School Days

It took me a while to figure out the name of my school. It's an institute (hagwon -- 학원), which I think means it's a private, not a public, school and doesn't grant degrees. There are many hagwon in Korea; a large number of Korean elementary, middle, and high school students attend after-school classes to improve their knowledge/skills and enhance the opportunities to get into a good college. This is an unusual hagwon because it caters to non-Koreans, teaching Korean, while most hagwons are for Koreans to learn English. The name -- 가나다 한국어학원 -- means Ganada Korean Language Institute. "Ganada" perplexed me until I finally realized that 가 나 다 are the first three letters of the Korean alphabet -- equivalent to ABC English Language Institute for a school teaching foreigners English (sometimes I'm a little slow). The school is located on the 3rd, 4th, and 5th floors of this office building. The classrooms are a bit small (beyond cozy), but they work since student numbers are never larger than nine (we have seven).

As I mentioned in the "First Day at School" posting, the teacher is quite good -- energetic, enthusiastic, and patient beyond belief. The text and work books are also reasonably good although I wished they taught the informal polite rather than the formal polite verb conjugation form. Informal polite is much more commonly used in conversation; my friends look at me funny when I use the formal form. So I'm trying on my own to figure out the informal versions when I can; that is what the Korean Institute of Minnesota teaches so I have some basis for working on it.

Through diligent work I am so far doing okay. On Tuesday I finally did a review test (writing from dictation the previous day's dialogue) without error. But I am learning, perhaps reconfirming what I knew, about my own learning techniques. Because the class has no common language (most, but not all, speak some English -- but at greatly varying levels), instruction must be primarily in Korean. That means the approach must be inductive. By constantly repeating a variety of examples of a particular grammatical or pronunciation point, the students are expected to be able to use the underlying principles even if we can't articulate them. Teaching theory emphasizes that inductive learning is better; what the student discovers for him/herself will be best remembered and used. However, it is clear to me I am primarily a deductive learner. I like to have the principles well explained and understood before embarking on actual use. Because I have had previous Korean classes where English could be used to provide clear, sometimes lengthy, explanations of what was being taught, I am able to place Ganada's inductive teaching approach into context. I can remember, or check on, what the "rules" are that are resulting in the patterns we're repeating. If I did not have that context, that understanding of most of the grammatical and pronunciation principles we're attempting to use, I think I would be going crazy. I need to be able not only to see the patterns but understand the "why" and "how" of their use. I truly admire the others in the class, who have not had previous Korean, but seem able to learn as well as I. Most of them are younger. . . .

Pictures of the classroom and some of my classmates (some are out of the picture; wide angle wasn't that wide!) The teacher 이시윤 (Si Yoon Lee) is shown with the inevitable flashcards.



I had not originally realized that classes meet only on Mon, Tu, Th, and Fri. While I'm a little disappointed (I need all the class time I can get), I am finding that those Wednesdays off are really wonderful. I am reminded of my friend Patricia Mack who worked 4-day weeks when her children were small; she took Wednesdays off saying that anyone can survive a 2-day week! The mid-week break provides a chance to catch up on homework and the chance to have some fun. For example, I spent almost three hours this morning on homework and then the afternoon and evening with friends HaeJeong and her daughter MinJu just hanging out. A good balance. We went to the roof garden of the Hyundai Department Store in Apkujong Dong to enjoy some pleasant weather. MinJu, who is quite the crafter, made the necklace I'm wearing for me.