It’s been exactly 1 month since arriving in Seoul. So yes, time definitely flies by when you’re having fun, but it also zips past when you’re busy. We are almost at the end of our time at Jiguchon school, which is bittersweet. I’m going to miss all the kids, even the rowdy middle schoolers who refuse to learn English. Our week with the 5th and 6th graders included dancing together, playing Jeopardy, and plenty of chalk smudges on our hands. It was harder with this particular beginner class as the range of English ability was considerably wider than the other grade levels. Some of the kids already knew plenty of vocabulary and how to read, while others couldn’t sing the ABCs. There were also many new students this week, so there were a lot more students than teachers (also in the after school classes). Managing the kids was more stressful, and keeping them engaged was a constant battle. However, as the week progressed we remembered that our ultimate goal was not to teach English, but to connect with the students. We are only using English lessons as a means to connect. With this new mindset, the chaotic classes were not as worrisome as before, and I rather enjoyed it because I could get a better sense of the students’ personalities. A few of them also liked to dance, so I bonded with them over that. I taught Blackpink’s DDU-DU DDU-DU and am ready to showcase it with the whole class at the talent show!
On another note, the after school classes were the most difficult this week. With the addition of new students and varying English abilities, it was incredibly difficult to have a functioning class. Since I can speak Chinese, I try to explain things to the Chinese kids as best as possible, but I recently felt like my language abilities simply aren’t enough. My Korean is only elementary, and even my Chinese is still a little rusty. I often find myself using three languages in one sentence trying to explain what we are doing in class because I forget a word in one language. Despite these hardships, I’m determined to connect with the middle school and high school students in these last couple days. In the end, this past month has been full of learning experiences, shopping trips, and bonding moments, more of which I look forward to in the next month.
– Angel Huang
