Seon-saeng-nim Fair

Seon-saeng-nim is the Korean word for teacher, which is exactly what some of the other students on the trip and I were today. We were given the opportunity to tutor young Korean students in English for about two hours. The students were between the ages of 8-10 and were a very energetic group. It was an interesting experience given the fact that they don't know very much English and I know even less Korean. So we had to rely entirely on nonverbal communications which basically consisted of charades for about 2 hours. I was amazed by how quickly they picked up and understood the words I was using and were able to use them on their own and correctly. It was absolutely astounding!

However, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that the tutoring session wasn't exactly a walk in the park. The students were extremely hyper and it was hard to maintain their focus for long periods of time, so we had to frequently change up our teaching strategies and the games/methods we were using to teach them in order to keep them interested. Another complication was due to the difference in their knowledge of English. Some students knew quite a bit and were bored by the basics, while others didn't know very much so the basics were a great place for them to start.

Going into this experience, one of my main concerns was that I would feel apathetic towards the kids since it was a one time experience and I would never see them again. Fortunately, this was not the case at all. The kids were a lot of fun, which immediately removed any doubts or thoughts of carelessness that I originally had. As a result of this, I don't think my interactions would've been any different with them whether it was a one-time experience or something that would be recurring weekly. At the same time, it was somewhat sad to see them leave knowing we would never see them again, so if this were going to be a recurring thing then that would have been much easier. All in all it was a great experience and I encourage everyone to try it at least once in their life, even if you don't think it's for you. You may surprise yourself as I did today!

Below is  a picture of me with two of the kids :)