Extending Education
A Q&A with UTSA student George Kramer, who teaches English in South Korea as a part of TaLK program.
By Sherrie Voss Matthews, International Media & Marketing Coordinator
Kramer is an English teacher for TaLK (Teach and Learn In Korea). He has spent nearly two years in South Korea tutoring students in English. TaLK is sponsored by the Korean Ministry of Education and is open to students interested in learning about Korea and teaching elementary students.
You must have at least two years of undergraduate education in order to participate. Learn more about the TaLK Program.
Where are you teaching? I am teaching in a small city called Nonsan, which is in the Chuchungdonam providence of South Korea. This providence is the biggest and most populated and has Seoul in it.
Tell me a bit about the program. The TaLK program teaches elementary students and can vary from K to 6th grade. I teach from 1st to 6th graders at my school. I believe that they are from around 6 years old to 13 years old.
Describe a regular day for me.
A regular day for me is I wake up around 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. depending on how late I stayed up the night before. Since the TaLK program teaches after school classes we usually don't have to be in there till 1 p.m. or 2 p.m. It varies from school to school as well but mostly it’s from 1 or 2 p.m. My school has me teach from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and on Tuesday, and Thursday I teach from 2 to 4:20 p.m.
On my own I go into school early I ride my bike to school at 11:30 to eat lunch there, which I enjoy greatly for it not only shows I enjoy Korean food but lets me be seen by other teachers and students, which also gives them a chance to practice their English.
On my free time at school I usually lesson plan. Now that I have been here a year teaching I have gotten into a swing of things with lesson planning and it is a lot easier than what the TaLK program made it seem through training. After work I go home for a small rest than I go to Taekwondo training at 6 p.m. for an hour or two Monday to Friday. After that I have free time to do whatever I like.
Where are you staying? Dorm, apartment? I am living in an apartment all paid for by the TaLK program. All I have to pay for is the utilities and food. This again varies from TaLK scholar to scholar. Some have very big apartments; some have very small ones. I think it depends on the location and the school on the apartment provided it is just the luck of the draw when assigned to your school.
My apartment is O.K. It is small but it is all I need really. It has a kitchen room, a main bedroom/main room, a laundry room, and a bathroom.
What have you learned so far? What I have learned so far here in Korea are:
- I can read Korean characters, which surprisingly wasn't too hard to do.
- I can speak a few phrases, and a bunch of words though I find it easier to listen than actually speak it.
- I have learned a lot about Korean culture and the differences between ours and theirs.
- I have learned a great deal about how to teach little kids and the best methods to use, at least for me.
- And also Taekwondo, which has been really fun. I have a red belt now after only 4 months of training and I will be going for my Black belt in another 4 months.
What are some of the benefits of participating in the TaLK program? They pay for your flight to and from Korea to start and the end the program.
- After a year of work, they fly you back home and back to Korea for a vacation.
- A month of training at a college all paid for room and board.
- The pay is good for the amount of work you do, which 3 hours a day 15 hours a week.
- Once every six months they take you on a culture trip around Korea. I have been on a ski trip to Moju ski resort and to Jeju Island, which is Koreas' own Hawaii, which was very nice and again all paid for.
What would you say to encourage other from UTSA to participate? This is a great way to expand your knowledge of the world. For those not sure on what to do after finishing school whether halfway through school or just graduated, this is a great way to take six months or more to find yourself and see what it is you really want to do in the future.
It is a great experience and it is a complete different world over here.
And there is no reason to worry or be afraid of being all the way over here in a foreign country so far away from home, these days with Skype and Internet your family is just a video call away and that helps a lot on homesickness.
For those worried about the communication problems: I have found it wasn't too bad of a problem. Traveling around Korea is very easy and there are usually always English to read to help you get around and the transportation is good and cheap to get you around Korea without a car.
Sometimes I have heard and witnessed myself communication problems with your assigned school. This is again is the luck of the draw on where you are assigned and the school tries to assign you a mentor teacher who speaks English to help you. Now the level of English the mentor teacher has can vary and that sometimes causes problems. But if you just brush off the miscommunication and try again with a different approach it usually works out well. I found that if you just take it easy and smile at the miscommunication and not it bother over it and try to find a different way to get the message through is a lot better than letting it bother you.
And one last thing this is a great way to meet people just like yourself interested in the same things. Through the month-long training and the other foreigners living in my city I have made some really great and lifelong friends here.
Also most importantly is to have an open mind, come to Korea and try to blend, don't try and refuse accepting the culture. It doesn't look good on you to other Koreans and it will make your time here not very enjoyable. So if you try and blend the better you will be received and the more fun you will have here.
How long will you be in Korea?I plan to stay in Korea the maximum of two years the TaLK program will let me. Currently I am halfway through, and it saddens me already knowing it is coming to an end.
Why did you choose to participate in the TaLK program?I choose this program for it looked like a good way to take a break from school and to try and see if teaching would be something I would like to pursue. Also it seemed like a good way to get a job for a couple of years while our country tries and solve its employment issues, which I hope still happens.
But I am glad I took the risk of doing this program I love it here it is a lot of fun and the people are very nice and they try really hard to make you feel comfortable here.
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