Elizabeth Seefeldt
- 2004-11-08
Hi, I have taught in Thailand for 2 years. I taught in a Bilingual school and found my Thai language ability to be useful for three main reasons. First, it made my relationships with the Thai staff closer and fostered greater understanding. Secondly, as the students realized that I was going through what they were going through in learning a new language and being subjected to hours of a foreign langauge a day, there was more respect and a kind of empathy. Third, because I was teaching very young children, I found it useful to use Thai for classroom management issues, be it comforting a crying child or disciplining their bad behaviour very effectively in terms they completely understood and respected!!
Randell Jackson
- 2004-07-21
Although no experience in Korea, I have taught in China, where I can communicate in their language. Most foreign teachers in China cannot, but it is really not necessary. I think you are correct that your use of Spanish should be minimal in the classroom. It is a disservice to the students otherwise. I do believe a knowledge of the local language can help a teacher undertand interference problems and also overcome misunderstandings that threaten to delay the class as a whole. A great danger, in my opinion, is that the teacher might seek to use the class as a vehicle for their own foreign language study.
> I teach in Mexico and in my classes I don't hesitate to explain
> things in Spanish. At the university where I work we regularly debate
> on whether or not and how much Spanish we should use in the
> classroom. The general consensus is that a little is OK.
> I am heading to Korea next month, and I won't have the option of
> speaking Korean (at the moment I can't speak any Korean) in English
> classes. I was wondering how many teachers in Asia CAN speak their
> students' language and if those that can use it much in class.
I teach in Mexico and in my classes I don't hesitate to explain things in Spanish. At the university where I work we regularly debate on whether or not and how much Spanish we should use in the classroom. The general consensus is that a little is OK.
I am heading to Korea next month, and I won't have the option of speaking Korean (at the moment I can't speak any Korean) in English classes. I was wondering how many teachers in Asia CAN speak their students' language and if those that can use it much in class.