Since I finished my interviews, I ended up having a lot of free time. So what do I do when I have free time? I get a job, apparently. Somehow (without any active movements on my part) I ended up tutoring English to four elementary kids (actually, my mom is the reason why I got the jobs). Two kids are Korean, and two kids are Korean American. From an English tutor's point of view, it seems like the Korean kids have a better work ethic than the Americans (the Korean kids are still in school until this week). Of course, the American kids are not pressured by their parents to "learn" English from a native English speaker; they're stuck with me so that they don't lose all their brain cells from playing Nintendo DS the whole day.
It's pretty interesting to tutor the Korean kids because of what I read for my research project. These two Korean kids are extremely bright and have a high level of English. In fact, I was pretty surprised how good their talking and writing levels were for Korean elementary students. One common characteristic is that these kids come from wealthy families. (I'm assuming the families are wealthy by the size of their homes, the location of their homes, and the fathers' high English abilities. Also, they have been in English-speaking countries, though they didn't study there.) Not only do these kids have a healthy dose of intellect and work ethic, but they have the resources to take all the classes that their brains can handle. The kids go to hagwon (private academies that offer classes beyond what the classes in schools teach) every day. On top that, they have music lessons. And they're not even 11 years old. When I was 11 years old, the last thing I was worried about was my education. These kids, though, already know how important English is to them as students and to their futures. Anyways, one of the kids, a 10-year-old, goes to hagwon right after my (almost) daily English writing lessons. Despite all the stress she must get from her classes, she's quite funny. Here's one excerpt from her essay for me on "family": "This is a secret: I like my mom the best!"; "My dad is a little chubby, but that is because he drinks alcohol. I like my dad, but I wish he would not drink so much alcohol. Then he would be more skinny." I couldn't stop laughing when I read this. She is also hilarious during our 5-minute breaks (which I give, since she's only 10 and she has hagwon right after our lessons). We enjoy a small chocolate break in the middle (the chocolate is supplied by the kid - score!) and ggong-gi games (bead-like things that rattle). These kids are pretty insightful for elementary students, and they realize what they have to do as students from an early age. I enjoy tutoring the Korean kids because of their eagerness to learn (and also because I get fed by their mothers). Hopefully, they'll get some time to play and act like kids once they have their summer vacation.
Thankful that I studied in the US,
Susan
PS I am going to Beijing next week! But I am going on a Korean tour...hilarious stories will follow.
PPS I forgot my camera cable, so I won't upload any pictures until I get back to the US. But I do have this sketchy-looking picture of me taken with the webcam.
You can kind of see my perm...kind of :)
