2014-02-22 English Matching: The Yeon Mi Park Show!

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...

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"Yoegi Anjuseyo!"

* I have a short reflection in today's Korea Times about an encounter with an unfriendly looking Korean man on the subway. It was a reminder not to be too quick in judging people in Korea. 09-13-2011 16:47 'Yeogi Anjeuseyo!' By Casey Lartigue Jr. The recent incident in which an American English teacher bullied an elderly Korean man and other passengers on the bus reminded me of a more pleasing incident from years ago. I was on the subway, taking the train outside of Seoul for a work assignment. I have the habit of standing on the subway to strategically position myself near the doors in case my stop magically appears. On that particular day, there was a Korean man STARING at me. Not just looking at me, but intensely staring at me. He had an incredible frown on his face. Not just for one stop, but for several stops the guy just kept staring at me. If I had known more Korean then I would have been able to curse him ...

Rich talking back

The rich are talked about very often in negative terms, but how often do the rich respond in kind? Australian billionaire Gina Rinehart, who inherited most of her money but apparently has also done very well with it, recently railed against class warfare and had some advice for the non-rich : "There is no monopoly on becoming a millionaire," she writes. "If you're jealous of those with more money, don't just sit there and complain. Do something to make more money yourself - spend less time drinking, or smoking and socializing and more time working." She complained about politicians raising taxes, regulations that slow investment, and other anti-business policies that harm the poor. "If you want to help the poor and our next generation, make investment, reinvenstment and businesses welcome."

Michael Breen discussion at 10 Magazine

Yesterday I attended a discussion with writer Michael Breen, hosted by Barry Welsh. Very often, when I attend a speech or discussion about a topic I know a lot about, I often think about ways the speaker/facilitator/discussant could have done better. But I didn't feel that way about Breen, it was one of those times that I really felt like I had a lot to learn and should listen more than talk. He's been in Korea for three decades, working as a reporter, commentator, communications specialist. He reminds me of Andrei Lankov in that his analysis seems to be based on observation of how things work rather than trying to get the world to fit his biases. I don't know him, so his friends may say he is a raging ideologue, but that's not the impression I had yesterday and based on his writings. Michael Breen (L) and Casey Lartigue I first read his book The Koreans about a decade ago. It was a delightful read, that was both warm to Koreans but also critical at times. Yes...

Humanitarian with a guillotine (Korea Times, February 1, 2013) by Casey Lartigue, Jr.

Former U.S. President Ronald Reagan said the nine most terrifying words in the English language are, `` I’m from the government, and I’m here to help .” For many well-intentioned activists, politicians, and intellectuals, that should be updated as: ``We are here to help you. You’re under arrest.” For example, ``sex workers” around the world oppose anti-prostitution laws. Prostitutes may not know the theoretical arguments but they do know in reality that prohibiting prostitution means they lack protection in dealing with abusive pimps and madams, violent patrons and crooked cops. Locally, a Korean woman busted for prostitution recently appealed to the courts pleading , ``I cannot survive without this job. I don’t want to be treated as a criminal for making a living the only way I can.” How should someone who genuinely wants to help her respond? If you say ``arrest her” then you are qualified to be a “harmful humanitarian.” In your desire to help, you have elimin...

2020-11-26 My basketball story

This photo was uploaded today by my aunt Annette. This was back in the day, when 1) I had a head full of hair and 2) played basketball a lot. That first year of playing organized basketball, I focused on playing defense. It seemed that everyone wanted to shoot the ball, so I passed the ball and played defense. I probably led the league in steals, rebounds and blocked shots. I enjoyed taking on the best player from the other team, I felt like I would get better, quickly. The second year, I was a different player. I will never forget the first game that second year--we lost 29 to 26, I scored 18 points. I probably led the universe in scoring that second year, although we didn't win much. One thing I learned from that experience is that one great player 9 (at least in his own mind) can't beat a team. An eye injury ended my pro career before it began, to this day I still have floaters in my eyes because of the injury. I started wearing glasses, but the problem never went away. On t...

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