On March 19th, I wrote about TNKR's first 10 days after relocating the office to Sangsu station. We have remained busy, with numerous meetings and activities. Most notably was a meeting at which volunteers met with TNKR co-founder Eunkoo Lee to help her fancy up her bio. We had more meetings with North Korean refugees eager to join TNKR. We met again with the film maker helping us prepare a video to send to North Korea. We also had Skype calls with a group hoping to raise money for TNKR.
* Hidden distractions of free tutoring.
TNKR has been trying to develop a culture eliminating distractions--socializing, dating, gifts, hanging out, hidden costs for study sessions, talking about North Korea, interviewing refugees and having them tell their escape stories. We have been hearing from students that some of them have no money, but even with free tutoring there are hidden costs (and that is for both students and tutors).
On Saturday, the refugees grasped the concept about eliminating distractions! One said she was so thankful to have gotten free tutoring from another organization, but realized she ended up spending a lot in other ways.
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ORIENTATION WITH NK REFUGEES
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On Saturday, we had a lovely orientation session with six North Korean refugees. They said some things that really encouraged us.
TNKR has been trying to develop a culture eliminating distractions--socializing, dating, gifts, hanging out, hidden costs for study sessions, talking about North Korea, interviewing refugees and having them tell their escape stories. We have been hearing from students that some of them have no money, but even with free tutoring there are hidden costs (and that is for both students and tutors).
On Saturday, the refugees grasped the concept about eliminating distractions! One said she was so thankful to have gotten free tutoring from another organization, but realized she ended up spending a lot in other ways.
Other students have told us they sometimes skipped or avoided class because they felt obligated to pay for lunch or dinner or give gifts to tutors. We have had some refugees with as many as 11 tutors at one time, so costs can start to add up! When Yeonmi Park was in TNKR during 2014, she studied with 18 tutors in 8 months.
One student studying in a different program from TNKR felt obligated to buy something nice each time to thank the tutor--drinks, cakes, snacks, candy, lunch, dinner. There were many times in that other program that they would have lunch or dinner instead of class, and of course the student was expected to pay for the meal.
One student studying in a different program from TNKR felt obligated to buy something nice each time to thank the tutor--drinks, cakes, snacks, candy, lunch, dinner. There were many times in that other program that they would have lunch or dinner instead of class, and of course the student was expected to pay for the meal.
It drifted from serious study to just chitchat, or a completely different type of relationship. As one student said: "Serious study is not possible with friends." From the perspective of tutors, it is nice to collect more friends, but we are thinking about the other side, students desperate to master English, and that they have come to TNKR for that reason.
So it isn't just a financial cost issue.
So it isn't just a financial cost issue.
And when the genders are mixed, at some point there is "the moment" when there is a suggestion of more, such as dating, seeing a movie together, having coffee while just chatting, going for a walk in the park, hitting a bar together, going dancing or bowling. Eventually those other activities would take over the classes, so that seriously studying the past participle or practicing the tenses was no longer a priority.
Then there are the more fluent refugees who know that tutors want to learn about North Korea or to hear their escape stories. Some of them would get into that, even when they weren't interested, just to amuse the tutors.
No distractions eliminates refugees trying to please tutors to thank them for tutoring them, keeping the focus on tutoring, while eliminating distractions and hidden costs of free tutoring. Socializing is fine, there are some people who see learning opportunities from any situation, but it is not structured studying, and if the refugees wanted socializing, they could find university students, start talking to non-Korean looking people in Hongdae or Itaewon, join a language exchange or meetup.com, spend more time on Facebook, or join up with the numerous social activities offered by Korean organizations funded to help North Korean refugees with social integration. They come to TNKR because we have (and are determined to maintain) a reputation for offering North Korean refugees to engage in serious study. We have some of our students telling other refugees, "Don't join TNKR until you are serious."
On the flip side, we hear from some tutors that they struggle with saying "no" when a student wants to buy them something, we hope they will realize that we are building a serious study culture eliminating distractions. It may take some of the fun out of tutoring, but passing on a drink bought at a convenience store for $2 to $5, or a cake or other pasty, or lunch or dinner, will be worth it in the long run, letting the refugees know that this is a professional operation.
Some students can afford it, but we would like to keep our project open even for students who can't afford it, and want refugees to avoid feeling pressure to buy things for tutors. Refugees talk among themselves, some refugees in the past avoided us because they were aware of the hidden costs of even free tutoring. Some refugees on scholarship with no family or outside resources have informed us that they have skipped class because they felt pressure to buy gifts for tutors or pay the cost of the study room. Korea is a gift giving culture, but by saying "no" in TNKR, we can eliminate that pressure and build a reputation among refugees that our tutors agree with the "no distractions" culture.
By the way, we are also trying to eliminate the hidden costs of tutoring for tutors, too! A few years ago, some tutors began to tell us that they avoided class because of large debts from college, or that they had other reasons to avoid the hidden costs of tutoring. In addition to transportation costs (some travel from long distances), there is the pressure to buy textbooks and school supplies for students, there's the cost of paying for study sessions at study or business centers, or the default of coffee shops.
Three years in a row, TNKR co-founder Eunkoo Lee has applied for grants that would cover costs for tutors and students during study sessions at authorized business or study centers. We have received 25 million won (about $20,000) in funding over three years to cover costs for tutors and students. That is money that refugees and tutors did not have to spend!
To be clear: That money was and is not for TNKR, it is for students and tutors. It would have been much better if we could have collected that money to use to obtain a much bigger office that students and tutors could study at instead of having the money go to business and study centers and coffee shops. But I digress.
We are also trying to eliminate those hidden costs for volunteers. The funding isn't unlimited, so we give first preference to TNKR Members to access that funding to cover study costs. If we ever receive a large grant to fund TNKR for years, then we will even be able to eliminate the need for volunteers to join us in building TNKR.
* Student-centered learning: We really mean it!
During the orientation, one student was smiling from start to finish. She was so thrilled to be joining TNKR, she had learned about us a short time ago, watched every video and read every article she could find about TNKR. It turns out that she is a big fan of the co-directors. During her 1:1 interview, she wanted to understand why we are doing what we are doing.
As the orientation was wrapping up, she said, "I understand! It is up to me!" She had read that TNKR students needed to have a self-study approach, but it was still something so foreign to her that she didn't grasp it until Eunkoo explained it in detail. We are trying to develop a culture in which students have an active role in classes, not just dutifully taking notes or participating in a call-and-response in which they wait for the tutors to take the lead and they just follow/mimic. They should come to class prepared with something, it could be a dialogue, vocabulary list, news article, an idiom, phrase they heard but didn't understand, something to let the tutors know what they are interested in learning.
Volunteers should not be expected to carry 90 minute classes. The student who didn't understand it at first began to grasp it during the interview, then by the time the orientation wrapped up, she clearly understood that she had a role. She needed to be prepared for each class, not just show up to watch the tutors work English Magic.
We have struggled with this, because some tutors, especially those with newly minted teaching certificates, are ready to try out what they have learned, some are bursting with ideas and teaching methods. It almost seems like having Einstein teach basic math by having certified teachers waiting for students to take the lead.
We don't want students who are trying to find their way to get overrun by tutors with set teaching methods. On the other hand, we don't want tutors to be like bumps on a log waiting for the student to do everything, I advise them to be ready to tutor for at least 30 to 45 minutes, with an initial review of previous lessons and a final wrap up, as well as something brought by the student. The point is that we want to leave some space for each student to focus on their interests, so they should see the tutors as fluent and native English speaking study partners.
Some lower level students may struggle with this in the beginning, but then most of them start to catch on after a short time, and after several months they are ready and more prepared for self-studying and for being equal partners in study sessions.
* Protecting security and privacy of refugees
More than 400 North Korean refugees have studied in TNKR. We do our best to protect their privacy. Some of the North Korean refugees who have been in the news have found their way to TNKR. It isn't surprising, because when South Koreans, counselors, administrators, educators or other North Korean refugees meet some of these prominent refugees trying to find their way, they will recommend TNKR to those trying to learn English.
I am sure it would be great for our fundraising if we could announce who some of them are, but we would lose trust from refugees. We discourage tutors from interviewing refugees to learn about their personal stories. Our approach is: "Look forward, not backward." The refugees have arrived, let's work with them from this point to help them achieve their goals.
Refugees at the session on Saturday expressed thanks for this. The context is that when North Korean refugees first reach the South Korean embassy or arrive in South Korea, they get investigated by national security agents to confirm they are not spies. It continues on to their time at the Hanawon re-education center. The first six months or so of their time in South Korea, they are under investigation, answering questions from a variety of angles to prove they are not spies.
Once freed, they get assigned to Hana Centers. Some who have gotten connected with other organizations, churches, friends, social clubs, government agencies, etc., have felt pressure to reveal their pasts or to keep talking about it even when it doesn't interest them in order to get assistance or financial support. Add to that reporters, researchers, curious people and others trying to find them to ask them questions and mine them for data.
They need to reveal so much about themselves, and it continues as they make their way through South Korean life. We don't want TNKR to be part of that process. It may feel innocent, "So how did you escape," but that question comes at the end of a grueling process at which they have been questioned from many angles.
I hear from many teachers and expats in Korea that they get bored answering questions such as, "What is your favorite Korean food?" "How long have you been here?" Now imagine people constantly asking questions about a dangerous escape or possibly horrible things that happened to you, with each wanting to examine it from numerous angles after you have already gone through an intense investigation from South Korea's national security and a host of other organizations and institutions.
We don't want to add to that process with our tutors or other volunteers probing them, we would like to have one place they are free just to be students, to find themselves, to learn without needing to talk about North Korea, tell their escape stories, or talk about Kim Jong-Un.
Let's just let them be with a safe-zone for studying English. If they want to tell their stories or talk about North Korea, we have Track 2 public speaking in which they can work with coaches. There is so little demand from refugees to tell their stories that we have pretty much just turned Track 2 into an annual English speech contest. We have had 444 North Korean refugees join Track 1 Flexible 2, but only about 50 of them have joined Track 2 for public speaking.
Tutors may not realize how quickly rumors can start, it can just be one tutor asking a refugee personal questions that can start the rumor that TNKR tutors are interviewing North Korean refugees.
We have heard from some refugees in the past that they have avoided TNKR because of other refugees telling them that tutors wanted to interview them or take photos with them. We have gone with a zero-tolerance approach and want it widely known that any tutors and students doing such things in Track 1 clearly have violated our rules. Things are different in Track 2, but even there we avoid unnecessary probing of refugees.
We try to establish this culture from the initial interview with refugees, trying to establish a culture of transparency so they can let us know what they think and also letting them know we protect their privacy and security.
Many of our tutors understand this, but we know it also breaks some hearts because some volunteers enthusiastically join TNKR for the opportunity to meet and interview North Korean refugees about North Korea and to hear their escape stories. Whenever we have open calls for tutors and speech coaches, many people express they would prefer Track 2 speech coaching, but they are also willing to tutor.
North Korean refugees tell us how much they appreciate that we put a priority on protecting their privacy and security.
***
* We heard other comments, of which I could write at length, but won't. A few of them:
"I have been studying English for a long time, but I haven't had a chance to practice. In North Korea, it was only grammar and here in Korea the teachers and tutors use Korean. TNKR seems to be a great opportunity because the tutors only use English!"
"A friend told me about this in the past, but I wasn't ready to learn English. Now that I have failed English classes at my university, I am in a desperate situation. Other ways haven't helped me, but it seems that TNKR has a process that will make it possible for me to improve my English."
"I will study so hard, this is a great chance. I have been evading English classes at my university, but when classes start again, I will be in my junior year, and I will no longer be able to avoid English classes."
"If I try hard then I can succeed. I understand that it is up to me, not just the teacher."
"I have many ideas at my company, but because I cannot explain them in English, they always get rejected. I hope to be able to express myself better so I can be a better employee and hopefully a leader one day."
"TNKR is very detailed and organized. I wish I had known about it before, I am so sorry that no one told me and I didn't learn about it until recently."
I could write quite a lot about each comment, but will just address the last one. We don't advertise because we can only manage so many refugees at one time. If we had a much larger budget and paid Academic Team, then we would not need to rely on TNKR Members willing to help us build the organization.
We look forward to the day that TNKR will be much better funded and we can bring in dozens of refugees at one time. Instead, we continue with our process of recruiting volunteers willing to become TNKR members, bringing in refugees based on how many TNKR Members have joined us, developing a culture that is student-centered, has no distractions, eliminates hidden costs, and protects the security of refugees.
Support TNKR: www.lovetnkr.org/donate
I am learning that TNKR's approach is really unorthodox in many ways. Another one: Unlike larger organizations that plan their activities a year ahead--and continue with them even when circumstances change--TNKR improvises like live jazz.
People often ask when we have a session coming up: "How many refugees will join the next session?"
The answer is: "It depends."
Of course, that doesn't sound very organized. But that is the truth!
It depends mainly on how many volunteer applicants have become TNKR Members. If we don't have enough tutors available, then how can the refugees choose? We can say we want 12 refugees at the next session, but if we only have four TNKR Members signed up for the session, what are we supposed to do?
We have found on average that refugees choose about three tutors. So if we have 8 TNKR Members available for a session, with each tutor agreeing to two at least two students twice a month, then we can invite 5 North Korean refugees. If we have 16 TNKR Members available, then we can invite 10 North Korean refugees.
We don't start a session by figuring how many North Korean refugees will join. We start by recruiting volunteers. Then when we have a number that seems likely to join a session, we invite North Korean refugees at a 1.6 to 1 ratio. Our process is to have North Korean refugees to choose as many tutors as possible, with the likelihood they will choose three on average. With each tutor agreeing to tutor at least 2 students at least twice a month, then the 1.6 ratio works.
But as former heavyweight boxing Mike Tyson said, "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." Many things can complicate our perfect plan, such as no-shows or tutors who want to tutor only one student. We then take that into account, but it means we must increase the ratio to about 1.8 tutors to 1 refugee, meaning we can invite fewer refugees.
March 14th-15th, TNKR had orientation sessions with 18 different applicants seeking to join our Track 1 program. So far, 9 of them have become TNKR Members! That means we have enough tutors joining to hold a Matching session, and we can invite 6 refugees. Actually, we were planning to invite five refugees because as of Friday morning, we had 8 TNKR Members signed up. Just in case, we invited a sixth refugee for an interview, hoping another tutor would sign up.
Incredibly, when she was at our office having the interview, it happened! A volunteer sent me a message to let me know that he had signed up to become a monthly donor to TNKR. She came to the session uncertain she would be able to join the Matching session, then on the spot we were able to inform the refugee that she would be able to join. She felt like she had won the lottery, a bit of good luck after some recent struggles!
Support TNKR: www.lovetnkr.org/donate
We are always delighted when North Korean refugees visit the TNKR office! Amy first joined TNKR in September 2015. She was at the ABC level then, struggling in many ways because of English. During 2016, she had 62 private tutoring sessions reported by TNKR tutors (I say reported because not all tutors are diligent about reporting every session).
She graduated from college later, she says TNKR was the reason. She is an active lady involved in many activities! She told us today:
Support TNKR: www.lovetnkr.org/donate
Support TNKR: www.lovetnkr.org/donate
Then there are the more fluent refugees who know that tutors want to learn about North Korea or to hear their escape stories. Some of them would get into that, even when they weren't interested, just to amuse the tutors.
No distractions eliminates refugees trying to please tutors to thank them for tutoring them, keeping the focus on tutoring, while eliminating distractions and hidden costs of free tutoring. Socializing is fine, there are some people who see learning opportunities from any situation, but it is not structured studying, and if the refugees wanted socializing, they could find university students, start talking to non-Korean looking people in Hongdae or Itaewon, join a language exchange or meetup.com, spend more time on Facebook, or join up with the numerous social activities offered by Korean organizations funded to help North Korean refugees with social integration. They come to TNKR because we have (and are determined to maintain) a reputation for offering North Korean refugees to engage in serious study. We have some of our students telling other refugees, "Don't join TNKR until you are serious."
On the flip side, we hear from some tutors that they struggle with saying "no" when a student wants to buy them something, we hope they will realize that we are building a serious study culture eliminating distractions. It may take some of the fun out of tutoring, but passing on a drink bought at a convenience store for $2 to $5, or a cake or other pasty, or lunch or dinner, will be worth it in the long run, letting the refugees know that this is a professional operation.
Some students can afford it, but we would like to keep our project open even for students who can't afford it, and want refugees to avoid feeling pressure to buy things for tutors. Refugees talk among themselves, some refugees in the past avoided us because they were aware of the hidden costs of even free tutoring. Some refugees on scholarship with no family or outside resources have informed us that they have skipped class because they felt pressure to buy gifts for tutors or pay the cost of the study room. Korea is a gift giving culture, but by saying "no" in TNKR, we can eliminate that pressure and build a reputation among refugees that our tutors agree with the "no distractions" culture.
By the way, we are also trying to eliminate the hidden costs of tutoring for tutors, too! A few years ago, some tutors began to tell us that they avoided class because of large debts from college, or that they had other reasons to avoid the hidden costs of tutoring. In addition to transportation costs (some travel from long distances), there is the pressure to buy textbooks and school supplies for students, there's the cost of paying for study sessions at study or business centers, or the default of coffee shops.
Three years in a row, TNKR co-founder Eunkoo Lee has applied for grants that would cover costs for tutors and students during study sessions at authorized business or study centers. We have received 25 million won (about $20,000) in funding over three years to cover costs for tutors and students. That is money that refugees and tutors did not have to spend!
To be clear: That money was and is not for TNKR, it is for students and tutors. It would have been much better if we could have collected that money to use to obtain a much bigger office that students and tutors could study at instead of having the money go to business and study centers and coffee shops. But I digress.
We are also trying to eliminate those hidden costs for volunteers. The funding isn't unlimited, so we give first preference to TNKR Members to access that funding to cover study costs. If we ever receive a large grant to fund TNKR for years, then we will even be able to eliminate the need for volunteers to join us in building TNKR.
* Student-centered learning: We really mean it!
During the orientation, one student was smiling from start to finish. She was so thrilled to be joining TNKR, she had learned about us a short time ago, watched every video and read every article she could find about TNKR. It turns out that she is a big fan of the co-directors. During her 1:1 interview, she wanted to understand why we are doing what we are doing.
As the orientation was wrapping up, she said, "I understand! It is up to me!" She had read that TNKR students needed to have a self-study approach, but it was still something so foreign to her that she didn't grasp it until Eunkoo explained it in detail. We are trying to develop a culture in which students have an active role in classes, not just dutifully taking notes or participating in a call-and-response in which they wait for the tutors to take the lead and they just follow/mimic. They should come to class prepared with something, it could be a dialogue, vocabulary list, news article, an idiom, phrase they heard but didn't understand, something to let the tutors know what they are interested in learning.
Volunteers should not be expected to carry 90 minute classes. The student who didn't understand it at first began to grasp it during the interview, then by the time the orientation wrapped up, she clearly understood that she had a role. She needed to be prepared for each class, not just show up to watch the tutors work English Magic.
We have struggled with this, because some tutors, especially those with newly minted teaching certificates, are ready to try out what they have learned, some are bursting with ideas and teaching methods. It almost seems like having Einstein teach basic math by having certified teachers waiting for students to take the lead.
We don't want students who are trying to find their way to get overrun by tutors with set teaching methods. On the other hand, we don't want tutors to be like bumps on a log waiting for the student to do everything, I advise them to be ready to tutor for at least 30 to 45 minutes, with an initial review of previous lessons and a final wrap up, as well as something brought by the student. The point is that we want to leave some space for each student to focus on their interests, so they should see the tutors as fluent and native English speaking study partners.
Some lower level students may struggle with this in the beginning, but then most of them start to catch on after a short time, and after several months they are ready and more prepared for self-studying and for being equal partners in study sessions.
* Protecting security and privacy of refugees
More than 400 North Korean refugees have studied in TNKR. We do our best to protect their privacy. Some of the North Korean refugees who have been in the news have found their way to TNKR. It isn't surprising, because when South Koreans, counselors, administrators, educators or other North Korean refugees meet some of these prominent refugees trying to find their way, they will recommend TNKR to those trying to learn English.
I am sure it would be great for our fundraising if we could announce who some of them are, but we would lose trust from refugees. We discourage tutors from interviewing refugees to learn about their personal stories. Our approach is: "Look forward, not backward." The refugees have arrived, let's work with them from this point to help them achieve their goals.
Refugees at the session on Saturday expressed thanks for this. The context is that when North Korean refugees first reach the South Korean embassy or arrive in South Korea, they get investigated by national security agents to confirm they are not spies. It continues on to their time at the Hanawon re-education center. The first six months or so of their time in South Korea, they are under investigation, answering questions from a variety of angles to prove they are not spies.
Once freed, they get assigned to Hana Centers. Some who have gotten connected with other organizations, churches, friends, social clubs, government agencies, etc., have felt pressure to reveal their pasts or to keep talking about it even when it doesn't interest them in order to get assistance or financial support. Add to that reporters, researchers, curious people and others trying to find them to ask them questions and mine them for data.
They need to reveal so much about themselves, and it continues as they make their way through South Korean life. We don't want TNKR to be part of that process. It may feel innocent, "So how did you escape," but that question comes at the end of a grueling process at which they have been questioned from many angles.
I hear from many teachers and expats in Korea that they get bored answering questions such as, "What is your favorite Korean food?" "How long have you been here?" Now imagine people constantly asking questions about a dangerous escape or possibly horrible things that happened to you, with each wanting to examine it from numerous angles after you have already gone through an intense investigation from South Korea's national security and a host of other organizations and institutions.
We don't want to add to that process with our tutors or other volunteers probing them, we would like to have one place they are free just to be students, to find themselves, to learn without needing to talk about North Korea, tell their escape stories, or talk about Kim Jong-Un.
Let's just let them be with a safe-zone for studying English. If they want to tell their stories or talk about North Korea, we have Track 2 public speaking in which they can work with coaches. There is so little demand from refugees to tell their stories that we have pretty much just turned Track 2 into an annual English speech contest. We have had 444 North Korean refugees join Track 1 Flexible 2, but only about 50 of them have joined Track 2 for public speaking.
Tutors may not realize how quickly rumors can start, it can just be one tutor asking a refugee personal questions that can start the rumor that TNKR tutors are interviewing North Korean refugees.
We have heard from some refugees in the past that they have avoided TNKR because of other refugees telling them that tutors wanted to interview them or take photos with them. We have gone with a zero-tolerance approach and want it widely known that any tutors and students doing such things in Track 1 clearly have violated our rules. Things are different in Track 2, but even there we avoid unnecessary probing of refugees.
We try to establish this culture from the initial interview with refugees, trying to establish a culture of transparency so they can let us know what they think and also letting them know we protect their privacy and security.
Many of our tutors understand this, but we know it also breaks some hearts because some volunteers enthusiastically join TNKR for the opportunity to meet and interview North Korean refugees about North Korea and to hear their escape stories. Whenever we have open calls for tutors and speech coaches, many people express they would prefer Track 2 speech coaching, but they are also willing to tutor.
North Korean refugees tell us how much they appreciate that we put a priority on protecting their privacy and security.
***
* We heard other comments, of which I could write at length, but won't. A few of them:
"I have been studying English for a long time, but I haven't had a chance to practice. In North Korea, it was only grammar and here in Korea the teachers and tutors use Korean. TNKR seems to be a great opportunity because the tutors only use English!"
"A friend told me about this in the past, but I wasn't ready to learn English. Now that I have failed English classes at my university, I am in a desperate situation. Other ways haven't helped me, but it seems that TNKR has a process that will make it possible for me to improve my English."
"I will study so hard, this is a great chance. I have been evading English classes at my university, but when classes start again, I will be in my junior year, and I will no longer be able to avoid English classes."
"If I try hard then I can succeed. I understand that it is up to me, not just the teacher."
"I have many ideas at my company, but because I cannot explain them in English, they always get rejected. I hope to be able to express myself better so I can be a better employee and hopefully a leader one day."
"TNKR is very detailed and organized. I wish I had known about it before, I am so sorry that no one told me and I didn't learn about it until recently."
I could write quite a lot about each comment, but will just address the last one. We don't advertise because we can only manage so many refugees at one time. If we had a much larger budget and paid Academic Team, then we would not need to rely on TNKR Members willing to help us build the organization.
We look forward to the day that TNKR will be much better funded and we can bring in dozens of refugees at one time. Instead, we continue with our process of recruiting volunteers willing to become TNKR members, bringing in refugees based on how many TNKR Members have joined us, developing a culture that is student-centered, has no distractions, eliminates hidden costs, and protects the security of refugees.
Support TNKR: www.lovetnkr.org/donate
**************************************
How many refugees will join the next session?
**************************************
People often ask when we have a session coming up: "How many refugees will join the next session?"
The answer is: "It depends."
Of course, that doesn't sound very organized. But that is the truth!
It depends mainly on how many volunteer applicants have become TNKR Members. If we don't have enough tutors available, then how can the refugees choose? We can say we want 12 refugees at the next session, but if we only have four TNKR Members signed up for the session, what are we supposed to do?
We have found on average that refugees choose about three tutors. So if we have 8 TNKR Members available for a session, with each tutor agreeing to two at least two students twice a month, then we can invite 5 North Korean refugees. If we have 16 TNKR Members available, then we can invite 10 North Korean refugees.
We don't start a session by figuring how many North Korean refugees will join. We start by recruiting volunteers. Then when we have a number that seems likely to join a session, we invite North Korean refugees at a 1.6 to 1 ratio. Our process is to have North Korean refugees to choose as many tutors as possible, with the likelihood they will choose three on average. With each tutor agreeing to tutor at least 2 students at least twice a month, then the 1.6 ratio works.
But as former heavyweight boxing Mike Tyson said, "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." Many things can complicate our perfect plan, such as no-shows or tutors who want to tutor only one student. We then take that into account, but it means we must increase the ratio to about 1.8 tutors to 1 refugee, meaning we can invite fewer refugees.
March 14th-15th, TNKR had orientation sessions with 18 different applicants seeking to join our Track 1 program. So far, 9 of them have become TNKR Members! That means we have enough tutors joining to hold a Matching session, and we can invite 6 refugees. Actually, we were planning to invite five refugees because as of Friday morning, we had 8 TNKR Members signed up. Just in case, we invited a sixth refugee for an interview, hoping another tutor would sign up.
Incredibly, when she was at our office having the interview, it happened! A volunteer sent me a message to let me know that he had signed up to become a monthly donor to TNKR. She came to the session uncertain she would be able to join the Matching session, then on the spot we were able to inform the refugee that she would be able to join. She felt like she had won the lottery, a bit of good luck after some recent struggles!
Support TNKR: www.lovetnkr.org/donate
****************
Amy visits TNKR!
****************
We are always delighted when North Korean refugees visit the TNKR office! Amy first joined TNKR in September 2015. She was at the ABC level then, struggling in many ways because of English. During 2016, she had 62 private tutoring sessions reported by TNKR tutors (I say reported because not all tutors are diligent about reporting every session).
She graduated from college later, she says TNKR was the reason. She is an active lady involved in many activities! She told us today:
"When I studied at TNKR intensively, I didn't realize how helpful it was. Later, when I was studying with Korean teachers to prepare for a test, they only used Korean, and I didn't feel that my English had improved. I could really see the difference and value of the TNKR approach. So that's why I had returned to TNKR, so I could continue studying with English teachers using English. No matter what, I won't speak Korean to the tutors and I won't let them use Korean with me."Here's Amy's fundaiser for TNKR. We never asked her to set it up, she just did it when she realized we had such a website. You can read a statement from her in Korean (and translated into English by Youngmin Kwon in 2018).
Support TNKR: www.lovetnkr.org/donate
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TNKR video into North Korea
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On Saturday, we met again with the film maker who is editing a video that TNKR will be sending into North Korea. We had a great conversation with an organization planning on sending the video.
Support TNKR: www.lovetnkr.org/donate