Size does matter.

I listened to this podcast from the Diane Rehm show today, and it left me feeling completely fed up… specifically the commentary from this Eric Hanushek fellow. Despite his impressive credentials, Hanushek doesn’t seem to have ever taught at anything less than the university level, which makes me wonder how he can possibly be qualified to say so unequivocally that in elementary/middle/high school, class size doesn’t matter as long as you have a good teacher in the classroom. Give the podcast a listen, then come back here to read the rest of my post.

I have been teaching since 2005 (except for 2009). As regular readers of this blog know, I teach English to speakers of other languages, and I have taught in Russia, Kyrgyzstan, and South Korea (where I am currently located). I teach at private, extracurricular English language schools. At my current and previous schools, my maximum class size has been 15. I’ve had classes as small as one-on-one, although my average class size is 10. I have taught students of all ages – from first graders through retirees – and I can say without a doubt that the issues a teacher faces while teaching grade school students are vastly different than those faced by those teaching university and adult classes.

At all ages and levels, the smaller the class size the greater the success of my students, but the impact of class size upon student performance is much greater among grade school classes. As much as parents want to believe that their children are little well-behaved angels who sit quietly in class focused on the teacher and the tasks at hand, in reality, even the most well-behaved, studious kids would rather chat with their friends than study if given the chance. (Seriously, think back to when you were in school - how did you act? I was a hyper-motivated straight-A student, but nonetheless, my favorite part of going to school was talking to my friends.) That doesn’t even take into account the kids who misbehave, or the kids who, for one reason or another, simply have trouble paying attention.

And of course, in addition to controlling the behavior of students in the classroom, we teachers are here to actually impart knowledge to our students. In teaching a language, student participation during class time is vital to their improvement. The larger the class, the fewer opportunities each student has to participate, and the fewer opportunities I have to assess each student’s performance. The smaller the class, the better able I am to assess each student’s strengths and weaknesses, and the better able I am to plan lessons which play to their strengths while dealing with those weaknesses. Even in a class of 14-15 students, it is most certainly possible for a weak student to hide behind the skills of his or her classmates until test day arrives. If one of my students needs help with something, I’d rather know it before I give a test. I don’t want my students to fail; I want them to learn.

Making sure all of my students are on the same page (literally and figuratively) is much more difficult with fifteen students than with ten. I cannot even imagine how it must be to work with classes of twenty or thirty. I understand that the United States has (rather belatedly) realized that perhaps operating at such a huge deficit is a bad idea. I understand that states are struggling to balance their budgets. And I understand that things have to be cut. Cutting teachers and increasing class size in order to save money is not the answer, no matter what people such as Eric Hanushek may say. And no matter how good a teacher is, he or she will be a better teacher if his or her classes are smaller.

On a related note, I started teaching a brand new class of first graders on March 2nd. They are incredibly cute. I am also their first English teacher. The class was originally first and second graders – but a huge number signed up: 15!! Trying to wrangle 15 first and second graders into doing anything at the same time was worse than trying to herd cats. Granted, I’m actually pretty good at herding cats, but still! As of today, that class has been split by grade level, leaving me with 10 first graders (Gwen took the second graders) – and it made a huge difference. I was able to be far more efficient, we did many more activities, and everyone got to participate more. Then on my break following this class, I turned on my ipod and listened to the podcast I mentioned above.

Final comment: The last time I taught in Korea (2006-2007) I started teaching a class of brand-new-to-English students in March '07; some of them are now some of the best students at the school. Here’s hoping that some of my current little rugrats follow suit!

Dear Authors of ESL/EFL Textbooks:

I understand that you put a lot of effort into the books you write. I understand that the goals of an ESL/EFL textbook author are to make the book not only educational, but interesting, entertaining, and multi-cultural. However, I have some complaints.

1. Avoid names such as Juana, which do not follow English pronunciation rules. I understand that the inclusion of characters of different ethnicities is common in EFL/ESL texts, and I have no problem with this. However, when students – especially those at the lower levels – are struggling to master pronunciation of the English language (and this is especially difficult for those students whose native language utilizes a different alphabet), trying to explain why the textbook’s CD doesn’t say “jew-anna” is not only not useful, but counter-productive.

2. Avoid codes. Talk about useless filler. There is absolutely no practical benefit derived from struggling to explain what a code is and how we must decode it, even if the decoded message is in English.

3. Think about the language level of the students when writing instructions for them to follow. If students are learning to say things along the lines of “My name is Jane and I like cats,” they will not understand the instructions “Select the hidden words, then draw the missing animal.”

4. Don’t overdo accents. Having people who speak English in a variety of accents can be useful, especially considering that most English speakers do not speak like either Tom Brokaw or the British upper classes. It is good for students to have the opportunity to listen to English spoken in a variety of ways. However, there are some problems with overdoing accents on ESL/EFL textbook CDs. Many upper-level students join ESL/EFL classes with the goal of reducing their “foreign” accent when speaking English. Additionally, multiple accents can be confusing and extremely difficult for low-level students. Also: if you’re going to include ethnic accents on your text’s CD, please use actual people who speak with those accents. There is nothing more horrible than listening to obviously fake foreign accents – and there is nothing useful in that, either.

5. Songs should be used for their words, not their music. Songs can make excellent teaching tools, and I love bringing songs into the classroom. However, songs that are useful are those which are easy to understand, slow enough to be sung, and which pertain in some way to the lesson at hand (ie, utilizing the grammar or vocabulary of the lesson). Long musical introductions and interludes are not useful and are a waste of time. Additionally, songs that are too fast or are too strangely/thickly accented for a native English speaker to clearly understand have no place in an ESL/EFL text.

6. Beware of idioms. I actually have an entire post on idioms in the ESL/EFL classroom that will go online soon, so I won’t write much here. The short version: while it is important that advanced-level students understand idioms (so that when a foreign drama student is told to break a leg, he won’t be confused or offended, etc) this is a very difficult aspect of a language for non-native speakers to master and sound natural. Don’t waste too much time on idioms, especially at lower levels. Conversely, if you’re not teaching idioms, don’t randomly throw one into the text.

7. Hire a competent native English speaker to edit your textbook. The best textbooks I have used have been published in either the US or the UK, where this is not an issue. However, many countries (yes, South Korea, I’m looking at you) offer numerous ESL/EFL texts which are written and published locally. I don’t care how fluent you are (or think you are), get a native speaker to proofread. It is easy to tell which textbooks were written and edited entirely by a non-native speaking staff.

Comparing education in South Korea and the USA

I just found this article, and it's so accurate that I figured I'd just post the whole thing below.

Korea's kids just like ours, 100 years ago
BY MITCH ALBOM
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST

SEOUL, South Korea -- "If they can do that in South Korea, we can do it right here in the United States of America."

President Barack Obama said that last year. He was talking about school. He was talking about hours. He was talking about how hard South Korean kids work, how long they study, how much time they put in -- more than a month longer per school year than their American counterparts.

I am writing this from South Korea, where I have spent a week, much of it speaking to high school kids. And I can tell President Obama pretty confidently that we can't do what they're doing here.

Because we don't believe in it.

South Koreans treat school like a full-time job plus a full-time marriage. They put in day hours and night hours, followed by weekend hours. It is not uncommon to see children in school uniforms walking home late at night. It is not uncommon to see them studying through weekends. There is private English education on top of the public education. Families split apart to improve a child's training. You hear stories about schooling that runs from sunrise past sunset, with breakfast, lunch and dinner being served in the building.

What you don't hear is cheerleading squads. What you don't hear is spring break trips to Cancún. What you don't hear is classes to boost self-esteem, to celebrate an ethnic group, to explore the arts. What you don't hear is "Glee" or "High School Musical" or other coolness-driven entertainment fantasies about high school fashion, sex, talent or jockdom.

How are our kids supposed to mimic these kids when this place doesn't look anything like the American school system?

It's funny, because most of the kids here want to be American.

Battling to get ahead in life
Not in the citizenship sense. They don't want to join our army. They want to be American in speaking English, in gaining wealth and status, in rising to the top. One of the questions I was asked by media here was, "What do our children have to do to become global leaders?" That's not a common question in the U.S. -- not to a visiting writer, anyhow.

There is an obsession with getting ahead here that begins with the classroom and permeates the adult workplace, where rigid hours and meager vacation days are the norm. The attitude mimics one you heard among American immigrants in the early 20th Century: "If you don't do well in school, you won't get to college, if you don't get to college you won't get a god job, and if you don't get a good job, you'll be a loser."

There is no shame in that lecture here. It is not viewed as corny or clichéd. It is part of the national pride, if not the national obsession.

How are American kids going to copy that? We're not disciplined enough, we're not hungry enough, and, most importantly, either parents don't say it enough, or if they do, kids ignore them.

That also doesn't happen in Korea. Respect for elders is paramount in Korean society. There are actually different words used to reflect deference to age -- a much older person is addressed one way, a slightly older person another.

They don't make comedies here where the 10-year-old is the brilliant family member and Mom and Dad are bumbling knuckleheads -- and divorced. The family dynamic is different. And as most educators will tell you, family is where future school performance begins.

Struggling to find meaning
Which, by the way, doesn't mean Korean kids are happier. It may be quite the opposite. Everywhere I went, I encountered teenagers in love with my book "Tuesdays With Morrie," because the teacher in it showed compassion and encouraged humanity, not just grades. Many kids told me, "I wish in my life I would meet a Morrie."

Many older kids wondered how you find meaning in your life if you are studying and working almost every spare hour.

And studies show that while Korean kids do amazingly well on certain standardized tests, those who come to America for college often drop out, unaccustomed the approach we take.

All of which suggests that Obama was a bit naive to think an extra month in school is going to put our kids on par with the high-scoring South Koreans. Their success runs much deeper than that. Their issues do, too.

Our kids laugh more, play more sports, express themselves more openly. The kids here are serious beyond compare, and they are driven to succeed. I'm not sure which system I'd prefer, but I know they are apples and oranges, and the length of a school year is only a tiny difference. It may take a village to raise a child. But it takes a country to educate one.

Contact MITCH ALBOM: 313-223-4581 or malbom@freepress.com. Catch "The Mitch Albom Show" 5-7 p.m. weekdays on WJR-AM (760).

Then and Now

Other than the arrival of that ridiculously large shopping center in what was once an empty field, not much has changed since I left Daegu in fall 2007... except for those former students of mine who are still at the school. Take a look at how two of my former students have changed over the past few years!

Judy, featured above, started studying English as a beginner in my class back in 2007 - as in learning the alphabet, folks. Well, she has definitely progressed far beyond that! Today was the last day of my summer intensive class (which means I will have more free time from now on!), and the final homework assignment I gave the class was to write a story about anything they wanted, as long as they wrote at least one page. This is Judy's story (you can see it larger by clicking on it if you need to):

And this is what the class drew on the board for me :-)

Robo-Teacher will replace us all!

Korean scientists are working on robotic English teachers, which - in theory - could replace us flesh-n-blood native English speakers within five years. Don't believe me? Just read this article - and take a look at the photo below by Choe Sang-Hun.

Waycross College Remodeling

During the Fall Semester of 2009, Waycross College began a massive remodeling job in its A Building. The A Building houses the library, and the library was the focal point of the remodeling. The other major aspects of the remodeling were The Pit (a sunken commons/study area in the center of the A Building) and the addition of a coffee bar. Additionally, the administration and faculty suites were to be re-painted. The whole project was projected to be finished by January 1, 2010 and to cost $1.5 million. In theory, this all sounded like a great idea... except for the part about remodeling THE LIBRARY while school was in session. This was what the A Building looked like throughout the fall:

Keep in mind that there was noisy construction going on behind this plastic sheeting and that there were classes being held in rooms off the left wall. Not to mention that the library used to be located behind that plastic sheet. So what did the school decide to do about the fact that it was essentially shutting down its library for an entire semester? Well, they set up a temporary library: ONE ROOM. There were a few computers and a couple of books, as well as a few chairs. And that was it. If you wanted a particular book, you had to ask one of the librarians, who then had to venture into a storage room to locate the book you requested. No book-browsing here!

Finally, the 2009 Fall Semester ended, and the remodeling job was (mostly) finished. The faculty suite has been painted various shades of depressing grey, all of which looked to have come from either prison or Navy surplus. The coffee bar is not yet in operation. It's actually my favorite part of the whole renovation, even if it does give off a seedy hotel lounge vibe. The Pit and Library entrance taken together look very much like the Starship Enterprise crash-landed onto a Southern plantation... and then there's the Library.

It would seem that the architect did not at any point in the project consult with actual librarians to discuss which architectural aspects make a good library and which are simply terrible ideas. He also seems to have missed out on one of the fundamental tenets of architecture: Pillars Support.

Coming out of the faculty suite.
The coffee bar is to your right, The Pit is in the fore.

Coffee Bar to the right, The Pit to the left, Library entrance in rear.

Cashier's office, overlooking The Pit.

Pillars in the Library.
Note how they all end several feet shy of the ceiling.
They support nothing.

This is the worst part. Here is the Circulation Desk in the Library.
Guess where the books are....
Behind the wall, where the Librarians and Library staff can't see them!!

The Pit is not yet finished, although it doesn't look like anything they do will return it to a cozy hang-out-n-study spot as it was before.

Who needs gainful employment when one can work less than 10 hours a week at minimum wage?

I have a job! I managed to snag one of the few student assistantship programs available through Waycross College. I’m certainly not going to make my fortune doing this, as I will be working ten hours a week or less for a whopping $7.25/hr, but that’s a good chunk of change more than no income at all… and besides, I couldn’t cram a full time job in around this course load anyway! I’m working for the PREP program, which is a program Waycross College runs with the local area middle and high schools. It helps keep at-risk students on track for college (at-risk being defined as those from low income families, families where neither parent went to college, and single/no parent households). I’m helping with the middle and high school students over in Pierce County (Blackshear), which is a bit of a drawback, as it takes a good 20+ minutes to get to the schools – luckily my car gets excellent gas mileage! So far, all I’ve done is paperwork (apparently that’s a big beginning of the school-year task for the program), although eventually I’ll be planning events and fund raisers and helping with tutoring.

One bizarre thing to share: the architectural design of Pierce County High School is based off that of a tri-level women’s prison! My first day there, I kept thinking that the building had a very strange design and that it reminded me of... something. It wasn’t until the PREP director told me that it was based on a plan for a prison that it all clicked into place. No, none of the cell – er, classroom – doors slam shut with a clang when the bell rings, but once you know what you’re looking at, it’s simple to take any scene from any prison movie/show and superimpose it on your surroundings. Not as creepy as the morgue-turned-dorm at Sewanee, but still a tad disconcerting. And at least the PCHS kids aren’t saddled with that horrific “mouse ears” design of my former high school. *shiver*

Back to School!!

Today was my first day of school in eight years! I feel a little rusty being back in the classroom after so long, especially since the only “classes” I’ve taken since graduating from college were my rather pathetic attempts to learn Korean and Kyrgyz. The students at Waycross College range from those fresh out of high school (most of them probably fall into this category), to those in their twenties and thirties, to those in their fifties! While I’m not the only “old fogie” enrolled at WC (and yes, it totally amuses me to abbreviate it as such) thus far, I’ve only encountered one other person already in possession of a Bachelor’s degree, and she is there simply to take art classes for fun. I don’t think there’s anyone else there in the same situation as myself.

I only had one class today: Physics. I have to admit that physics scares me somewhat. It was the only class I ever dropped when I was at Sewanee, and I did so because I was doing rather poorly. In my defense, I was 19, away from home for the first time, and spending every evening partying like a rockstar. Certainly none of these things apply this time around! It doesn’t seem hard at all as yet, although we covered very little ground in our first class. I suspect it will get tougher as it goes along. Tomorrow – biology and chemistry. I’m looking forward to biology; those of you who went to the same high school as I did and who remember Mrs. Mac probably understand why I can’t say the same for chemistry!

As a side note, WC has super-awesome wireless internet, which means I’ll probably be spending a lot of my free time on campus taking advantage. My mom’s response to this was, “Oh no! I’ll never see you again!” (I have no internet at my house, and have been going over to hers at least once a day to make use of the interwebz.) Of course, she teaches history at WC, so I’m not really sure what she’s talking about :-)

One last tidbit of news – I’ve actually started posting things over on the Brierpatch Cats Blog, although sadly, they're not the happiest. Go check it out. Hopefully there will be some good news over there soon.

Want to live and work in Korea?

Those of you who have followed my blog for a while know that I spent 13 months teaching English in Daegu, South Korea. Anyway, the school where I taught is currently looking for a new teacher, as one of their teachers will be returning to the US in a couple of months. It's a great place to work and I highly recommend it. If any of you are interested, please leave me a message and I will get back to you with the details.

Thoughts on Language Acquisition

I was talking to someone the other day (I forget who), and this individual brought up the fact that Condoleeza Rice’s Russian is “so bad.” This person thought it was reprehensible that someone who studied Russian in university spoke the language so poorly. But the thing is, I completely understand.

In order to maintain one’s foreign language abilities, one must constantly practice and study. I received my BA in Russian in 2001. At that time, my spoken Russian, while not fluent, was pretty damn good. However, from Summer 2001 to Summer 2005, I neither practiced nor studied Russian. Additionally, during that time I made two extensive trips to South Korea, traveled all over Costa Rica, and lived in Southern California within walking distance of the Mexican border. By the time I returned to Russia in August 2005, my Russian skills had greatly diminished; I spoke something I referred to as Spanglorusskikonglish.

I was in Russia from August 2005 through June 2006, during which time my Russian language skills returned to roughly the same level they were at my time of graduation. Of course, this was mainly due to the fact that I lived with a host family and took regular Russian lessons, as most of my friends were English speakers.

After leaving Russia, I spent a year in Korea. Despite three trips to Korea, my Korean is still essentially nonexistent. I can order food, purchase things, ask for directions and direct a taxi to my destination. I can even tell people that I’m an English teacher from the United States. But that’s it; that’s the extent of my Korean. Nonetheless, after a year of hearing only Korean spoken (and occasionally struggling to study it), my Russian levels once again dropped.

I came to Bishkek – a predominantly Russian speaking city – in January of this year, and I was pleased to discover that my Russian comprehension was still quite high. Unfortunately, I haven’t gotten much language practice since I’ve been here. In general, my Russian speaking consists of practicalities: ordering food, purchasing things, asking for directions, directing taxis and telling people where I’m from and what I’m doing here. I live alone, don’t have time for Russian lessons, most of my friends are English speakers, and the school’s staff (for the most part) speaks English. Additionally, for most Kyrgyz speakers of Russian, Russian is their second language, and their spoken Russian is often filled with mistakes. (Case endings? Who needs those?)

It wasn’t until my trip to Karakol with Sara and Sasha from Vladimir that I realized just how bad my spoken Russian had become. Our trip was really the first time since leaving Vladimir that I’d had a lengthy conversation in Russian in which I couldn’t cheat by replying in English. The realization of the quality of my spoken Russian – or lack thereof – was hammered home the other night at Anton’s when one of the Russian guys told me, “Your accent is okay, but your grammar is terrible!” Sigh.

I can’t decide how I feel about this.

One of the main reasons I went to Russia in 2005 was to rebuild my Russian so that I could get a job with an NGO working with Russia. However, if you’ve read through my Hermit Manifesto, you know that I completely changed course while in Russia. Now I want to focus on teaching ESL, and eventually, I’ll probably get my MA in Applied Linguistics.

I’m not sure how Russian fits into all of this. As it is, I’m currently trying (albeit not too successfully) to study Kyrgyz, and I’m already planning to teach in the Middle East next year. I’d hate to lose my Russian skills, but I’m not certain that there will be much benefit to knowing Russian in my future, and therefore I’m not entirely sure that it would be worth the effort I’d need to expend to keep it up.

Meanwhile, so many of my students simply don’t seem to understand that effort is required to learn a foreign language. Here’s a set of the sort of questions I am asked all the time: How can I learn English faster? I need to speak fluent English by [date in the near future]; what can I do? How quickly can I reach Advanced? Can I move up a level? (Inevitably followed by an indignant Why not?) My advice to all of them is that they simply must study and practice constantly; they must stop worrying about skipping levels and focus on learning everything they need to know to pass their current level by heart. So many seem to think that there must be some way to learn English overnight and there simply isn’t.

Justice, Moral Reasoning and Boredom

I mentioned the other day that I'm covering local community college classes while the teacher is away. This involves little other than taking roll and showing movies. The classes that I covered at the college today got to watch a video on justice and morality in political philosophy. I expected it to be pretty dull. I majored in PolySci and know that it takes a very engaging professor to bring political philosophy to life; sadly many of the PolySci profs out there are lacking in the needed skill to prevent one from nodding off. This film turned out to be quite interesting. It consisted of excerpts from a lecture class at Harvard University. The professor doing the lecturing was quite witty, and I (and the Harvard students) frequently laughed out loud. Meanwhile, my classroom was filled with blank expressions. At one point in the film, pi was mentioned. One of the students, confused, looked at the one next to her and said, "Wha's he talkin' 'bout pie for?" to which the response was a bewildered "Dunno." Sigh.

my life in waycross

This week and next week I am "teaching" several classes at Waycross College while one of the instructors is out of town. I place "teaching" in quotes because what I'm actually doing is checking roll and showing movies. It's pretty boring - especially when I have to watch stultifying films such as Altered States: A History of Drug Use in America three times in a row. But it brings in some needed extra cash.

Extra cash is definitely needed when one doesn't have health insurance. Lack of health insurance is probably the biggest drawback of my life plan, as health care costs in this country are ridiculous. I had minor surgery on Tuesday - an outpatient procedure to remove to moles from my left arm for biopsy. I also needed a tetanus shot. Not only did all of this amount to a whopping $335 (even with the cash discount - yes, they charge the insurance companies more than they charge those of us who pay out of our wallets) but if they come back malignant (no physical harm!), then I'm going to have to pay an extra $50 because they charge more to get a malignant sample biopsied than a benign one. WTF? Nothing like setting the costs of procedures after the fact. Sheesh. And of course now I have unpleasant stitches (here and here if you're interested, but they're gross) which hurt like hell. Yay. Also, feel free to shop at my store and help refill the coffers of the unemployed and health-care-less Jane :-)

Mom and I went and looked at a house today. It's for sale for $500, but the buyer would have to move it off the property. As we should be closing on the eight acres any day now, we do have a place where we could put said property. My mom knows a guy who moves houses and who said he could move it for about $3200. Less than $4000 isn't a bad price for a house... although obviously any house being essentially given away for $500 is going to need a LOT of work...

Now, one of the first things you might notice is that this house used to have a pyramid roof, but the top has been lopped off. Apparently the mother of the owner did that years ago because she thought it looked better. Someone would definitely have to see whether or not that alteration has led to structural instability or roof leaks.

The space under the pyramid is roughly 900 square feet and consists of four rooms. That's the original structure. To the back of the pyramid/square were two additions (connected) where the bathroom and kitchen were located:

The two rear additions - kitchen on the right, bathroom on the left.
Sadly, both parts of the rear addition are in terrible shape - especially the kitchen.


Additionally, the corner where the addition meets the original house on this side of the house was poorly done and leaked (and still leaks, I suspect) tremendously...


...leading to horrific water damage on that corner of the pyramid/square.

The rest of the pyramid/square seems to be in decent shape (assuming no structural damage resulting from the tip of the pyramid being snipped off), but would require a lot of work nonetheless. My opinion is that the rear additions should be left where they sit; there's nothing in them worth saving. Now, obviously a four room pyramid/square with no kitchen or bathroom isn't exactly livable... but it would be years (given the rate mom and I work) before the front part would be ready. Perhaps at that point we could hire someone to build some quality rear additions. Although I'm thinking we're going to pass. I'll let you know if we change our mind.

A book you must read. Now.

For my birthday, my Aunt Mary sent me a book entitled Three Cups of Tea: One man’s mission to promote peace… one school at a time. It’s the biography of Greg Mortensen, a former mountain climber turned philanthropist. His tale is phenomenal: he had traveled to Pakistan to climb K2, but like many mountaineers, was defeated by the mountain. On his descent, lost, sick, and disoriented, he wandered into a tiny village called Korphe. The villagers nursed him back to health and in exchange, he promised to return and build a school for the village, as it had none. Now, it’s not as though Mortensen was a rich man, someone who could easily afford to finance such an endeavor; in fact, it was quite the opposite. However, he persevered in his goal, and not only succeeded in building the school in Korphe, but he established the Central Asia Institute, which has built nearly 60 schools across the rural areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan, built libraries, trained and paid teachers, created women’s organizations, built water distribution and purification systems, in addition to numerous other projects outlined here.

The simple fact that one man intent on honoring his promise had the drive to achieve all this is simply incredible, and quite inspiring. However, that’s not the main reason why I say that you must read this book now. The book is fast-paced and entertaining, and a very quick read – yet that’s not why you should read it either. I think everyone (including those people who feel that all Muslims are trying to kill us) should read this book for a glimpse into the lives and characters of average people in Pakistan and Afghanistan. I promise what you will read will be much different from the average portrayal you see in the media these days. Yes, Mortensen was once kidnapped by Pakistani warlords. Yes, he had two fatwas declared against him. Yes, he was once nearly killed when caught in the crossfire between two bands of opium smugglers. But: he successfully worked with local leaders, both religious and secular, to establish schools which provided equal education to both boys and girls. He had religious Islamic leaders and Taliban representatives agreeing to allow him to build these schools, agreeing to allow the education of girls, agreeing to allow a secular curriculum to be taught at these schools. These people, so often demonized in our current culture, even went out of their way to help him reach his goals. He met and befriended numerous people who were so caring and wonderful…. and so peace-loving, and so dedicated to education.

The chapters which take place during and after September 2001 were unexpectedly powerful. Mortensen’s friends in a remote Pakistani village woke him up in the middle of the night with the news of the 9/11 attacks, saying over and over how sorry they were, cursing Osama bin Laden, whom they assumed immediately was behind the attack. Villagers, who had little to give, gave him eggs, insisting that he deliver them to the widows of the attack. These are not the images of Muslims that we normally see.

Mortensen discusses how the madrassas are able to recruit students into their schools in remote areas of central Asia very easily: these areas are incredibly poor. Many have no public schools, and most families cannot afford to send their children to expensive private schools. Meanwhile, wealthy wahabbi madrassas, funded usually by Saudi money, are able to pay for boys to attend – providing food, clothing, shelter and the promise of an education, albeit a religious one. Many of these madrassas serve as training grounds for jihadis. Students provided with the option of a free public school are less likely to enter into a madrassa. And certainly the students at the CAIs schools speak very highly of Americans!

One of the most depressing tales in this book was that when Mortensen’s work finally began to receive media coverage here in the US, he began to receive death threats from fundamentalist Christians – no doubt the type who believe that Muslims are the people who are trying to kill us.

I know this review is scattered all over the place. There’s so much in this book, and my simple attempt at summary hardly does it justice. Go buy the book and read it. Then give it to a friend. Education is the key.

Oh, the things we teach! (Part 2)

More world-class artwork by Jane Teacher:

Somebody tell me you know what story I was teaching here!

From the same book that brought you pet black widows
and child molester stalking, I give you drunken bike riding!

And just check out the drunk dude!

Oh, the things we teach!

Spiders freak me out. They give me the willies, the heebie-jeebies. They make me call for my mommy. (Seriously, she can verify this!) But the spider in that picture is damn cute. And it also looks nothing like a real black widow spider - aside from the whole it-being-a-spider thing. And... Black Widow Spiders can kill you! They shouldn't be your pet!!

Now, I agree - people have to be careful with online chatting... but, um... should you really stalk the potential child molester? No, you shouldn't.

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Waking up is hard to do.

I'm sure you know the oldies song Breaking Up Is Hard To Do. Go ahead and substitute waking for breaking, hum the tune, and you've got the soundtrack of my life. I actually didn't have too much difficulty waking up for my Korean class at the YMCA this morning... but then when I returned home, I napped the entire afternoon away. I don't feel too guilty, given that it was a dreary, drizzly day... but still! Do any of you have any non-caffeine related tips for not spending everyday somnolent?

The allegedly "intermediate" Korean class wasn't quite as scary today as it was last week - mainly because I did spend the week studying. Unfortunately, a couple of the people at my level (Rob and Julie, this means you) have decided to go back to the beginning level class, which leaves only me and one other guy whom I don't know at the dumb-asses of the class. I did manage to purchase the So-gang 1A book today, so (in theory) I should be able to catch up on some of the things I'm missing. Or I'll cause my brain to melt down completely. One or the other.

UPDATE: It's 12:20 on Saturday night (er, Sunday morning) here, and I just spent the last hour reviewing the first fifty pages of So-gang 1A. Yes, I am obviously a dork, but that has never in my life been in question. Anyway, fifty pages is a little more than a third of the book, and I feel pretty good about working through that so quickly. Of course, I can also tell that it's going to get tougher. Grrr. If only there was a class that started halfway through 1A! Sigh.

I think my head is going to explode.

So, today was the first day of Korean lessons at the YMCA. Even though it had seemed from the sign-up paperwork that there would be four levels of classes, there are (most unfortunately) only two: beginning and intermediate. During the first hour I sat in the beginning class. The teacher was really nice, but I was totally bored... We were learning hangeul, the Korean alphabet - which I've known for quite some time now. According to the syllabus, the plan is to spend the next four classes continuing to learn the alphabet. While it seemed that most of the roughly 30 other students in the beginning class were genuine beginners, there were a few of us who already knew the alphabet and a good number of nouns and short sentences.... something that the class wasn't going to get to for weeks. They had talked about splitting the beginner class into two groups, as it is so large. I had hoped that they would divide it into beginning beginners and advanced beginners, but unfortunately it seems that it will be divided between English-speaking students and Chinese students (as they have a teacher who speaks English and one who speaks Chinese).

The teacher suggested that those of us who could read the alphabet go to the intermediate class. I, for one, was quite skeptical about this, as Gwen - who has lived in Korea since 2001 - is in that class! She and I should obviously *not* be in the same level Korean class. But during the break at the halfway mark, Gwen told me that I had apparently been "placed" in her class (based on the survey I took when I signed up), as there was a name plate in the classroom waiting for me. She also said that the class was way too easy for her, although it seemed too difficult for many of the people in it. Some of us decided to try the intermediate level for the second hour. (I didn't know if I could tolerate another hour of a, ya, ka, kya, na, nya.....)

Unfortunately for me (and several others), the intermediate class was way over my head. It was conducted entirely in Korean! While I could follow a lot more than I expected, I had no idea how to respond to most of the teacher's questions, and felt like a complete dumbass. Luckily, I was seated next to Gwen, who did a lot of translation for me. Even though the class was totally above and beyond my level, I've decided to stick with it, simply because there is no point to me spending the next month and a half learning the alphabet and simple phrases.

After class, I decided to buy both the beginning class book and the intermediate class book. Unfortunately, given that all thirty or so beginners were on a quest for So-gang 1A (the beginning book), the two large bookstores downtown were all sold out. I did, however, manage to buy a copy of So-gang 1B (intermediate level). Then Gwen and I went to Starbucks and she helped me work through the first several pages of the book. I'm going to have to spend all this upcoming week studying my ass off in order to be even somewhat prepared for next Saturday. It's so embarrassing to think that I've spent fifteen (non-consecutive) months in Korea and yet I speak so little of the language. It's time I did something about that. So that's how I'm going to spend the rest of my weekend. After the nap I'm about to take.

Also, in the intermediate class, there is a Russian woman! As soon as I saw her, I was almost certain that she was Russian, and then a few minutes later, Gwen whispered to me, "That girl's from Russia!" I talked to her after class - nice to be able to talk in a foreign language that I can actually manage - her name is Katya and she's Vladivostock, and she seems nice. It's quite fascinating for me to hear Korean spoken with a Russian accent (although her Korean is really good; she's actually taken the intermediate level class before).

Okeedokee. Off to nap. Then study. Aaack.

A Tale of Two Classes

I teach two middle school level conversation classes on Tuesday nights. They both use books in a series entitled “Talking, Talking!” which provide 2-3 page long articles on various topics which should, in theory, inspire discussion.

One class gets very excited about (most of) the topics. They get very animated and very loud, often interrupting each other and often reverting into Korean when they have a point they really want to make but for which they lack the English words. With nearly all the topics we’ve discussed thus far, I’ve had little trouble maintaining a discussion for the entire 45 minute class period.

My other class sits quietly. When general questions are asked to elicit discussion, they continue to sit quietly. If I ask an individual student a question, he or she will answer as briefly as possible, and then return to sitting quietly. They do not “discuss” anything with me, much less with each other.

So which class contains the better students? Well, if you take a look at their grades, written work, homework, grammar skills, etc, you will find that the second class contains the better students. In fact, that class is our school’s Honors Class. So why do the students in our “best class” sit there like bumps on a log, while one of the lower level classes engages in spirited discussions?

According to Gwen, this is a result of years of Confucian educational indoctrination. According to Confucian education philosophies, “good students” sit quietly and respectfully, absorbing the information imparted to them from their teachers. Discussion is discouraged. Meanwhile, students who question their teachers, are talkative in class, and who are willing to share *their* opinions, are considered disrespectful.

A few gems from today...

The following are journal entries from my students.
The assignment was to imagine you met an alien...

"Yesterday at midnight I met scary alien. I afraid of alien because alien face dirty. Alien say at me "What's your name?" I don't answer. I hit alien of the head. Alien the die. I'm very happy. I keep the peace."

"Hi alien, nice to meet you. You are very thin. My friend is very fat. You are very fun. Your face why? You ride UFO, but we ride bike. You and I very different. You look so monster. Alien is very angry. Alien says hey, you and I fight? OK I say.... I win. Alien good bye. Alien ride UFO and go to a space."

The above is from a comparison between the US and Canada,
located in one of my textbooks:
"And Canada doesn't start wars like America does, either."