I have just returned from teaching english to 승진. The last few weeks I have been teaching him how to spell and write, and as a result he is also learning to read. I still don’t really think I know what I’m doing when it comes to teaching a 5 year old English, but he is doing really really well. He used to attend the pre-school where I work, but it’s been a few weeks, so the only time I see him is at his house on Wednesdays. During our lesson time I only speak to him in English now, because he is understanding well, and I no longer get a chance to speak to him in Korean at school (because he’s not there).

So, tonight, after our lesson he was playing with his brother as we were getting ready for dinner (which was amazing 김치 순재비 – it’s like kimchi noodle soup) he suddenly looks at me with a very confused expression on his face, and asks 근데 한국말 할 수 있어요? (can you speak korean?) to which i answered just 네 (yes). His mother and I both laughed at that and she quickly said 선생이 한국말 잘 해잖아~ 기억 하지? (your teacher speaks korean well, don’t you remember?)

Apparently he’s already forgotten that I used to speak to him in Korean all the time. Children do have short memory spans! He was excited though, and kept asking me all sorts of questions in Korean the rest of the night, though I answered him in English. For my sake, I wish I could only talk to him in Korean, but he really needs to hear proper English (since he is no longer in school and doesn’t have to speak English anymore).

Which brings me to my main point: I have found a Korean tutor for myself! He is a friend from Church who first asked me if I would help him with his English, but it turns out he wants to help me with my Korean. We have been meeting every week and he makes me speak Korean. Every other opportunity I have to speak Korean, I usually end up just speaking English because it is easier and people will still understand me. But he will ask me a question, and if I answer in English he will tell me to say what I just said in Korean. It has been the most helpful thing in all of my Korean studies: being in a situation where I have to speak Korean.

So, if you really want to practice your speaking and sentence forming skills, find someone who either a.) doesn’t speak English, or b.) will not let you speak English. You will be able to speak much better than you think you can if you have to speak Korean.

I hope everyone is having a good week! ^^