English Conversation Lessons

A few weeks ago, Paul posted some of the videos he has to teach from. Teaching English conversation from texts not written by native speakers can be quite trying. I thought I might post some of the more stellar conversations I have to teach. My books are a little older than Paul’s, and there seems to be an attempt to make the students more aware of Western literature, including, but not limited to: The Little Matchgirl, The Little Mermaid, the Fox and the Stork, Who Will Bell the Cat, Sherlock Holmes, and the Dog of Flanders (extra points if you know that story). The following is a dialogue between the Princess and the Frog.

Princess: Oh, I dropped the golden ball! What shall I do?

Frog: Cheer up! Don’t cry. I will bring the ball to you.

Princess: Really? How kind you are!

Frog: Then, will you marry me?

Princess: Why not? That’s fine with me.

Apparently, the Princess has nothing better to do than marry the frog, and no standards for a husband higher than 'someone who will find my golden ball'. Why not?

The next conversation is beside a picture of two kids standing in a forest (the children are real, the forest is a drawing). There’s a Korean kid and an American (she’s wearing a USA sweater); they’re looking at a sign written in Korean.

Korean: Watch your step!

American: All right. Look, the flowers are very pretty.

Korean: Oh, don’t pick the flowers.

American: I’m hungry. Let’s make a fire and cook something.

Korean: Don’t make a fire. See the sign here.

Stupid Americans – always wanting to start forest fires. Don’t they learn anything from Smoky the Bear?

This goes well with the reading from the following chapter. In it, an ethnically Korean girl moves back to Korea after living in New York. There’s a picture of her schedule and her American classmates beside a picture of a Korean’s schedule and classmates. The Americans are, of course, dressed very sloppy (it’s a picture from the late 80s, so very strangely sloppy), and standing in a hallway. The Korean students are all sitting at their desks and bent over books. Yumi’s schedule is half taken up with “homeroom” and “lockers” times; most of her classes are covered with the picture. Sudong’s schedule, however, shows all seven classes.

If I took a picture of Korean kids in the classroom, I’d show them standing on their chairs, painting their desks, and punching each other. All of which happens during class time; none of which makes a Korean teacher blink.