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Bi-weekly Advanced Lessons

trutherous
Expert on Something
Posts: 870
Joined: February 8th, 2010 8:55 am

Bi-weekly Advanced Lessons

Postby trutherous » May 25th, 2010 7:39 pm

Hello Crew of KC101,

First off let me congratulate you on the superb job you are doing and have done thus far. There is of course always room for improvement so please allow me to suggest a few things.

1. TWICE WEEKLY ADVANCED AUDIO BLOGS: It would be great if you offered the advanced audio blogs twice weekly instead of just one per week.

2. NOT JUST FEMALE VOICE: Advanced audio blogs should alternate between a male voice and a female voice. Nearly all of what I have reviewed has been recorded by females. This is good because females tend to speak more clearly than males, but this is not good because in order to truly learn a language one has to be able to understand the male speech pattern and voice, and males should pattern their speech after male examples.

Personal experience blogs are great, but they tend to be narrowly focused and random. These personal blogs tend to cover similar situations in a similar manner and do not provide the variety of exposure necessary in order to thoroughly learn a foreign language. It seems to me that a more systematic approach to providing diverse content is more effective in teaching a foreign language, therefore I also suggest the following:

3. HISTORY AND CULTURE: To truly learn a language one needs to understand and be familiar with both the history and culture of that country. Therefore I suggest that subject matter, especially in the advanced blogs, should occasionally present historical and cultural data in essay format. For example, a general overview of Korean history, or an essay on King SeJong, Admiral SoonShin Lee, or former president SeungMan Lee.

4. CURRENT EVENTS & POLITICS: Subject matter for the advanced blogs should also cover current events from time to time. A recent news story or newspaper article could be reviewed and the instructor give his opinion on the matter.

I look forward to KC101 becoming the premier site for learning Korean on the Internet, therefore I have made these suggestions.

I understand that people are always pressed for time, and that finding people, especially males, who are willing to dedicate the time and energy necessary to implement the above suggestions would be difficult (probably because KC101 can't afford to pay for that time), but perhaps you could find some retired people with time on their hands.

It would nice also to see instructors visit the forums more often. I do not use any of the podcast or electronic gadget options. I am too busy during the day, but when I come home I almost always have an hour or two to visit this site. For me this site is the whole of KC101, so if there is no new activity on the site I feel disappointed.

Thanks for listening,

George Posten

timandyou
Expert on Something
Posts: 601
Joined: March 12th, 2010 9:12 am

Thanks for your great insight, George~~!

Postby timandyou » May 26th, 2010 12:40 am

:wink:
George~~!! you always have tons of great ideas for KC101.com.
How helpful you are!!! Thanks a lot.

I've carefully read your suggestions. one, two, three, four... four!!!! George you asked too many... haha^^
Here is my personal response on your suggestions.

1. I don't know about this, George. This site has already formatted in a certain schedule weekly, monthly and bi-yearly... I can take this point deelpy but in order to publish twice weekly audio blog, we have to change so many things (I think)... This suggestion can be realistic when there are many advanced Korean learners but, for now there are not that many... Be patient George. Things will get better...

2. Your wish will just come true. I, Tim who has just joined in the team of KC101.com recently, will take a charge on the new coming blog season 6. You will hear male voice, actually my voice, at least once a week. As you mentioned here, I will try to co-present with my female KC staff here.

3. What a great insight George. You must be good at teaching language. Yes, I will try to cover these historical and cultural ideas.

4. About this George... We try not to comment on political issues nor social issues. I hope you would understand this. This site is to learn new language not to discuss social issues; of course, there will be tons of back-and-force comments if we, KC101, try to cover social matters. However, we will talk about it less. I also, personally, take deep concerns on our politics/social issues but I don't talk about them with people because it usually creates conflicts/problems/opinion-gaps between people. Even I avoid talking about these issues with my parents in Korea, it usually leads us to chaos. We, KC101, don't want this for sure!!!

Thanks George. You are a wonderful supporter for KC101.com.
I personally appreciate you.
I will do my best to help you and to be a friend to you.
Thanks!
best,

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trutherous
Expert on Something
Posts: 870
Joined: February 8th, 2010 8:55 am

Postby trutherous » May 26th, 2010 7:15 am

Hi again Tim,

구더기 무서워 장도 못 담그는군요..

Cluck cluck (암닭 소리) bak bak ba- gak (꼬꼬덱 꼬꼬) :shock: are you guys chicken? (비겁하다는 뜻 - 미속어) ㅋㅋㅋ ..afraid to touch the sensitive issues are we? Well in the interest of complete learning these subjects need to be covered somewhere. I guess we students are just ON OUR OWN :( when it comes to learning and practicing language related to politics and news. Where would I go for that -just grab a Korean newspaper and start reading with my dictionary close at hand? (rhetorical question do not answer).

Of course I wouldn't expect opinionated commentary on controversial news stories or social issues; I do understand the reasoning behind being PC (politically correct) when trying to capture a large international market. However, I am sure there are plenty of 'neutral' news stories and current events that could be used as "inspiration" for lesson planning. If nothing else, please try to incorporate some of the vocabulary used in the Korean newspaper into the lessons. As anyone studying Korean learns sooner or later, the typical Korean newspaper remains painfully difficult for us foreigners to read.

I am more than a little disappointed at hearing that there will probably not be more than one lesson per week -- in that case I think they should be twice as long.

Male voice: TIM, you better have a nice voice! Haha -- just kidding. Actually an odd voice usually makes learning more fun and stays in memory.

I ask too much? Well I am paying.. not much... but still...

Finally, do not take any of my seemingly negative comments too seriously. I do like to joke around quite a bit more than people realize. 때로는 말투가 심각하지만 장난꾸러기지요.

timandyou
Expert on Something
Posts: 601
Joined: March 12th, 2010 9:12 am

My voice is "F.I.N.E!"

Postby timandyou » May 26th, 2010 8:16 am

:o Hi, George.
it's you again.

I do not take your negative comments too seriously.
By the way, my voice is FINE!
I love my love!

but...
you've made me to worry about my voice.

Iam jokking.
As you have awonderful voice yourself(how do I know? I've listened your songs remember?), I, too, have awonderful voice myself. I can prove it. you just listen to my new blog strating from the beginning of July this year.
Stories will be fun and very enjoyable. I bet you'd like them, especially my beautiful voice!!!

George,
we may talk about some social issues but not too deeply. We can share our opinions openly... because opinions are nothing but opinions.

After listening my new blog and you like them a lot, please promote my blog throughout all over the world!!! It's your job, George!

I do think your Korean skill is beyond my comprehension. You've come this far because you spent a lot of time and energy on Korean. I know that!

You are a good communicator too. Thanks for your support!
Bye now~~!

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