My colleague Lee Eunkoo and I started the English Matching Project in March 2013. Thankfully, it was all volunteer, because if we had been working with a company, we would have gotten fired. Now? The program is running really smoothly. Some of the highlights from yesterday.
* The Collector: Yeon Mi Park!!! She has been to a few sessions now. Yesterday, she swooped in and claimed four of the teachers! She is the kind of student that teachers love. She is so motivated to learn. She appreciates when someone teaches her something. She already had four teachers, then at round 2, one of the teachers taught her something, she then reserved him to be her teacher after one of the short-term teachers leaves!!!^^
* Clear goal: There is an old saying: "The threat of execution sharpens the mind." Yeon Mi's speech at the March 15 event has also given her a clear goal. The same with Mi Yeon! She is studying so hard now to get ready for the March 15 event. When I first asked Mi Yeon to speak at that event, I assumed she would speak in Korean. But she let me know that she wanted to try to give a speech in English. So be sure to cheer her on!^^
https://www.facebook.com/events/398517193617811/
* Referrals: Whereas we initially had to recruit and search for refugees, they are now falling into our laps. For the last few sessions, they have all been referrals. At first, nobody was recommending nobody to us!
* Academic Adviser: One sad thing is that Joo Yeon Cho will be stepping down as the Academic Adviser. She assures me that I wasn't overworking her and didn't do anything else to cause this to happen. Some great things have happened in her work life, so she can't devote the same amount of time. As I say, she came into my life in late September. I immediately knew that something great had happened, but I also knew I should be thankful for every moment she was helping, cuz it couldn't last! Of all the wonderful things she did, I must single out the way she took on Chanyang JU, helping her boost up her English and get her ready for the speech she gave in India. I have so much to say, but I realize that even if I want to say it all, not everyone wants to read it all. I feel I can never thank Joo Yeon enough for that or to praise Chanyang enough for how much she improved in such a short time.
* Always concerned: This program is not as rigid as others. So as I keep telling the volunteers, it can only be as good as they are. I discourage socializing, but people are people. I hope they can take it seriously for at least three months, then after that they can choose to renew, start socializing or end the matches. But I guess if the NK refugees can get at least three months of serious study that it can encourage them and also give them a foundation to build upon, but it still feels like some volunteers are ready to take us down a dead-end street. We do need people to resist the temptation because, as with most people learning: some of our NK refugees in the project may be more interested in goofing off when they realize it will still be tough to improve their English despite having native and fluent speakers helping them.
* Resumes/CVs: I will be updating the FAQ to add a note about resumes. Several of the refugees printed out the resumes of the teachers! (We edit the resumes to only include first names and delete contact info, Eunkoo puts them into one document to make it easier for the refugees to review them in advance).
* Flukes yesterday:
--Three North Korean refugees canceled yesterday. Incredible, considering that we only had two cases in the last year that I can recall, as compared to 80 matches we made.
--At most matching sessions, the volunteers are women. Yesterday: 9 men, 1 woman.
--Three of the teachers hail from London/UK. That is definitely a fluke I want to stop in its tracks! But my colleague Eunkoo loved it, she studied in the UK and always welcomes such folks.
* Special thanks to all of the volunteers who have agreed to teach for at least three months (except in two cases approved in advance): Lolu Ayo, Simon Mundy, Marco Pina, David Emanuel Clej, Cari Ferguson, Mark Fagundes, Aaron Grommesh, Roderico Atienza, Albert Han and Robin Shaw.
* Now, comes the main part: Teaching and learning...