1st Essay

My second language learning experience

Name: Kim Min Jeong (Groria Kim)

According to my tesol class of Times, even though it was twice, I could realize that I had been educated by Grammer Translation Method, my second language teachers were exhausive explainers. With only GTM and the explainer type, I had been taken English lecture for 10 years of high school and middle school. Was it a success or a failure as second language learning experience? In this essay, I will write down my horrible experience, that was taken by GTM and explainer type, that are Korean tradditional teaching style. Addly, I would like to tell you my story of English teacher in kindergarden.

When I entered my middle school, I was shocked and was to be serious gradually, because only one way that evaluated students was their school record. My homeroom teacher devided the students to eight groups after monthly test of first semester. With test score, the best of the exam became the leader of first group. I was a leader of eighth group, it means, I was a 8th of monthly exam score. My second language teacher who was called an evil had been hanging around all of the halls having a wooden stick. In every English class, she made students take the word test, and then she hit inside of their hands whenever they got wrong answers of the test. Can you believe? one hit per one wrong. I had studied a great English book contained dialogue, vocabulary, story, lexis (pronounciation, internation), writing practice eddicted by korean local board. However, she always explained all text book contents for only her English examination. The works that we could do in that class were just preparing exams, words memorizing, pronounciation memorizing, story translation in mother tongue, copying her writing on the board.

The most impressive thing among my english learning is expensive private english lesson. My mom wanted to give something special to my school record. She and other mommies made a small private lesson group for school genius. At that time, my private lesson teacher was famous for teaching English to raise up the school record and exam score of local area. He talked talked and talked alone. Furthermore, He repeated repeated and repeated alone. He spoke continually alone to such an extent as to make students memorize all his words. We always prepared a pencil for copying his words, varius colored pencil for circle and a ruler for underline. One of my friends always took a note very well. Other students wanted to copy her notes at break time. We did not need to be a valunteer and discuss anything of that class as well. He was a real super-explainer. We called him crazy grammer trainer. Did that style lead to a success or not? I was bored to sleep, my mom invested big money for my English ability. But beside big money, I couldn`t have a high effect of his lecture.

I think that my great English learning experience was my history which I was a teacher of English kindergarden. Because there were around 10 foreign teachers in that kindergarden and any teacher did not use Korean. I couldn`t help speaking to foreign teachers in English, were my partners, as a coworker. I had to open my mouth for my kids english lesson on everyday. It was a good language enviroment that I could take some English lesson with a direct method in my real life. So to speak, the language that I could use was only English not Korean because nobody understand Korean as my partners. That enviroment asked me to work with many forigners without English breaking. That gave me a good chance of the English learning as second language. It was better than my English learning experience on my middle and high school. I could improve my English speaking and listening very speedly.

In summery, I think, I have had two kinds of second language learning experience, were GTM and DM enviroment. My teacher type was a explainer absolutly. GTM was helpful for my school exam score and entrance exam of university. But, it could not be a success beside big money with comparing English improvement. I am not sure if my teachers of Korean education style were good or not. But, I know that they were not good involver and enabler but perfect explainers. In my opinion, my English enviroment as a kindergarden teacher was a wonderful involver and enabler.