Wednesday, September 5, 2012

My Teaching Materials, Part Two

This is the second in my new series cribbed from the teaching materials I use every day at my Korean elementary school. You can read the first part here.

The textbooks have changed since I was here a year ago. The number of topics per semester has shortened but there appear to be more lessons per topic. As a part of this, there are a number of 'quiz' rounds meant to fill up the 40 minute lessons and, I guess, test the kids on what they've learnt.

The quiz sessions are presided over by a variety of hosts, from an artist to a pirate to some Mortal Kombat type rivals and an Olympian (topical!) who cries if you get the answer wrong. Really.


The hosts which have troubled me the most so far have been an 'Explorer' and the 'Savages' he encounters. This jars me as being very culturally insensitive, but I do realise it's just the tip of Korea's racist iceberg. Korea, I love you, but you can be SO racist. The previous English teacher from my school left under suspicious circumstances, my co-teacher suggested he was 'too sensitive' because the students called him 'King Kong.' 

This is what happens if you 'win.'


If you lose:

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