ESL Class: SittieCates Teaches Koreans (Part I)

I like to think I have the best of both worlds - Thailand (the place where I was born) and the Philippines (the place where I learned much about education, life, people, and where I got in touch with my roots). I thought my love for anything that's Asian would merely be for these two countries.

Growing up, I was taken to a different experience.

I was able to work for a Japanese-Filipino advertising company as part of the Advertising/Editorial Department of the firm. The work was great while it lasted.

Aside from working with the Japanese, my life also brought me to a different world as Koreans see it.

I encountered their world twice in the corporate or work aspect.

I had the pleasure of teaching Korean teenagers for a month at a not-so-distant place from my parent's dwelling. I thought that experience would have a large period there. Never to happen again. Just like most of my twisted thoughts, this didn't end with a huge period. Instead, it ended with a string of ellipses - indicating an unfinished thought, so to speak.

Early this year, I got employed at this reputable firm as an Online (ESL) Teacher. In one of my previous blog posts, I mentioned that I started out with a part time employment for the company. The funny thing was, right after I posted that information here, I was given an offer for a change of shift for the following week. And those 4 precious hours at the office turned into a hectic 8-hour shift in no time at all!

You could imagine that I had to keep up with all the abrupt changes:

* One: the adjustment in working hours.

* Two: the number of classes.

* Three: the different types of courses and classes. I started out with a handful of 1on1 classes with various courses before I was given 6 additional hapcheon (group) classes, with 4 students per class.

* And, four: My writing life had to take a backseat for the meantime.Thus, the explanation for not being able to update this often.

However, soon, I shall say adieu to the firm who entrusted me to take on a full-time responsibility for guiding Koreans of all ages and professions to further hone their skills with the English language.

As a farewell note, I dedicate this post to my students, and hereby upload their photos.

From Mondays to Fridays, 2 p.m. to 11 p.m., these students have been part of my office life.

(Note: This particular blog post will carry the photos of my students from my hapcheon (group) classes. Part 2 will carry the photos of some of my students from the 1on1 classes.)

This is my most participative class. 

They compete with each other in order 

to get the highest score - making the class 

really lively, funny, and loaded with lots of fun.

These students are, by far, the youngest group. 

They behave well and are so attentive in class. 

They also participate in class discussions.

And these students below are from 

various hapcheon (group) classes. 

I placed them altogether here 

since some of the students are usually absent. 

Others misbehave and, are sometimes rude, during class. 

Others listen attentively and participate 

and, for this, I am truly grateful for their 

efforts to do their best. 

It's not easy to teach kids who are not from Thailand or the Philippines. There's a huge language barrier. But for those students of mine who try their best to attend class, listen, and participate well in class discussions, I will forever treasure the moments I have spent with you. 

To those students of mine from the hapcheon classes who appreciate my efforts of teaching English, you are the ones who make my stay here at the company really worthwhile. 

Thank you, kids! ♥♥♥

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For those who would like to read the second part, here it is: 

ESL Class: SittieCates Teacher Koreans (Part 2)