Robin Day B.Sc. MSc. B.Ed.
- 2006-06-18
1. Thanks be to yee good fellows. Escape to the glorious Philippines. Why did I not visit earlier? Well I had a bad false impression. THAT has taken a U-turn. It is one of the most primo places I have seen anywhere. Lovely climate (south of Luzon Is. the winter is warm), the people are so friendly, curious and gentle and I speak ye true, they really are. I found lots to do and everybody knows some English. Avoid cities like Manilla, and that goes for most of the world in my books. In Canada I might be able to retire miserably, now, and make it to pension time at age 65. I'd freeze by butt, as is oft' said, and get taxed like a leech (yon ferocious worm). However, with the multiplication of a 1st world currency I am a millionaire in Indonesia, rural Philippines, Brazil (next goal), Nicaragua, hill country India, etc. etc. I kid ye not! I pull not thy lower member (leg). In Indonesia our 1000 won Korean note (I call it the Korean $) was exchanged for 6 of their's. Shop till you drop brothers and sisters. That's right 1 to 6. In China the exchange is 1:8 for US dollars, and the Canada dollar is similar. In places like rural India the buying power is even greater as local produce is so v. cheap. Now you can'na sail on down there an' be buyin books on Amazon and drinking the likes of Scotch all the while. Imported items are dear an there are those pesky tarrifs. Hoots mon! As Valdy sings "Give me the simple life, I want the simple life, don't want to worry 'bout tomorrow..".
Seriously. This is not an exploitive thing to do. Take your currency to where it is very much needed and appreciated. Open a small business. Keep teaching ESL if you can hold your breakfast down.
About the Korean Education systems.Here goes.... I taught hogwans (private after-school schools), highschools, lower grade colleges and ower grade universities. Are there any higher grade colleges in Korea? Example: I ran into so much cow dung at Hansung Science Highschool, Seoul (1995-6) (had to report the new principal to my embassey for 2 attempts of sexual assault against my co-worker). This school thinks it's elete, one of the top two. It's just a sweat shop for bright sleep-deprived kids. Too many colleges are private out-for-mom-and-dad's-money colleges and the degrees they issue are rubbish. I should know. I had hundreds upon hundreds of students pass beneath my dreaded red pen. These schools print their own text books to get more of the kids' cash and manipulate the marks all the time and quickly get rid of real teachers. Keep that oil flowing. OOPs Syriana flashbacks! Keep that tuition money flowing. Anyway, to be kind Korea has undergone huge social changes and, as discussed, there is only so much the generations can absorb before they begin to crack. Some kids do learn English especially if the moms put them in good hogwans early. Then it is a breeze for the kids to learn in 1 year. I'm proud of my 1st year there. Learning ESL as young adults just seems to be too much work with all the other things on their plates. The child's brain is less absorbant after age 7, that's neurological. Some college kids aquire English with determination and overseas trips. For comparison, my French would be much better if my parents had sent me to France or Quebec immersion during summer holidays. They didn't follow through, but I'm not bitchen. Ma an' Pop did a lot for us brothers four. Learning a language as an adult ain't easy for most of us and I refuse to make it work. I just let it seep in naturally like bad air (snicker), or I add a spoon full of sachrine to make the medicine go down.
Young Koreans are Ok. Anybody over 30.. be careful. They think only about their career ($$$$ = success = honour) and "are you of use to them???" The system screws them up once the little gentles leave primary school. Until 1997-98 girls going into Middle School were pressured to get most of their hair cut off at the neck level. There used to be laws against sideburns, facial hair and tatoos. The stick and punches were used liberally in schools. It really was an extreme right wing sort of place and that is not surprising with North Korea just across across the way. There you go, the nation did crack under all the pressure and is still not whole. Needs compassion. I love the place really, sounds wacky? "Nope", he says as he wipes away a tear from the corner of his eye.. It became my second home and I miss the good common people (not the snobs who are no better than their Japanese oppressors), the baudy language, the great food, the desire to improve themselves and the gorgeous mountain parks. I will give a hint to anybody going there. Love and a lies do not mean the same things as in the West. In Korea love is ok but money is better. Lies, well lies can be erased with the word sorry. Can it? I say can it!
The Arrogant One
- 2006-06-17
Oh, Robin-a-Day, feisty comrade that thou art ...
'Tis, indeed, sad news that you plan to retire from our ... as I put it ... profession. But please, don't take that shtick of mine too seriously, dear fellow. 'Tis merely my personal brand of intellectual ##, whilst, in reality, I have never once dared to entertain any misconceptions about what I have been doing all these years to earn my scant measure of the daily bread. However, while stating those highly disappointing, yet accurate, salary comparisons between fast food workers in the USA and ESL teachers on the international circuit, you must try not to loose sight of those all- important educational/cultural differences between the two social classes. Youre not going to tell me that, despite the $15.28 per hour, youd be satisfied with the brand of slavery expected in a US fast food establishment benefits or no? Merde, Amigo! A typical nebbish in one of those places has never seen the senior year of a high school, let alone the specialized training you have had. And what about the worldly knowledge you have obtained via your travels in conjunction with ahem our profession? Sure sure youre likely to get robbed now and then. Christ, they just took a local dentist to the pokey for having taken far too many of his patients to the cleaners! That, unfortunately, is the way of the world. ME I have always loved New York City but ONLY for its points of advantage. All the rest, you can empty into the trash can for the weekly pickup. Now its the same here in LA, although I can well recall when I truly enjoyed residing in this burg. So be it with the language teaching biz. (Amen)
So sure, Robbie-Baby, that Coffee Bean or Starbucks clerk (after at least one years experience) could be doing as well as c$15/hr including tips and benies but but Im as sure as hell you would pass on any of the routine responsibilities of the gig once having observed same! After so many years, Im fairly burned out with teaching ... thats a fact, Jack! But Ill not lie by telling you that (a)Im going to quit or (b)that theres a better place awaiting me. Christ Jesus! By this late date, I've been just about everywhere, and I've come to the conclusion that each locale is just about the same as the other. Nay! Nay! I have finally come to my senses and, like a lifes mate, have accepted it for better or worse.
Yours, for better bitching,
The Arrogant One
Rheno747
- 2006-06-17
Robin Day, B.Sc. MSc. B.Ed, I've heard what you speak of in your posts a LOT here the past two months. I have a "new" colleague (He's the 50th English teacher at this school in three years) who just "escaped" from SK after 16 years teaching there. I've heard all about the creepy professors, expensive shit (some of which I've seen), and the education system there.
According to this bloke, one of the main objectives in South Korea is keeping the far majority of students from learning English. Oh, these students go to English classes, but the system seems to be rigged so they won't learn it.
Comments?
Robin Day B.Sc. MSc. B.Ed.
- 2006-06-16
Take your savings and escape to a country with a low currency.
Robin Day B.Sc. MSc. B.Ed.
- 2006-06-15
Nobody is twisting your arm Oh Arrogant One. Mundane perchance but we have many a grammar question that pops up for which we have naught the answer.
About our profession. I'm out, retiring.
I just read on yahoo yesterday that a fast food worker is one of the lowest paid in American about $15,280 US per year. Wow, that is almost as much as an ESL teacher makes in Korea. Sure we get the micro apartment free but we don't all get the return air ticket with every contract. It's not much of a profession. Rheno posed the retorical question in another thread, "Do you shop at the Salvation Army?". The answer is yes, and back in Canada and I go to yard sales on a regular basis. The only way to get ahead is live like a mouse or teach a lot of extra (illegal) classes, buy bargains and invest. The rules would like to hem us in. I've enjoyed my time in ESL by ignoring the jealous, creepy, stuck-up Korean professors an doing my thing. Most of them had nothing remotely interesting to say anyway. They are mostly stratified posers. Neo-Confucians? That's all Chinese influence.
The Arrogant One
- 2006-06-15
Christ on a bicycle, folks, freedom of speech aside for a moment, I CAN'T understand why the hell we're wasting so much board footage on such relatively mundane issues, especially when we have heretofore been involved in matters of far greater importance -- those affecting the future of our much berated profession ... of the current world disaster ... yes, even the dubious future of our world society. Why the hell CAN'T we stick to those problems? Anyway, grammar is too f#^&+=g repulsive a topic to begin with! I CAN'T take it any more!
The Arrogant One
(Who can't stop praying for those better days to come)
Arnie
- 2006-06-14
I would imagine use it just like in your subject line.I always thought if you wrote a letter in handwriting, it should be done in small letters. Then to emphasise a word, write it in capital letters.
The sentence above seems to beg for emphasis around the word can't. Many people use quotation marks around such a word especially north America ESL teachers but that is not correct English. With computers we can now change font, bold the word, use capitals or underline but what is the correct thing to do say in a hand written letter, underline?