeah, things like that.
Day 5: Field Trip
For our field trip, you could between traditional music instruments or takkyeon and making natural dyeing & Korean traditional ornaments or rowing. I did takkyeon and dyeing & ornaments. Later, we got to see the kids that did rowing do a little rowing competition.
Day 6: EPIK Life & School Culture, Lesson Demonstration Preparation, Sexual Harassment Awareness and Prevention Education, Making Your English More Comprehensible
More lectures. For Lesson Demonstration Preparation, you get with your group and plan and prepare your lesson demonstration.
Day 7: Lesson Demonstration and Feedback, Meeting with MOE/POE, Closing Ceremony & Farewell Dinner
This is the day where you and your group do your lesson demonstration and youāll receive immediate feedback on what you did well and what needs improvement. Then, youāll get to meet your head coordinator of your POE/MOE (Provincial Office of Education/Metropolitan? Office of Education). Theyāll give you a quick run-down of each city and whatās cool about it and then give you your placement and youāll sign the contract. Theyāll also tell you what time you need to meet to load on the bus the next morning.
Day 8: Luggage Load on the POE/MOE bus and Escorted to each POE/MOE
Obviously, checking out and going to wherever youāve been assigned to. I was on the bus with teachers going to the southern-ish area of Gangwon-do. So, Gangneung, Taebaek, Samcheok, Donghae. Theyāll take you to the immigration office where youāll meet your main co-teacher and apply for your ARC (alien registration card).
In my case, I was taken to my apartment by my co-teacher and got to take a quick look around and put my stuff down. Then, I was taken to the school where I got to meet some of my students, eat lunch with the other teachers, get a quick tour of the school, and chill in my office. And I stayed there for the rest of the day preparing my introduction lesson for the next day. So I was kinda thrown straight into teaching, some other teachers get a little bit more time to settle in and prepare.
I hope that helps! If you have any questions, feel free to send me a message. I hope you all have a wonderful day! Another post is coming soon so be ready toā¦wake up and shine. š
Ready, Set, Type! Practice Typing Korean with Games
So you know how to type in Korean. Now what? How do you get good at it?Ā
One of my students in my Beginner Korean class just picked up some stickers for her keyboard to practice typing Korean on her computer, and asked me how do you get used to the placement of all the ķźø characters? They seem to be in places that make no sense.
The answer is: Practice, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!
Well, just like when we all learned to type our native languages, it just takes familiarity and practice of making your fingers learn where the characters are, but that can be really difficult when we donāt use a second language very often.
So hereās some FREE tools and websites that can help you practice touch typing and memorizing the Korean keyboard layout.
Here are some tools to help you with that:
TaDak TaDak
A Korean website to help kids practice typing, TaDak TaDak is an onomatopoeia for the sound keys make when you type (ķė„ķė„). This site rocks!Ā It has so many different exercises for practicing typing Korean and itās freeeeeee.
Individual ķźø PlacementĀ - Helps you to memorize the layout of the keyboard
Word Practice - like flashcards! You see a picture and the matching word in Korean and type it.Ā
Under ė±ė§ģ°ģµ tab, you can practice with ģ°ė¦¬ė±ė§ for user-submitted flashcards. Accuracy not ensured though because a lot of these are submitted by kids lol
Sentence PracticeĀ - You can practice your ėģ“ģ°źø° here and get a feedback on your typing speed (ķģģė) and accuracy (ģ ķė)
Hard Mode TaDak Games
If you want to really suffer or youāre an advanced learned, try these TaDak games on for size.
Dictation: You listen to the recording, type what the speaker says and get scored on your results. I have never gotten 100% ć ć
Puzzle:Ā Guess the 2-3 character words from the ķźø provided. Youāll get a lot of practice furiously typing and wracking your brain for vocabulary that fit the possible combinations.
Iām sure we all felt like (or still feel like, in my case) children when it comes to learning Korean; my advice is to just lean into it. Donāt be taken aback by using tools for kids.
Yes, I am a child. Please teach me and donāt be mad at me because I donāt know anything and Iām trying my best.
Hangul Attack
GO! Billy Korean provides amazing resources for Korean learning, and one of those is Hangul Attack, a completely free game to practice Korean typing.
You type the ķźø as they fall from the sky; if you make a mistake, a meteor will fall down. You can shoot meteors down with your space bar. Any characters or meteors that hit the ground drain your life points.
Visit Billyās website to download and install the game for your computer.
TypeRacer
Increase your typing speed while racing against others - publicly or privately.
You can either enter a typing race against random online opponents, practice on your own or race your friends. Great tool for those of us with a competitive streak cough cough
Try it out here!
Typing Tests
Iām sure weāve all taken one or two typing tests for our native languages at some point or another, so it shouldnāt surprise you that there are options for Korean typing tests. Hereās just a few that give you text to type and measure your speed and accuracy.
Typing.Works (make sure to set it toĀ āNativeā)
10FastFingersĀ
If anyone else has great resources theyād like to add, please reblog!Ā
Good morning my beautiful rays of sunshine! āļø
As a quick disclaimer, this was written soon after I finished the Korvia orientation but I posted this (and all other Korvia/EPIK related posts) afterwards because 1) Iām not sure if Iām allowed to disclose any of the information I received and 2) I want to be able to answer any questions you all may have and I want to answer them fully and to the best of my abilities and I canāt really do that if Iām halfway through the process.
When you apply to work through Korvia, they have their own orientation where they help you set up a phone plan and bank account as well as take you to the EPIK orientation. For $200, you get all of that stuff and accommodation (2 nights, 3 days).Ā
So I landed in Korea (Incheon Airport) around 4:20pmish and went the customs, got my bags, and bus ticket just fine. Some of the other Korvia teachers and I had planned to meet up and travel together so I waited around some for them. I got to the hotel, met my roommate, explored around a little, and called it a night.
For the actual orientation itself, it was more of a sit-down and present kind of situation. We had different presentations, one on banking, cell phone plans, Korean language, and two presents from current EPIK teachers. During the orientation, we also got a temporary phone plan and bank account.
The phone plan was a reloading kind of plan. I know Korvia talked about having an actual phone plan in the works. Iām not sure if they have it now, but I had a phone number with some minutes and data. When I was low, I would have to reload it by going on the website and adding money to it. After I got to my city and got my ARC, then I switched to a real phone plan with SKT.
As for banking, we signed with KEB Hana. It was quite easy. We had to wait a little for our cards to come so make sure you have another cash on you to last a month. Thereās a global app thatās super easy to navigate. The only problem I have, and this is just because of the city I ended up in, is there is no KEB Hana here. There is one ATM that is maybe a 15 minute bus ride from my apartment and is on top of a tiny mountain essentially. If I have any troubles with my account or card, I have to go to the neighboring city. The next city is only a 30 minute bus ride but because banks are only open Monday-Friday and closes at 5:30, that means I have to leave school early. But...I have classes at the end of the day that are hard to reschedule so Iād prefer not to do that. So I ended up making another account with NH Bank. But honestly, if youāre in a bigger city like Seoul or Busan, I donāt think youād have any banking issues.
As for making friends, I really only talked to my roommate, my friend that I applied with and her roommate. Itās a little hard to talk to anyone since youāre really there for a night and Korvia ships you off to EPIK orientation the day after pre-orientation.
I hope that helps! If you have any questions, feel free to send me a message. I hope you all have a wonderful day! Another post is coming soon so be ready toā¦wake up and shine. š
Hello! Do you know of anywhere I can find a beginner's translation book online? As in a kind of... Kid's book for translation, if that makes any sense. I'm not very good at learning vocabulary without images,sadly. Thanks for any help you can give!
Hi! Do you mean a book that has stuff like this?:Ā
If so, I found a great PDF right here!: https://www.languagebird.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Korean-VocabularyPhrases-Korean-Picture-Dictionary_-Learn-1500-Korean-Words-and-Phrases-Ideal-for-TOPIK-Exam-Prep-PDFDrive.com-.pdf
It seems great if youāre just starting out, so give it a try and let me know what you think! If anyone else has any recommendations, please share them in the comments or send me an ask! Hope this helps! ķģ“ķ !
Thanks for tagging me @bubbleteakoala! This was fun and interesting. But I think my phone knew I was doing a tagĀ ācause it put songs that I rarely listen to haha.
Rules: You can usually tell a lot about a person by the type of music they listen to. Put your music on shuffle and list the first ten songs, then tag ten people. No skipping!
Good morning my beautiful rays of sunshine! āļø
Itās not that bad but itās screwing with the school schedule so bad right now. Currently, in Korea, everything is under control and handled. There are no shortages of things like toilet paper or food. All stores are fully stocked. The only problem people may have here is getting masks. Masks can be hard to find and if you find any, theyāre more expensive than before the outbreak. Other than that, itās pretty safe here.
With that being said, however, the Korean government has decided to air on the side of caution and have delayed the start of the new school year. Originally, we were supposed to start on March 2. Then, it was delayed to March 23. And once again, it has been delayed to April 6. So as of right now, Iām working from 4 days a week and one day on campus. But starting March 23, Iām working on campus two days on the week of the 23rd and three days the week of the 30th. For my school, specifically, I can choose which day I want to go in. Some schools will tell you which day to come in for work.Ā
To work from home, you have to fill out a couple of forms, one requesting to work from home for which days and another to outline what youāll be doing each day that youāre working from home. So basically, making lesson plans and preparing materials. I think youāre also supposed to show however is in charge of you (as an EPIK teacher, your vice-principal is technically the one in charge of you), what youāve done at the end. I, personally, have not had to show any work to anyone at the end of the week. I think I have to show what Iāve done at the end of this working from home period.Ā
Also, Iām not under quarantine or anything like that. Iām allowed to leave my house so I tend to do work at a coffee shop somewhere. PLEASE NOT THAT WORKING FROM HOME DOES NOT MEAN FREE VACATION DAYS! You are to stay in your city during work hours. After 5:00pm, you can do whatever you want, but between 9:00am - 5:00pm, you should be in your city. You donāt even have to do work between 9:00am - 5:00pm. As long as you can show youāve done some work and havenāt left your city, youāre good to go.
So does that mean Iām not teaching??? Basically.....yeah. Students donāt have to come to campus so there are no students for me to teach. But....I teach high school which is an important period where students are studying and getting ready for the college entrance exam and applications. The longer the semester is delayed, the longer students are out of school, the less time they have to prepare. So my school, specifically, has switched toĀ āonline teachingā and Iām using that very loosely.
Even though South Korea is known for its crazy advancements in technology, technology isnāt really used in schools. Thereās no Canvas or Blackboard. My schoolās idea of online teaching is sending students a to-do list of assignments theyāre supposed to finish and any materials to go with it.
What does that mean for me as their English CONVERSATION teacher?? I have no idea haha. Last week, I had my students watch a video on American and Korean high schools and answer questions about it. Right now, Iām trying to find a way to incorporate speaking. I want to find a platform where students can record themselves speaking and easily upload it for grading but I donāt want to explain how to use it to my kids haha. The easiest way I can think of is to start group chats with my kids on KakaoTalk.
Anyways, that was just a quick update of whatās going on. If you have any questions, feel free to send me a message. I hope you all have a wonderful day! Another post is coming soon so be ready toā¦wake up and shine. š
Good morning my beautiful rays of sunshine! āļø
As a quick disclaimer, this was written soon after I finished my online pre-orientation but I posted this (and all other Korvia/EPIK related posts) afterwards because 1) Iām not sure if Iām allowed to disclose any of the information I received and 2) I want to be able to answer any questions you all may have and I want to answer them fully and to the best of my abilities and I canāt really do that if Iām halfway through the process.
One of the many things you have to do before you arrive in Korea is the EPIK Online Pre-Orientation. Itās basically 15 online modules that consist of videos or lectures and quizzes at the end of each unit. Each unit is centered around topics (e.g., Korean culture and language, typical school day) that will be beneficial to EPIK teachers. It took me a couple of hours to finish. Itās kinda tedious but some units to have information that is good to know.
There are 15 units that you need to complete.Ā
Each unit has a few short videos that you watch and click through and ends with a quiz to make sure you were paying attention during the videos. You have to watch all the videos and do the practice to receive a complete for the unit.
Once youāre finished, you want to save and print the certificate at the end.
Thatās pretty much it. Itās simple to navigate through. A little tedious to do but not difficult.Ā
If you have any questions, feel free to send me a message. I hope you all have a wonderful day! Another post is coming soon so be ready toā¦wake up and shine. š
Good morning my beautiful rays of sunshine! āļø
I canāt believe my first semester teaching in Korea is over! Time flies by kinda quick. Itās crazy Iāve been here for 6 months now. This has been an interesting experience and Iām sorta excited for the new semester.
Some quick background information, I teach at two high schools, an all-girls high school and a co-ed high school. The girls' high school is my main school so Iām there Monday - Thursday. My travel school is a co-ed school and Iām there on Wednesday mornings and Fridays. I teach first (10th grade US equivalent) and second grade (11th grade US equivalent) at my main school and first grade at my travel school. I teach 14 classes at my main school and 6 at my travel school. I have 4 co-teachers at my main school, 2 per grade, and I had 4 co-teachers at my travel school.
It sounds like a lot but itās not too bad. I see each class once a week and since itās just two grades, I make two lesson plans, one for first grade and another for second grade, and teach that for the whole week. I also have free control of what I get to teach my students. I donāt have a curriculum or textbook to follow, which can be both a bad thing and a good thing. My main goal as their Native English Teacher (NET) is to get them speaking more and interacting with the language more.
I really struggled not having a textbook or curriculum to follow. I felt that I didnāt really know how much English the students knew and what they were learning in the main English class so I didnāt know what I should be focusing on during my lessons like vocabulary and grammar wise. After a while, I was just kinda likeĀ āeh, this could be a fun activity to doā and went with it. I think I was a little all over of the place with how each lesson connected with the other but the kids seemed to be having fun and engaging with the language so I canāt ask for much more.
At my main school, half of the semester was dedicated to semester projects. The semester project for both grades this year was speeches. Students had to write speeches and present them. My job was to teach them how to organize and write a speech and help them write their speeches when they needed it. I was also in charge of grading their speeches. This wasnāt too difficult. I actually had a lot of time on my hands and spent more time planning lessons for my travel school since I had a full semester ofĀ āactual teachingā with them.
As for relationships with co-teachers and co-workers. I got along with my co-teachers pretty well. We didnāt ever plan together because they gave me free rein on whatever and for the most part, they didnāt really take an active part during my classes besides translating every now and then. Outside of the class, I did hang out some with a couple of my co-teachers. I went shopping, grabbed dinner and coffee, and city exploring with my co-teachers. As for co-workers, I eat lunch with them and they try their best to talk to me in English since I donāt speak Korean. And when they speak Korean, they try to keep in slow so I can understand. We also grab lunch off-campus or coffee sometimes as a group. I donāt know if this justĀ ācause I have nice co-workers or the way things are set up. I have my desk in the second grade teachersā office so Iām either there or in the classroom teaching. I know sometimes, NETs arenāt really given an office with the other teachers. Itās either their English classroom or an office space in the English classroom. And I think English classrooms tend to be in some isolated area away from the offices.
Overall, I had a pretty good time teaching. Of course, thereās some bad things about teaching and I think Iāll write another post about the pros and cons but this is just a brief summary of my experience. Also, this is just MY experience. By no means I am saying youāll have the same situation.
Ā I hope that helps! If you have any questions, feel free to send me a message. I hope you all have a wonderful day! Another post is coming soon so be ready toā¦wake up and shine. š
