Nhemskie's Haven

Question : "The measure of your success is how much money you make." Do you agree or disagree with this statement? If you disagree, is there another way to define success? If you agree, why is money the best way to define sucess? Give specific reasons and examples to support your answer.      People generally relate success to how much money they make. People who believe this to be true might argue that this is because everything in this world revolves around money. However, in my opinion, there's so much more to success rather than just money. I would define success as how close a person is from achieving his or her goal and how satisfied that person is with his or her life.      To begin with, money is not everything in life and there are things that people can't buy with money. It might seem true that wealth can bring one a step closer to achieving one's dream, but when that's the case...

by Thess Manangan (Busan, South Korea) ---------------------------------- This aticle was shared with us by Ate Thess last Saturday at the FEESK meeting. It was published as a featured article in KOTESOL's English Connection ten years ago. We were very thankful and fortunate to have her as a guest speaker this month. Thanks ate Thess~! --------------------------------- Are native speaking English teachers better qualified to teach English than non-native speaking English teachers? Since living in Korea for more than six years, I have asked myself this question countless times. Non-native speakers of English, especially non-white Asians, face a difficult task finding quality teaching positions. Being Filipino, I have faced many closed doors when looking for teaching posts. It is not easy because Koreans hold certain perceptions of what foreign English teachers should look and sound like. If you don’t fit their perception, then you are simply “not qualified” to teach English. I came ...

Language is the blood of the soul into which thoughts run and out of which they grow . ~Oliver Wendell Holmes Life has never been easy for me when I first came here in Korea. I remember the very first day that I could just hear “swala-la-la” sounds from all of the people around me. I wonder what do they talk about and how do they make these sounds. I, for one, have been raised bilingual by my parents and have at least known somehow how I learned my other language, but when it comes to learning a third language it may mean different. The first two years had been quite such a mess and a frustration day by day but it lessened year after year of careful thinking and experience. A whole day stint Before coming to Korea, I knew how to read and write Hangeul. I learned these skills when a former student in my previous workplace volunteered to teach us (teachers) the Korean characters. Korean characters are easy to write unlike the Chinese character so it took me only a week to master the cha...

The International Graduate School of English is hosting an open house for foreign students Saturday to introduce the curriculum of its full scholarship master`s programs for English education. The IGSE, established by Yoon`s English Academy in 2002, runs four-semester master of arts programs for two departments - English language teaching and ELT materials development. All students receive full tuition waivers for the entire duration of their program and partial support for participating in overseas seminars. The IGSE recruits 50 students - 25 for each department - per academic year, but additional enrollment of up to 10 percent is possible for foreign applicants. Applicants for the fall semester must have a bachelor`s degree or be expected to graduate by August 2009. "It is our conviction that administering full tuition waivers is a truly worthy investment in not just the future of deserving individuals but in that of the entire country as well," said Park Nahm-sheik, IGSE p...

Followed by the teacher training in the Philippines last summer vacation, 44 Busan teachers went back to Philippines to get a 4-week advanced training course during this winter break. This training course focuses on the teaching practice rather than a language itself. The training team consists of 44 teachers including 9 elementary school teachers, 25 middle school English teachers, and 10 middle school mathematics and science teachers. They have been assigned to two elementary schools and six middle schools which were evaluated as the best schools at Metro Manila, Philippines. They have worked with Filipino teachers and taught Filipino students in English in class by means of co-teaching and solo-teaching. They work with Filipino teachers at the schools from 9am to 3pm and have a group discussion on education, culture and society of both countries from 2pm to 3pm to boost the mutual understanding of both countries. Before Busan teachers went to Philippines, they prepared well for the ...