Category Archives: ESL

Adventures In Higher Education

Posted on May 17, 2012 by

Dear administrators at my college: I think it’s great that you’re holding a blood drive.  It teaches students the values of sacrifice and compassion, yadda yadda yadda.  However, in the future I suggest that you hold the blood drive on … Continue reading →

Posted in ESL, Korea, Teaching | Leave a comment

“Brother Fries”

Posted on May 14, 2012 by

Interesting Kotaku piece on a “good Samaritan” foreigner in China who bought an old homeless woman some food and another who broke up a robbery.  Then, a Brit got caught sexually assaulting multiple Chinese women. Hilarity did not ensue: “The … Continue reading →

Posted in China, ESL, Japan, Korea, Kultur | Leave a comment

/facepalm

Posted on May 3, 2012 by

Dear Departmental Chair X: If you’re going to cancel my class, you should probably inform some people.  For example, me.

Posted in ESL, Korea, Teaching, WhinyForeigner | Leave a comment

School Spirit

Posted on May 2, 2012 by

My college has Sports Day next week.  It’s kind of like the collegiate version of American Field Day, but much more intense.  Koreans being hyper-competitive by nature, every department basically goes bug-fuck insane trying to outdo one another.  And not … Continue reading →

Posted in ESL, Korea, Sports, Teaching | Leave a comment

Language Makes Your More Rational

Posted on May 1, 2012 by

Wired on how “Thinking in a Foreign Language Makes Decisions More Rational”: “’Would you make the same decisions in a foreign language as you would in your native tongue?’ asked psychologists led by Boaz Keysar of the University of Chicago … Continue reading →

Posted in ESL, Language | Leave a comment

Ah, Spring

Posted on April 9, 2012 by

You know it’s spring when a ginormous fucking wasp flies into your classroom while you’re in mid-lesson and the mostly female class of college freshman promptly loses their shit in a massive bout of shrieking and crying. Good god, my … Continue reading →

Posted in ESL, Korea, Teaching | 2 Comments

Keep It Simple, Dummy

Posted on April 3, 2012 by

Teachers tend to take a lot of pride in their ability to take sub-standard teaching materials and make a vibrant, productive classroom situation out of them.  Teaching in Korea, it’s not uncommon to find out that the textbook or materials … Continue reading →

Posted in ESL, Korea, Teaching | 2 Comments

Teaching The Teachers

Posted on March 16, 2012 by

This is my third year at my college, and roughly my fourth in South Korea.  My primary responsibilities involve teaching  college students, obviously, but I’ve come to really enjoy teaching my adult continuing education students as well. The latter are … Continue reading →

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“Make It Home Safely”

Posted on March 5, 2012 by

Owls, “Everyone Is My Friend” I printed out my course schedule from the uni computer system on Friday, a mere three days ago.  I showed up for my first class of the semester bright and early, ready to bring the … Continue reading →

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Delight And Instruct

Posted on March 4, 2012 by

I’m excited to start teaching again tomorrow.  It took about a whole day to get my new co-worker somewhat up to speed on the university computer system (class rosters, grades, schedules).  Turns out his Korean is worse than mine, which … Continue reading →

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