Skip to main content

2017-02-25 Cherie Yang: That Woman, That Moment

Congratulations to Cherie Yang for winning TNKR's 5th English speech contest! The theme of the contest: "THAT Moment: My escape from North Korea." Cherie definitely got prepared to seize the moment.

* From January 26 to February 21, she had twelve 1:1 coaching sessions with TNKR volunteer speech coaches.
* Those sessions totaled 1,260 minutes (21 hours)
* The seven contestants had a total of 34 coaching sessions (based on the number of reports sent by TNKR speech coach mentors), meaning an average of 4.9 sessions per refugee. Cherie was the outlier with a total of 12 sessions. (Plus, I'm very sure that at least one of her coaches did not report an additional session).
* Of her 12 sessions, 11 were at the TNKR office. That means that she was able to practice in a quiet office in privacy, as compared to a coffee shop that many volunteers seem to prefer. Refugees tell us that the coaches and tutors are much more focused when they tutor and coach at our office, which is one reason we hope to expand to a larger office within a few years.
* Her average coaching session was 105 minutes, which far exceeds the minimum requirement of 60 minutes for speech coaching sessions.
* This was her third speech contest, so clearly she wasn't being handed her award.


Cherie Yang's fundraiser for TNKR


Cherie won this speech contest, but it took hard work. All seven contestants gave great speeches. Audience members were moved to tears but also laughed several times.

Here's the amount of time coaches volunteered to help Cherie get prepared for the speech contest.

* Hannah Nedrow, 5 sessions, 450 minutes
* Laura Nguyen, 3 sessions, 420 minutes
* Jennifer Bowman, 2 sessions, 210 minutes
* Janice Kim, 1 session, 90 minutes
* Paul Evans, 1 session, 90 minutes

In addition, Cherie continued studying English with her tutors in Track 1.

* Dave Fry, 3 sessions, 315 minutes
* Jackie Cole, 1 session, 90 minutes
Hannah and Cherie were so loud that I'm surprised neighbors didn't report them for having a house party. In add, they had 5 coaching sessions for a total of 450 minutes.
Hannah and Cherie doing their best to pretend I don't exist.
Janice Kim at her coaching session with Cherie.
Paul Evans was the first coach to meet with Cherie in preparation for the speech contest.
Laura Nguyen predicted several times that Cherie would win. I'm glad she didn't meet with rival coaches, she would have engaged in trash-talking! If Laura ever goes to Vegas, I hope she will have TNKR in mind as she receives her winnings.
Jennifer Bowman and Cherie were grumbling about me taking a photo. But once I was ready to take the photo? They were all smiles!
TNKR needs a real podium.


Cherie celebrating with TNKR's American co-director

***

And she continued studying English with her tutors!



January 14th Matching session.





Renaissance man Dave Fry is focused on improving Cherie's English writing skills. 
Jackie read the other tutor reports, then came prepared with a lesson plan based on reinforcing what Cherie had already studied, plus she taught her many other things.


***

Cherie Yang first joined TNKR in January 2015, she has been with us since then. In mid-2015, she became TNKR's second Special Ambassador. In the last year, we have really seen her blossom, taking a leadership role and giving us some stability. No matter what the co-directors learn or say, people won't believe us unless we have refugees willing to speak out on behalf of the organization. In her speeches, she often calls the TNKR co-founders her "angels."

Cherie first learned about TNKR in late 2014, and was surprised to learn that there was an American guy working along with Yeonmi Park, the North Korean refugee who gained worldwide attention. After we met and talked for the first time, she wanted to volunteer and study if there was a chance during her trip. When she decided to stay in South Korea, she became a leading figure in TNKR.

Media, audiences, and people reading online want titillating anecdotes from and about refugees, some get disappointed when they join TNKR and learn that refugee stories are not the main part of our activities.

January 2015, first meeting, back when TNKR was based out of my desk at the Freedom Factory office.


Cherie first wanted to join TNKR as a volunteer, then she became a student after that.
Karissa was one of Cherie's first tutors in TNKR. When Cherie was chosen to go on a mini-speaking tour to the USA, Karissa was one of her tutors/coaches.

Feb 2015, Cherie was still a bit hesitant on stage.


Ashling was one of Cherie's first tutors.

Until yesterday, I would guess that Cherie's best speaking experience was with the US military. She didn't know the US soldiers would be dressed in their uniforms as they spoke.

Tutors and coaches may come and go, but her "TNKR angels" will be with her.

Popular posts from this blog

Random photos from today

I went walking around today. Whereas some people like to go walking in the mountains, I enjoy walking around in the city. Well, not D.C. or other cities with many homeless, crazy and/or armed people walking around... * * * Here's where I had lunch today. About $1.90 for a hamburger hamberger.   * * * Ha-ha! Bet you never would have guessed that Batman is a drinking place in Korea! * * * Man Clinic? The Koreans walking by seemed to be very curious about why I was taking a photo of a "Man Clinic." They may know something I don't know...Actually, I wasn't curious enough to go in and find out what it was... * * * Right down the street from the Man Clinic...there's a Love Shop! I love the euphemism. "Love Shop" sounds much better than Sex Shop. I'm guessing that if you don't go to the "Love Shop" to buy condoms that you may need to visit the Man Clinic a short time later? * * * Nobo
Read more

Teach North Korean Refugees Project

  On November 1, we will be holding the 20th "Teach North Korean Refugees Project" session. The project launched in March 2013 when Casey Lartigue Jr. and Lee Eunkoo matched 5 North Korean refugees who were teachers in North Korea with 5 English speaking volunteers. The refugees wanted to improve their English in order to improve their chances to become teachers in South Korea. We met at a Toz in Gangnam, matching them. We have directly matched at least 117 NK refugees and 8 South Koreans who assist NK refugees with 164 English speaking volunteers. We have since hosted numerous sessions with a number of themes matching NK refugees with volunteer English speakers: * Staff at NGOs helping NK refugees (to help refugees working at NGOs and also helping NGOs build up their capacity) * special summer or winter study sessions (for students who have more free time during the break, look for another session in late December and early to mid January 2015) * Bring or recommend a
Read more

2014-02-14 Yeon-Mi Park`s debut

Yeonmi Park, February 14, 2014, making her debut! Yesterday I was one of the speakers at a special session on North Korean refugees at the Canadian Maple International School. Wow, it was a wonderful time! * Yeon-Mi Park delivered her first major speech in English. She was wonderful! She told her story (35 minute speech without notes), discussed different aspects of North Korea, and then handled questions from students for more than an hour. She did seem to be nervous at the beginning-she took a deep breath just as she started, looked at me, then told her story from her heart. * Returning from the speech, I told Yeonmi that she had star potential. She told me that she didn't believe it, but I told her that the way she handled Q&A and told her story, I would be lucky to have her still returning my phone calls within a year. * The students had many questions. They have been learning about North Korea. They are now reading "Escape from Camp 14" featuring Shin Dong-h
Read more

From nothing to something super special (2023-02-10)

FSI has moved into a better institutional neighborhood where we are the poorest in the area. In August 2022, I was elected as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Freedom Speakers International (FSI) and in January 2023 FSI achieved incorporation status in South Korea. This has meant that FSI must upgrade operations and structure and I am the one, as chairman and co-president, who will be blamed if it doesn’t happen. I really should not be the chairman, for a variety of reasons, but anyway I am. Eunkoo and I are not the typical executives of a growing organization. In addition to being mainly responsible for building and fundraising for the organization, we are the hands-on leaders who are constantly in contact with North Korean refugee speakers. We look forward to the day we can afford staff to handle many tasks. Until then we can expect to continue having more days like yesterday, even on Eunkoo’s birthday. 2023-02-10 Meeting #1: planning We started Eunkoo’s birthday with a planning
Read more

CFE forum on Korea-EU FTA (Korea Herald)

Public forum on FTA on Thursday 2011-07-05 19:21 A conference on economic opportunities and challenges arising from the Korea-EU FTA which came into effect on July 1 will take place in Seoul on Thursday. The conference, taking place at the Koreana Hotel from 2 p.m., will also examine the current economic crisis in Europe and economic development in Korea. The event is being jointly hosted by the Center for Free Enterprise, a Seoul-based free market think-tank, and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty, a German foundation for the promotion of individual freedom which has offices around the world including in Seoul. “We picked the date hoping National Assembly members wouldn’t find a way to delay the agreement going into effect. So this is really timely because we are holding this less than a week after the agreement went into effect,” said Casey Lartigue Jr., manager of international relations at the CFE. Speakers at the conference titled “Economic Freedom
Read more